Welcome to the Podiatry Arena forums, for communication between foot health professionals about podiatry and related topics.
You are currently viewing our podiatry forum as a guest which gives you limited access to view all podiatry discussions and access our other features. By joining our free global community of Podiatrists and other interested foot health care professionals you will have access to post podiatry topics (answer and ask questions), communicate privately with other members (PM), upload content, view attachments, receive a weekly email update of new discussions, earn CPD points and access many other special features. Registered users do not get displayed the advertisments in posted messages. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our global Podiatry community today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.
Effect of textured foot orthotics on static and dynamic postural stability in middle-aged females. Gait Posture. 2007 Jan 29;
Wilson ML, Rome K, Hodgson D, Ball P
Quote:
Foot orthotics (FO) may be prescribed for a range of lower limb and foot conditions. Prior studies report use of FO in enhancing postural stability in healthy younger adults, and do not control for footwear type. Currently, interest in the effects of FO on postural stability in older adults has increased. Limited reports exist of the effects on postural stability of FO made of combinations of materials, thicknesses and surface textures. In this study 40 healthy females (51.1+/-5.8 years) recruited into a within subject test-retest randomised clinical trial were provided with identical footwear and randomised into four FO conditions (control, grid, dimple and plain, n=10 for each condition). Participants wore the footwear for 4 weeks, a minimum of 6h/day. A Kistler force plate was used to determine postural stability variables (anterior-posterior displacements and medial-lateral displacements) for each participant in a static position, with eyes open and eyes closed. Base of support was evaluated using the GAITRite(R) system. Each outcome measure was measured at baseline and 4 weeks. Postural stability variables demonstrated no significant differences between the four FO conditions. No significant differences were observed with base of support between the four conditions. We have demonstrated no detrimental effects on postural stability in older females after 4 weeks. This is regardless of orthotic texture and is independent of footwear. Biomechanical or sensory effects of FO on postural stability are still to be determined. These may be dependent on the geometry and texture of the orthotic.
Wearing textured insoles worsened postural control in individuals with chronic ankle instability, according to a poster presented at the National Athletic Trainers' Association annual meeting in Anaheim, CA, in June.
"We were surprised by this finding," said Jay Hertel, PhD, ATC, an assistant professor of human services at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, and one of the study's authors. "We had done a previous study on healthy individuals with these same textured inserts and found that traditional force plate-based measures of postural control were enhanced by the inserts."
Studies conducted by Hertel and his colleagues have suggested that traditional foot orthoses improve balance in healthy people by enhancing plantar cutaneous stimulation, which in turn might boost lower extremity neuromuscular activation.
In the current study, the researchers tested whether wearing textured insoles in the laboratory would improve the balance of individuals with chronic ankle instability. This condition may arise from proprioceptive deficits stemming from damage incurred to the ankle joint capsule and ligamentous mechanoreceptors during an initial ankle sprain, Hertel explained.
"In an effort to replace this diminished articular proprioceptive information, we wanted to provide cutaneous stimulation to the plantar aspect of the foot using the textured insoles," he said. "It is possible that chronic ankle instability creates constraints on the neuromuscular system that prevent the heightened plantar cutaneous stimulation from positively affecting balance."
Twelve men and eight women whose average age was 21.5 and who self-reported chronic ankle instability served as study subjects. They had experienced at least one substantial ankle sprain, had their ankle repetitively give way by rolling over, and scored less than 90% on both the activities of daily living and sports subscales of the Foot and Ankle Disability Index.
The subjects' postural control was measured as they stood on one foot on a force plate for 10 seconds, while wearing their own low-top athletic shoes, under six conditions: with their eyes opened or closed while wearing textured shoe inserts, sham inserts, or no inserts.
The textured inserts, which were designed to offer minimal mechanical support to the foot, were constructed from a plastic matting material and had four 2-mm raised nodules per cm2. The sham inserts were made from 1.5-mm rubber foam.
The researchers recorded time-to-boundary measurements in the mediolateral and anteroposterior directions.
Time-to-boundary data provide a spatiotemporal representation of center-of-pressure excursions by illustrating the time it would take for the center of pressure to reach the foot. Center-of-pressure data were collected at 50 Hz and provided 500 data points, from which time-to-boundary statistics were calculated.
Background: The capacity of the plantar sole of the foot to convey information about foot position is reduced by conventional smooth boot insoles, compared with barefoot surface contact.
Objective: To test the hypothesis that movement discrimination may be restored by inserting textured replacement insoles, achieved by changing footwear conditions and measuring the accuracy of judgments of the extent of ankle inversion movement.
Methods: An automated testing device, the ankle movement extent discrimination apparatus (AMEDA), developed to assess active ankle function in weight bearing without a balance demand, was used to test the effects of sole inserts in soccer boots. Seventeen elite soccer players, the members of the 2000 Australian Women's soccer squad (34 ankles), took part in the study. Subjects were randomly allocated to start testing in: bare feet, their own football boots, own football boot and replacement insole, and on the left or right side. Subjects underwent six 50 trial blocks, in which they completed all footwear conditions. The sole inserts were cut to size for each foot from textured rubber "finger profile" sheeting.
Results: Movement discrimination scores were significantly worse when subjects wore their football boots and socks, compared with barefoot data collected at the same time. The substitution of textured insoles for conventional smooth insoles in the football boots was found to restore movement discrimination to barefoot levels.
Conclusions: The lower active movement discrimination scores of athletes when wearing football boots with smooth insoles suggest that the insole is one aspect of football boot and sport shoe design that could be modified to provide the sensory feedback needed for accurate foot positioning.
and this one that found no differences in an elderly population:
Effect of textured foot orthotics on static and dynamic postural stability in middle-aged females. Gait Posture. 2007 Jan 29;
Wilson ML, Rome K, Hodgson D, Ball P
Quote:
Foot orthotics (FO) may be prescribed for a range of lower limb and foot conditions. Prior studies report use of FO in enhancing postural stability in healthy younger adults, and do not control for footwear type. Currently, interest in the effects of FO on postural stability in older adults has increased. Limited reports exist of the effects on postural stability of FO made of combinations of materials, thicknesses and surface textures. In this study 40 healthy females (51.1+/-5.8 years) recruited into a within subject test-retest randomised clinical trial were provided with identical footwear and randomised into four FO conditions (control, grid, dimple and plain, n=10 for each condition). Participants wore the footwear for 4 weeks, a minimum of 6h/day. A Kistler force plate was used to determine postural stability variables (anterior-posterior displacements and medial-lateral displacements) for each participant in a static position, with eyes open and eyes closed. Base of support was evaluated using the GAITRite(R) system. Each outcome measure was measured at baseline and 4 weeks. Postural stability variables demonstrated no significant differences between the four FO conditions. No significant differences were observed with base of support between the four conditions. We have demonstrated no detrimental effects on postural stability in older females after 4 weeks. This is regardless of orthotic texture and is independent of footwear. Biomechanical or sensory effects of FO on postural stability are still to be determined. These may be dependent on the geometry and texture of the orthotic.
Re: Effect of textured foot orthotics postural stability
The effect of textured insoles on postural control in double and single limb stance.
Corbin DM, Hart JM, McKeon PO, Ingersoll CD, Hertel J. J Sport Rehabil. 2007 Nov;16(4):363-72.
Quote:
CONTEXT: Increased plantar cutaneous afferent information may improve postural control. OBJECTIVE: To compare postural control measures between balance conditions with and without textured insoles. DESIGN: crossover trial. SETTING: Research Laboratory. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: 33 healthy subjects (27.4 +/- 9.1 yrs, 172.6 +/- 10.3 cm, 75.4 +/- 16.4 kg). INTERVENTION(S): Subjects performed 24, 10-second bipedal and unilateral stance balance trials with eyes opened and eyes closed, with and without a textured insole in subjects' shoes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Average velocity and area of center of pressure (COP) excursions.
RESULTS: We observed an interaction among balance conditions during bilateral stance, but not during unilateral stance. On average, subjects exhibited greater area and velocity of COP excursions with eyes closed compared to eyes opened. Significant differences in area and velocity of COP excursions were observed during bilateral stance only when subjects were not wearing textured insoles. There were no significant differences while subjects balanced in bilateral stance with textured insoles.
CONCLUSIONS: Increased afferent information from textured insoles improves postural control in bilateral stance.
Effect of textured foot orthotics postural stability
Linear Mode
