Background: The body of empirical research is suggestive of the fact that faster walking speed and increasing heel height can both give rise to elevated plantar pressures. However, there is little evidence of the interaction between walking speed and heel height on changes in plantar pressure. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether the effect of heel height on plantar press...

BACKGROUND The aim of the present study was to assess plantar pressure distribution and musculoskeletal symptoms following the use of customized insoles among female assembly line workers. METHODS The study included 29 female assembly line workers (age, 29.76 ± 5.79 years; weight, 63.79 ± 12.11 kg) with musculoskeletal symptoms who work predominantly while standing. The Nordic Musculoskeletal...

In a previous experiment, we showed that among young and healthy subjects, thin plantar inserts improve postural control and modify vergence amplitudes. In this experiment, however, significant inter-individual variability was observed. We hypothesize that its origin could be attributed to a different reliance upon feet cutaneous afferents. In order to test this hypothesis, we re-analyzed the d...

No technology is presently available to provide real-time information on internal deformations and stresses in plantar soft tissues of individuals during evaluation of the gait pattern. Because internal deformations and stresses in the plantar pad are critical factors in foot injuries such as diabetic foot ulceration, this severely limits evaluation of patients. To allow such real-time subject-...

BACKGROUND Plantar pressure measurement has become increasingly useful in the evaluation of plantar health conditions thanks to the recent progression in sensing technology. Due to the large volume and high energy consumption of monitoring devices, traditional systems for plantar pressure measurement are only focused on static or short-term dynamic monitoring. It makes them inappropriate for ea...

BACKGROUND Patients with diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN) are often confronted with ulceration of foot soles. Increased plantar pressure under the forefoot has been identified as a major risk factor for ulceration. This study sets out to test the hypothesis that changes in gait characteristics induced by DPN related muscle weakness are the origin of the elevated plantar pressures. METHODS Three ...

UNLABELLED An experiment was designed to determine if Kinesio™ taping the anterior and lateral portion of the ankle would enhance ankle proprioception compared to the untaped ankle. 30 subjects, 15 men, 15 women, ages 18-30 participated in this study. EXCLUSION CRITERIA Ankle injury < 6 months prior to testing, significant ligament laxity as determined through clinical evaluation by an ATC, o...

Pain and hyperalgesia from deep somatic tissue (i.e., muscle and joint) are processed differently from that from skin. This study examined differences between deep and cutaneous tissue allodynia and the role of cAMP in associated behavioral changes. Capsaicin was injected into the plantar aspect of the skin, plantar muscles of the paw, or ankle joint, and responses to mechanical and heat stimul...