OBJECTIVE While recent evidence suggests that foot pain may be related to mechanical stress, quantitative data elucidating the role of regional plantar loading in foot pain in individuals with midfoot osteoarthritis (OA) are lacking. Therefore the authors' objective is to examine regional plantar loading and self-reported foot pain in patients with midfoot OA compared to asymptomatic, matched c...

The term plantar fasciitis is often used to designate a clinical condition in which the patient has pain in the plantar aspect of the heel, characteristically worse on arising in the morning and after periods of sitting (Furey, 1975). This is a common problem: 95 per cent of all heel pain is diagnosed as plantar fasciitis. Up to two million cases are reported in the US per year (Werner, 2002). ...

Introduction Most in vivo indentation techniques are limited by the lack of adequate indentation on the plantar tissue. Without sufficient indentation into the soft tissue, only very little and less representative information can be obtained. The purpose of this study is hence to assess the effect of deformation depth on plantar tissue behavior and to establish a set rule of optimum indentation...

Introduction To overcome the expense and limitations of cadaveric testing, we developed a finite element (FE) foot model. Previous foot models have included hyperelastic materials, plantar fascia, and extrinsic muscle forces [1]. We also included the plantar fat pad and both distal and proximal cartilage in our model. We validated the model by comparing plantar pressures and joint angles to lit...

background: this study examined the effects of dry needling on chronic heel pain due to plantar fasciitis.   methods: during this single-blinded clinical trial, 20 eligible patients were randomized into two groups: a case group treated with dry needling and a control group. patients' plantar pain severity, (using modified visual analog scale [vas] scoring system), range of motion of ankle joint...

Study Design Retrospective observational study. Background Plantar fasciitis is responsible for 1 million ambulatory patient care visits annually in the United States. Few studies have investigated practice patterns in the treatment of patients with plantar fasciitis. Objective To assess physical therapist utilization and employment of manual therapy and supervised rehabilitation in the treatme...

BACKGROUND Disruption of the plantar plate of the lesser metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joints leads to significant instability. Despite the fact that plantar plate disorders are common, the best mode of treatment remains controversial with operative treatments having variable and somewhat unpredictable clinical outcomes. METHODS Lesser MTP joints from the second, third, and fourth toes from fresh...

BACKGROUND Clinically, plantar fasciitis (PF) is believed to be a result and/or prolonged by overpronation and excessive loading, but there is little biomechanical data to support this assertion. The purpose of this study was to determine the differences between healthy individuals and those with PF in (1) rearfoot motion, (2) medial forefoot motion, (3) first metatarsal phalangeal joint (FMPJ)...

We performed distal chevron osteotomy of the second, third, or fourth metatarsal for painful plantar callosities in 19 non-rheumatoid patients (16 women, 3 men; 21 feet); their mean age was 59 years (32 to 85). The mean follow-up was four years (2 to 7). The overall results were good in 16 feet, fair in two, and poor in three, with four patients still having painful plantar callosities. There w...

Hallux rigidus is a “stiff big toe joint”. Patients with this condition, which is a form of arthritis, often report that it feels as if they have to force their big toe to bend at the joint when “toeing off” from the ground while walking. Often times, hallux rigidus results in the joint becoming completely rigid. Movement of the big toe joint occurs typically in an up and down plane only. The u...