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Over-Pronation

5/31/2015

 
Overview

Over-pronation, or flat feet, is a common biomechanical problem that occurs in the walking process when a person?s arch collapses upon weight bearing. This motion can cause extreme stress or inflammation on the plantar fascia, possibly causing severe discomfort and leading to other foot problems.Foot Pronation

Causes

Over-pronation may happen because the tissue that attaches to your foot bones is loose. You may be born with this problem or it may result from injuries or overuse, like from too much running.

Symptoms

Overpronation causes alterations in proper muscle recruitment patterns leading to tightness in the outside of the ankle (lateral gastrocnemius, soleus, and peroneals). This tightness can lead to weakness in the opposing muscles such as the medial gastrocnemius, anterior tibialis, and posterior tibialis. If these muscles are weak, they will not be able to keep the knee in proper alignment, causing the valgus position. All this tightness and weakness can cause pain within the ankle, calf, and knee region. And it can send imbalance and pain all the way up to the upper back, if deep core strength is lacking and can't hold the pelvis in neutral.

Diagnosis

Firstly, look at your feet in standing, have you got a clear arch on the inside of the foot? If there is not an arch and the innermost part of the sole touches the floor, then your feet are over-pronated. Secondly, look at your running shoes. If they are worn on the inside of the sole in particular, then pronation may be a problem for you. Thirdly, try the wet foot test. Wet your feet and walk along a section of paving and look at the footprints you leave. A normal foot will leave a print of the heel, connected to the forefoot by a strip approximately half the width of the foot on the outside of the sole. If you?re feet are pronated there may be little distinction between the rear and forefoot, shown opposite. The best way to determine if you over pronate is to visit a podiatrist or similar who can do a full gait analysis on a treadmill or using forceplates measuring exactly the forces and angles of the foot whilst running. It is not only the amount of over pronation which is important but the timing of it during the gait cycle as well that needs to be assessed.Over-Pronation

Non Surgical Treatment

Studies have shown that the most effective way to dexrease a high Q angle and lower the biomechanical stresses on the knee joint is to prevent excessive pronation with custom-maflexible orthotics. One study found that using soft corrective orthotics was more effective in reduknee pain than a traditional exercise program. A more recent study showed that Q angle asymmetries, secondary to excessive pronation affecting knee alignment, can be effectivecontrolled or corrected utilizing custom-made, flexible orthotics. Another project involving meof a running club determined that 75% of those using orthotics eliminated or greatly reduced pain in the feet, ankles, shins, knees and hips

Prevention

Firstly, a thorough and correct warm up will help to prepare the muscles and tendons for any activity or sport. Without a proper warm up the muscles and tendons around your feet, ankles and lower legs will be tight and stiff. There will be limited blood flow to the lower legs, which will result in a lack of oxygen and nutrients for those muscles. Click here for a detailed explanation of how, why and when to perform your warm up. Secondly, flexible muscles are extremely important in the prevention of most ankle and lower leg injuries. When muscles and tendons are flexible and supple, they are able to move and perform without being over stretched. If however, your muscles and tendons are tight and stiff, it is quite easy for those muscles and tendons to be pushed beyond their natural range of motion. To keep your muscles and tendons flexible and supple, it is important to undertake a structured stretching routine.

Find Out How To Diagnose Calcaneal Apophysitis?

5/19/2015

 
Overview

Severs Disease, otherwise known as Osteochondroses, is the most common injury of its kind to affect children?s feet. The condition predominately affects children between the ages of 8 - 15 and causes pain at the back of the heel where the Achilles tendon inserts onto the bone. Children will complain of pain during activity and may have difficulty walking.

Causes

A big tendon called the Achilles tendon joins the calf muscle at the back of the leg to the heel. Sever?s disease is thought to occur because of a mismatch in growth of the calf bones to the calf muscle and Achilles tendon. If the bones grow faster than the muscles, the Achilles tendon that attaches the muscle to the heel gets tight. At the same time, until the cartilage of the calcaneum is ossified (turned into bone), it is a potential weak spot. The tight calf muscle and Achilles tendon cause a traction injury on this weak spot, resulting in inflammation and pain. Sever?s disease most commonly affects boys aged ten to 12 years and girls aged nine to 11 years, when growth spurts are beginning. Sever?s disease heals itself with time, so it is known as ?self-limiting?. There is no evidence to suggest that Sever?s disease causes any long-term problems or complications.

Symptoms

A few signs and symptoms point to Sever?s disease, which may affect one or both heels. These include pain at the heel or around the Achilles tendon, Heel pain during physical exercise, especially activities that require running or jumping, worsening of pain after exercise, a tender swelling or bulge on the heel that is sore to touch, calf muscle stiffness first thing in the morning, limping, a tendency to tiptoe.

Diagnosis

Sever disease is most often diagnosed clinically, and radiographic evaluation is believed to be unnecessary by many physicians, but if a diagnosis of calcaneal apophysitis is made without obtaining radiographs, a lesion requiring more aggressive treatment could be missed. Foot radiographs are usually normal and the radiologic identification of calcaneal apophysitis without the absence of clinical information was not reliable.

Non Surgical Treatment

First, your child should cut down or stop any activity that causes heel pain. Apply ice to the injured heel for 25 minutes three times a day. Your child should not go barefoot. If your child has severe heel pain, ibuprofen (Advil) will help. It is important that your child performs exercises to stretch the hamstring and calf muscles, and the tendons on the back of the leg. The child should do these stretches five times each, two or three times a day. Each stretch should be held for 20 seconds. Your child also needs to do exercises to strengthen the muscles on the front of the shin. To do this, have your child stand facing a wall to stretch the calves and the heel cord. Place one foot a shoulder?s width in front of the other, both feet facing the wall. The front knee is bent and the back knee is straight during the calf stretch. Then have your child push against the wall and feel the stretch in his or her back leg. To stretch out the heel cord, have him or her stay in the same position and bend the back knee. Repeat three times. Practice this stretch twice daily.

Recovery

Sever?s disease is self-recovering, meaning that it will go away on its own when the foot is used less or when the bone is through growing. The condition is not expected to create any long-term disability, and expected to subside in 2-8 weeks. Some orthopedic surgeons will put the affected foot in a cast to immobilize it. However, while the disease does subside quickly, it can recur, for example at the s It is more common in boys, although occurs in girls as well. The average age of symptom onset is 9-11.

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