All posts by Staff

Foot Problems

Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar fasciitis has become the prevalent complaint which affects the feet. As a result of how widespread it is, there are so many pretending to be experts about it online giving out harmful advice on what to do about it. The characteristic signs of plantar fasciitis are soreness in the heel that is worse when getting up from rest, in particular first thing each morning.

Plantar fasciitis is an issue with the plantar fascia (which is a strong ligament which supports the mid-foot of the foot) once the cumulative weight applied to the plantar fascia is higher than what the tissues can carry. Because of this there are only two main reasons for plantar fasciitis: the cumulative load is simply too high or the tissues are too weak. The stress is elevated by body weight, restricted leg muscles, activity amounts and biomechanical reasons. The tissues being too prone is caused by nutritional deficits and genetic factors.

The sensible solution to improve from plantar fasciitis is to lessen the strain and increase the capacity of the plantar fascia to take the load. You reduce the force by slimming down, using strapping in addition to foot supports, as well as stretching the calf muscles. You increase the capability of the plantar fascia to accept the load through ensuring the dietary status is satisfactory and perform gradual loading activities for the plantar fascia. You can’t do anything at all about the genetics. It is really that easy and there is no necessity for plantar fasciitis to become such a huge problem that it is.

The problem with the therapy of plantar fasciitis and all the tips being given on the web for this is that the natural history of plantar fasciitis is to get better by itself eventually. Just look into the placebo groups in the clinical studies on different treatments for plantar fasciitis; they do improve. Eventually could be a long time and it is sore, so they still need to be addressed rather than wait until it improves. This means that, it doesn’t matter what therapy is used, a particular percent will likely become better regardless as a result of that natural history. Which means that bad remedies persist as they all do manage to help some, when in reality they didn’t help any. Those who appear to be effectively treated with that treatment probably will propose that it is useful. This also implies that the treatments that ought to be used are those which have been shown to result in superior results than just the natural history. Because of this we won’t become misled into believing a therapy will work when in reality it might not work any better than the natural history. You should be cautious taking any recommendations on the internet for almost any medical problem.

Sports Medicine

The Spring Loaded Enko Running Shoes

The most recent entrant in to the running shoe marketplace is a unique shoe from Enko. These unique athletic shoes from France were initially promoted in late 2014 and created via a crowd financing project at Indiegogo at the beginning of 2015.

This footwear features mechanical spring loaded pieces which are included in the sole. This particular design provides the shoe with additional shock absorption and energy return. This is believed to help increase comfort along with running economy. The springs are interchangeable and are calculated depending on the weight of the athlete. Data supplied by Enko report that the gains provided by the shock absorbers when it comes to mechanical energy is somewhere between 6% and 14% according to the pace of the athlete.

It is not apparent if the Enko footwear will likely be broadly used at this point, however, some issues have been expressed concerning the structure and how it may affect the running biomechanics.

Foot Surgery

Austin Bunionectomy Surgery for Bunions

Bunions, or more accurately, hallux valgus or hallux abducto valgus occurs in numerous shapes or forms. The condition is one of an enlargement of the great toe or hallux joint of the foot (bunion) and an pointing over of the great toe sideways toward the smaller toes (abduction and valgus). They become painful due to arthritis like symptoms from the deviation of the big toe or hallux and also from strain on the lump of the bunion from the footwear. They’re one of the most frequent reasons for pain in the feet and are caused by a mixture of inherited attributes, weak biomechanics and also shoe fitting problems. Whilst there are non-surgical options like pads, splints, adequate shoe fitting, exercises and pain alleviation medication that can be used, they cannot make the bunion go away nor align the bunion in the longer term. Usually surgery is the only long term means to fix bunions or hallux valgus. Nonetheless, unless the actual cause of the bunion has been dealt with at the same time there exists a risk that it may occur again.

There are numerous joints and bones mixed up in development of bunions and each case is different as differing degrees of each bone and joint are involved. This means that the surgical correction has to be directed at the bone or joint that is involved. If the big toe joint is just involved, then a simple removal of the enlarged bone is perhaps all that is needed. If the angle of differing bones are a issue, then a wedge needs to be taken out of the bone and the bone reset. There are so many different approaches to undertaking that and it’s been believed that this condition has more surgical options for it in comparison to all other conditions!

The Austin bunionectomy is just one kind of surgery. This procedure involves taking off the lump of bone and taking a v out of the head of the 1st metatarsal to realign it and maintain it in position with a screw so it can heal. A special shoe or boot will have to be worn throughout the first few weeks following the procedure and return to your normal shoes after around 4 weeks. It usually requires around 8 weeks to return to full activity levels after this procedure.

Sports Medicine

The new Metarun running shoe from Adidas

The ASICs Corporation is one of the most well-known and widely used athletic shoes available on the market. Like every running shoe brand they always innovate to maintain that market leading position. Asics currently have a variety of athletic shoes with different versions in an attempt to meet the requirements of a wide range of athletes. Each of those models is often updated. Asics recently created a different model to the range, the Metarun. Very little was at first known about the footwear, simply a taster online video on the Asics website and a countdown clock ticking down to a unveiling on November 12 2015. When the clock arrived at zero a tweet was dispatched by the company to a video that revealed further information and the website was refreshed with more on the Metarun. Asics certainly claiming that this is their best ever athletic shoe.

The running shoe goes against the current tendencies of less gadgets and features in running shoes, adding several designs which have patents attached to them. The midsole, termed FlyteFoam, is their lightest and most sturdy midsole material. They discuss “organic fibers” for the highest level of cushioning. The shoe gets its stability from the patented AdaptTruss which is a carbon reinforced adaptive stability system. The “Sloped DUOMAX” is a dual density midsole which is expected to change easily to dynamic motion of the runner. The upper features a glove-like, one-layer Jacquard Mesh as well as MetaClutch exoskeleton external heel counter with a built-in memory foam. There is also a X-GEL hybrid high-tech gel in the midsole to assist shock absorption.

Is it their finest running shoe ever? Time will tell. Runners will vote with their feet once they test the Metarun. There was a little bit of hype in social media before the launch. The Metarun won’t be available until late November and they are going to be expensive and just available in restricted release.