Lower Extremity Review
PediFix introduces the GelSmart gel toe spacer, which is equipped with a gel loop to fix the device in place. The toe spacer with stretchable gel loop, made from a comfortable, durable gel material, separates the hallux and second toe to limit rubbing and friction....
The Foot Foundation’s new Sports Balance System measures and controls pronation with archless, custom-angled, full-foot foundations that can be used in almost any shoe, including athletic shoes. The SBS measurements correspond with one of 12 custom angled...
Changing the way people walk can significantly decrease knee external adduction moments, which in turn appears to relieve pain and possibly slow the progression of osteoarthritis. The challenge, however, is finding a gait modification that feels and appears natural to patients.
By Lydia Caldwell, BS, and Joaquin Barrios, PT, DPT, PhD
It’s hard to remember sometimes that being thin was once undesirable, a sign of poverty, poor nutrition, and low social status. These days, Hollywood-style thinness is associated with wealth—the kind of wealth that might buy the services of a personal dietitian, personal chef, and personal trainer.
By Jordana Bieze Foster, Editor
Study findings suggest that rocker soles effectively reduce peak plantar pressures in patients at risk for diabetic foot ulceration, particularly when paired with custom orthoses. Whether or not rocker soles can play a role in healing active neuropathic ulcers, however, remains unclear.
By Emily Delzell
Research supports the use of balance training to improve physiological and clinical outcome measures in patients with chronic ankle instability. Now researchers and clinicians must use that knowledge to optimize the incorporation of balance training into CAI rehabilitation protocols.
By JoEllen M. Sefton, PhD, ATC, CMT, and Kenneth E. Games, MEd, ATC
There’s little question that dynamic pressure data have benefit for designing foot orthoses, particularly for diabetic patients, but recent focus on the technology’s limitations has clinicians wondering about cost justification. And what about those ubiquitous drugstore kiosks?
By Cary Groner
Instrumented gait analysis can help characterize abnormal gait patterns in patients with cerebral palsy, which improves clinical decision making. Early interventions based on gait analysis can help minimize the long-term adverse effects of poor biomechanics.
By Frank M. Chang, MD, Jason T. Rhodes, MD, MS, Katherine M. Davies, BA, and James J. Carollo, PhD, PE
Functional electrical stimulation of the ankle dorsiflexor muscles effectively reduces foot drop in stroke patients, but also is associated with limitations. Now researchers are looking to address those limitations by adding plantar flexor stimulation to the mix.
By Emily Delzell
Other factors may warrant focus
Research presented in August at the annual meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics in Long Beach, CA, adds support to the increasingly popular idea that patellofemoral pain syndrome arises from different mechanisms—and therefore should be managed differently—in different subgroups of patients.
By Jordana Bieze Foster
Just because a runner’s foot strike pattern changes as a result of switching from shod to barefoot running doesn’t necessarily mean that runner will experience lower impact loading rates, according to research from the University of Oregon presented in August at the ASB meeting.
Female athletes may have a greater risk of a primary anterior cruciate ligament injury than their male counterparts, but following ACL reconstruction both genders are equally prone to asymmetrical landing kinetics that could lead to a second injury, according to research from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
Predictive variables include race, age
Research presented in July at the annual meeting of the American Podiatric Medical Association in Boston adds to knowledge of risk factors for and prevalence of hallux valgus. Older age, African American race, high heel use, and genetic factors all conferred an increased risk of HV.
By Emily Delzell
Foot orthoses modified with metatarsal pads, the current standard of care for metatarsalgia, don’t significantly reduce plantar pressure compared with orthoses alone, according to a study presented in July at the annual APMA meeting in Boston.
Mild compression socks can reduce lower extremity edema in patients with diabetes without compromising vascularity, according to research presented in July at the annual APMA meeting in Boston.
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