OBJECTIVE To compare walking energy cost between an anterior and a posterior ankle-foot orthosis in people with foot drop. DESIGN Within-group comparisons. PARTICIPANTS Twenty-three adults (14 women, 9 men; mean age 56.8 years (standard deviation 15.4)) with foot drop. METHODS PARTICIPANTS were asked to walk for 5 min at their self-selected walking speed under 3 conditions: (i) with shoes...

Dear Editor, Low back pain (LBP) is one of the common disabling conditions experienced by individuals through the world and the lifetime prevalence of LBP was reported about 84%. A type of LBP which occurs in the absence of an identifiable cause, is called non-specific LBP. Non-specific LBP is managed conservatively by physical therapy and in many cases by applying orthosis. A wide variety of o...

Background: Breast implant displacement or rupture can cause aesthetic problems and serious medical complications. Activities with prone positioning and loading of the anterior chest wall, such as massage, chiropractic or osteopathic therapies may increase the risk of implant failure and can also cause discomfort in women with natural breast tissue. Here we test the effectiveness of a newly dev...

OBJECTIVE Five styles of commercial static wrist extensor orthoses were compared to determine whether any style, or styles, afforded better power grip strength or finger dexterity. Because wrist extensor orthoses are intended for use during functional tasks, their influence on hand function is of great importance. METHOD Twenty-three right-hand-dominant women without upper extremity dysfuncti...

BACKGROUND Botulinum toxin is commonly used to treat spastic equinus foot. This treatment seems to improve gait in hemiplegic patients when used alone or combined with an ankle-foot orthosis. However, the nature and effects of this improvement have until now rarely been studied. The aim of this study was to quantify the impact of a Botulinum toxin injection in the triceps surae of hemiplegic pa...

BACKGROUND Bone, soft-tissue, and nerve deficits of the weightbearing surface of the foot are frequent sequelae from foot trauma or diabetes mellitus and present challenging treatment issues. Injury to the specialized, shock-absorbing, heel-pad tissue containing spirally arranged fat chambers is particularly difficult to manage. Appropriate footwear modifications and shoe inserts for protection...

PURPOSE To evaluate any correlation between various foot angles and their respective American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) scores for pain, and the effectiveness of a medial arch orthosis. METHODS 81 children with bilateral symptomatic flatfoot were randomised into orthosis (n=55) and control (n=26) groups. The orthosis group consisted of 33 male and 22 female patients aged 36 t...