Insoles and Back Pain: No Relief

Can wearing insoles help relieve back pain? Not according to the Boston Globe, which cites a recent review of six studies by the Cochrane Collaboration, an international nonprofit organization that evaluates medical research. The Globe reports that researchers at Hebrew University in Jerusalem examined three prevention
studies involving 2,061 participants and three other studies of both
prevention and treatment involving 256 participants. The team concluded that "there is strong
evidence that the use of insoles does not prevent back pain," and that "there is limited evidence that insoles alleviate
back pain or adversely shift the pain to the lower extremities."
People looking for something that does prevent back pain, says Dr. Carol Hartigan, a rehabilitation specialist at the Spine Center at New England Baptist Hospital, should try exercise. Read more in the Boston Globe.