The Hidden Link Between Your Big Toe and Hip Pain
(And Why It Might Be the Key to Finally Moving Pain-Free)
At Neurohealth Wellness in Allambie Heights, we often see people who’ve done everything right—they’ve stretched, strengthened, rolled, mobilised, and yet that nagging hip pain just won’t go away.
Recently, one of our patients came in with hip pain that had been bothering her for over three years. It came and went at first, but lately it was constant—aching during training, tightening up on long walks, even flaring after sitting for too long.
She’d already done all the “usual” things—glute activation, hip stretches, foam rolling—but nothing seemed to make a lasting difference.
So, we took a step back and looked at the whole picture.
The Missing Piece: Big Toe Extension
Here’s what we found:
👉 Her big toe couldn’t extend properly.
That might sound minor, but this small restriction had a major ripple effect.
When the big toe can’t extend (bend upwards), the foot can’t load and propel the body forward efficiently. This limits how your entire lower chain — from the ankle to the hip — moves and transfers force.
In other words, if your foot can’t do its job, your hip ends up trying to compensate. Over time, that can lead to irritation, weakness, or pain that just doesn’t seem to go away — no matter how much stretching or strengthening you do.
Once we restored motion and control through her big toe and foot, something incredible happened:
✅ Her hip began to move more freely
✅ Her walking felt smoother and easier
✅ Her workouts stopped flaring things up
✅ And, most importantly, she could trust her hip again
Why Your Big Toe Matters More Than You Think
The big toe plays a vital role in every step you take. It’s the final point of contact with the ground before push-off, and it helps create the rotational movement that travels up through your leg into your hip and pelvis.
If your big toe doesn’t extend properly (we’re talking roughly 60–70 degrees for normal walking), your body can’t complete that smooth “rolling” motion through the foot. Instead, the body finds a workaround — often twisting at the knee, rotating the hip awkwardly, or overusing muscles that aren’t designed for propulsion.
Over time, this creates a breakdown in the movement chain that can show up as:
- Chronic hip tightness or pain
- Knee irritation
- Achilles or plantar fascia issues
- Low back discomfort
That’s why, at Neurohealth Wellness, we rarely treat pain by looking only at where it hurts. We look at how the entire body moves as a connected system.
The Importance of a Global Movement Screen
When someone walks through our doors with persistent pain, we don’t just focus on the sore area. We perform what’s called a Global Movement Screen — a full-body assessment that helps us connect the dots between different regions of the body.
In the case of our patient with hip pain, that meant checking her:
- Foot mechanics (especially big toe mobility and arch control)
- Knee alignment and rotation
- Pelvic balance and hip stability
- Core engagement and spinal movement
Once we saw the limitation in her toe and the compensation in her hip, the path forward became clear.
We didn’t just release her hip; we restored her body’s ability to move as one integrated unit.
Restoring the Foot–Hip Connection
To rebuild this connection, we used a combination of:
- Chiropractic adjustments and joint mobilisation to restore motion through the foot and hip
- Soft tissue therapy and myofascial release to ease tension in overworked muscles
- Functional rehab exercises to retrain how her foot, knee, and hip work together during walking and training
- Gait retraining drills to improve control through each step
Within a few sessions, her pain levels dropped, her stride felt smoother, and her confidence returned.
This is the kind of result we love seeing — not just symptom relief, but true restoration of movement and function.
Could Your Hip Pain Be Coming From Your Feet?
If you’ve been dealing with stubborn hip pain that hasn’t responded to stretching, strengthening, or massage, it might be time to look lower — much lower.
Ask yourself:
- Do you have limited movement through your toes or ankles?
- Do you notice your foot collapsing or rolling in when you walk or run?
- Does your hip feel “stuck” no matter how much you stretch it?
If you answered yes to any of these, there’s a good chance your hip pain is a symptom, not the source.
How Neurohealth Wellness Can Help
At Neurohealth Wellness, our chiropractors are trained to assess and treat the entire kinetic chain — not just the spine. By understanding how each joint interacts with the next, we can identify and correct the root causes of persistent pain.
Our team combines:
- Advanced chiropractic techniques
- Soft tissue therapy and cupping
- Functional movement retraining
- Tailored exercise programs
We’ll help you move better from the ground up, ensuring your feet, hips, and spine are working together the way they were designed to.
Whether it’s hip pain, foot dysfunction, or a combination of both, we’ll find what’s been missed — and help you get back to pain-free movement.
Ready to Reconnect Your Movement Chain?
If your hips feel tight, sore, or unreliable, it might not be a “hip problem” at all. It could be your body’s way of signalling that something further down the chain — like your big toe — needs attention.
Book an appointment with our team at Neurohealth Wellness in Allambie Heights. We’ll take a holistic look at how your body moves, uncover the true cause of your discomfort, and help you move with confidence again.
📍 33–35 Kentwell Rd, Allambie Heights
📞 (02) 9905 9099
💻 Book Online
References
- McKeon, P. O., Hertel, J., Bramble, D., & Davis, I. (2015). The foot core system: a new paradigm for understanding intrinsic foot muscle function. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 49(5), 290.
- Lee, D. (2011). The Pelvic Girdle: An integration of clinical expertise and research. Churchill Livingstone.
- Kappel-Bargas, A., Woollacott, M., & Silverman, S. (2020). Intersegmental coordination during walking: the role of the toes and forefoot in dynamic stability. Gait & Posture, 82, 295–301.
- Lundgren, P., et al. (2008). In vivo 3D kinematics of the foot during walking. Gait & Posture, 28(1), 93–100.
- McPoil, T. G., & Cornwall, M. W. (1996). The relationship between subtalar joint neutral position and rearfoot motion during walking. Foot & Ankle International, 17(6), 303–309.
