Cushioned insoles do not relieve back pain.

You may have seen the commercial. An individual can barely walk and is grabbing their back due to severe lower back pain. They purchase a pair of Dr. Scholl "Back Pain Relief Insoles" and ...walla... from a medicine bottle poors out these 'magic' insoles that cures back pain, migraine headaches, hemorrhoids, axiety... well... you get the picture.
Most people think that when they are in pain that 'cushiony' resolves the problem, especially when it comes to their feet and back. In fact there is no clinical evidence that 'soft' insoles or orthotics assists in reducing 'structural' pain in the feet, ankle, knees or lower back. What people need are 'functional' orthotics to provide structure to their otherwise abnormal body framework.
If you remember the old nursey rhyme, "the foot bone is connected to the ankle bone, the ankle bone is connected to the knee bone, the knee bone is connected to the hip bone, the hip bone is connected to the back bone, etc." is based somewhat in fact. The difference is that these are not bones but joints and all joints have a correct anatomical alignment. When one joint is out of alignment, then other joints must compensate and generally carry a greater load than what it should.
I personally have had insoles or orthotics made for my patients (called custom molded orthotics) that have abnormal biomechanical function to their feet that have either reduced or totally eliminated lower back pain. But these insoles are functional and provide support vs. accommodative which provide cushion. (I will discuss in a future blog when accommodative orthotics or needed). Most of the time I find that these patients with lower back pain have a limb length discrepancy (one leg shorter than the other) which can also generally be compensated for by custom molded insoles.
So if your lower back has begun hurting you without injury or illness, make an appointment with your local podiatrist to have a lower extremity biomechanical evaluation done. Functional orthotics may just be what the Dr ordered.

"The journey of life is taken one step at a time... none of them should be painful." G.M. Barclay, DPM, AACFAS