PURPOSE Spastic diplegia is the most common form of cerebral palsy. It presents with symmetric involvement of the lower limbs and upper limbs. Children with spastic diplegia frequently experience problems with motor control, spasticity, and balance which lead to gait abnormalities. The aim of this study is twofold. Firstly, to determine the differences in spatial-temporal gait parameters and ma...

Several studies have already reported that specific foot/ankle muscle reinforcement strategies induced strength and joint position sense performance enhancement. Nevertheless the effects of such protocols on sprint performance and plantar loading distribution have not been addressed yet. The objective of the study is to investigate the influence of a 5-wk foot/ankle strength training program on...

The purpose of our study was to examine dynamic foot function during gait as it relates to plantar loading in individuals with DM (diabetes mellitus and neuropathy) compared to matched control subjects. Foot mobility during gait was examined using a multi-segment kinematic model, and plantar loading was measured using a pedobarograph in subjects with DM (N = 15), control subjects (N = 15). Pear...

The study was taken up to investigate the effects of heel heights on lumbar kinematics and the risk of Low Back Disorder (LBD) in females. Nineteen female university students (24.5 ± 3.36 yrs) volunteered in the study. Lumbar kinematics was measured by using Industrial Lumbar Motion Monitor (iLMM). The volunteers were asked to walk for a distance of 50 meters in 3 different given conditions i.e...

The purpose of this study was to compare the heel pad mechanical properties of runners, who repetitively load the heel pad during training, with cyclists who do not load their heel pads during training. Ten competitive long distance runners and 10 competitive cyclists volunteered for this study. The thickness of the unloaded heel pad was measured using realtime B-mode ultrasonography. A heel pa...

BACKGROUND Plantar heel pain is a common foot disorder aggravated by weight-bearing activity. Despite considerable focus on therapeutic interventions such as orthoses, there has been limited investigation of footwear-related issues in people with plantar heel pain. The aim of this study was to investigate whether people with plantar heel pain experience footwear-related difficulties compared to...

The authors measured the thickness of the medial, central, and lateral bands of the plantar fascia using ultrasonographic techniques in 109 symptomatic patients with 211 painful heels. Plantar fasciitis was diagnosed by the presence of plantar heel pain and tenderness of the plantar fascia on palpation and was correlated with plantar fascia thickness. All of the symptomatic feet had medial band...

Osteoarthritis of the knee is a common condition that can cause considerable pain and disability. Various forms of lateral wedging may be effective in the treatment of medial compartment osteoarthritis, but it is not known whether incorporating a lateral wedge into a custom-molded foot orthosis will achieve similar results. Therefore, 30 subjects (21 men and 9 women) aged 29 to 77 years (mean +...

Postural sway during quiet stance is attenuated by actively maintained contact of the index finger with a stationary surface, even if the level of applied force (<1 N) cannot provide mechanical stabilization. In this situation, changes in force level at the fingertip lead changes in center of foot pressure by approximately 250 ms. These and related findings indicate that stimulation of the fing...