Research Article
Balance and Pressure Distribution under the Foot during Standing and Walking with no Orthotics Compared to Custom and off the Shelf Orthotics, A Pilot Study
| Jerrold Petrofsky*, Iman Akef Khowailed, Brittney N Burtnett, Marina R Korkar and Brittany M Kinney | ||
| Program of Orthotics and Prosthetics, School of Allied Health Professions, Loma Linda University, California, USA | ||
| Corresponding Author : | Dr. Jerrold Petrofsky Professor and Director of Research Department of Physical Therapy Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California 92350 Tel: 909558 7274; E-mail: jpetrofsky@llu.edu |
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| Received September 16, 2014; Accepted November 15, 2014; Published November 23, 2014 | ||
| Citation: Petrofsky J, Khowailed IA, Burtnett BN, Korkar MR, Kinney BM (2015) Balance and Pressure Distribution under the Foot during Standing and Walking with no Orthotics Compared to Custom and off the Shelf Orthotics, A Pilot Study. Clin Res Foot Ankle 3:161.doi:10.4172/2329-910X.1000161 | ||
| Copyright: © 2015 Petrofsky J, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. | ||
Related article at Pubmed |
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Abstract
Objective: Potential pain relief from foot pain can come from a shoe insert foot orthotic. This study assessed foot pressure distribution and balance in off the shelf foot orthotics versus a custom made foot orthotic compared to no orthotic.
Methods: The subjects (8) were both men and women. The average age was 25.1 ± 2.8 years, the average weight was 68.8 ± 13.7 kg, and BMI 24.5 ± 6.4. Each patient was fit for both off the shelf and custom shoe insert foot orthotics and needed orthotics to reduce pain. Once fit, they were evaluated by standing and then walking 12 meters on a level surface while being monitored by a Tactilus Pressure Mapping system. Balance was also evaluated with a pressure platform during 8 balance tests.
Results: With the subjects accomplishing quiet standing, the average pressure and peak pressure was shifted from the hind foot and forefoot to the mid foot when wearing foot inserts (p<0.05). During walking, the average pressure was significantly shifted from the forefoot and hind foot to the mid foot in both orthotic groups with the greatest reduction in forefoot pressure in the off the shelf orthotic group (p<0.05). This is especially seen when measuring the peak pressures on the foot, where, during standing the peak pressures on the fore foot were 20% higher with no orthotic than seen for the 2 orthotics tested here. Balance was best in the custom orthotic group while both orthotic groups had better balance than the no orthotic studies for the most difficult balance tests. Conclusion: At least in this small group of subjects, off the shelf foot orthotics help gait or balance but custom orthotics are better.
