Erschienen in:
31.08.2017 | Main Articles
Effects of two different foot orthoses on muscle activity in female during single-leg landing
A short-term and long-term study
verfasst von:
Annette Kerkhoff, Heiko Wagner, Arne Nagel, Michael Möller, Klaus Peikenkamp
Erschienen in:
German Journal of Exercise and Sport Research
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Ausgabe 4/2017
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Abstract
Foot orthoses are frequently used when treating knee pain, and their efficacy on pain reduction has been widely accepted. The effect of foot orthoses during gait has also been extensively investigated. However, their effect on neuromuscular control, especially during activities such as jumping, landing, or pivoting, is still unknown. This study investigated the effect of two different kinds of foot orthoses on lower limb’s muscle activity during single-leg landings. In all, 28 female athletes were randomly assigned to either prefabricated soft bedding foot orthoses or custom-made sensorimotor foot orthoses and investigated immediately and again after 12 weeks of wearing the orthoses. The activity of each muscle was normalized to the overall activity of all analyzed muscles. This enables us to obtain the influence of the corresponding muscle on motor control. Muscle activity was analyzed during the flight and stabilization phases of landing. The sensorimotor foot orthoses increased the influence of peroneus longus and semitendinosus muscles and decreased the influence of tibialis anterior muscle, predominantly during the stabilization phase. Soft bedding foot orthoses, on the other hand, increased the influence of vastus medialis and decreased the influence of tibialis anterior muscle, mainly during the flight phase. Furthermore, motor control was altered during the flight and stabilization phases after long-term use, independently of the foot orthoses worn. In conclusion, sensorimotor foot orthoses may provide afferent feedback differently to soft bedding foot orthoses. Future clinical studies should investigate whether foot orthoses have positive effects on knee pain and the potential to reduce overload knee injuries during sports activities.