SoleScience Inc., Fowler Kennedy Sports Medicine Clinic, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
Prosthet Orthot Int. 2022 Aug 1;46(4):e357-e361. doi: 10.1097/PXR.0000000000000101. Epub 2022 Mar 22.
Foot orthoses have consistently demonstrated an improvement in pain scores for plantar fasciitis. The fabrication of custom-made foot orthoses (CFOs) can vary between clinicians and may include the use of different materials and casting techniques. This cross-sectional study's objective was to quantify plantar pressure for two CFOs, one with a heel plug (HP) and one without.
Fourteen healthy participants (8 men and 6 women; 35.4 ± 7.7 years) were cast by the same practitioner. Both CFOs were made with the same materials and specifications, except for the HP orthosis, which replaced hard material under the heel with a softer blue PORON ® plug for added cushioning. Plantar pressures were recorded during treadmill walking for both devices in a running shoe. Average pressure, peak pressure, and pressure contact area were determined for three regions of the foot: hindfoot, midfoot, and forefoot. A paired samples t -test determined differences in each region ( P < 0.05).
The HP orthosis reduced the overall means of average pressure, peak pressure, and pressure contact area in the hindfoot while tending to increase these measures in the midfoot and forefoot. The three measures showed statistically significant decreases in the hindfoot, whereas a statistically significant increase was seen in average and peak pressures in the midfoot ( P < 0.05).
CFOs with HPs are more effective than regular CFOs in offloading plantar pressures in the hindfoot while increasing pressures in the midfoot. This is an important finding because offloading the hindfoot is critical in pathologies such as plantar fasciitis to decrease pain and increase function.
足弓支撑垫一直以来都能显著减轻足底筋膜炎的疼痛评分。定制足弓支撑垫（Custom-made foot orthoses，CFO）的制作在不同临床医生之间可能存在差异，并且可能包括使用不同的材料和铸造技术。本横断面研究的目的是定量比较两种 CFO 的足底压力，一种有后跟垫（heel plug，HP），另一种没有。
同一位医生对 14 名健康参与者（8 名男性和 6 名女性；35.4±7.7 岁）进行了铸型。两种 CFO 都是用相同的材料和规格制作的，除了 HP 矫形器，它在跟骨下用更软的蓝色 PORON ® 塞替代了硬材料，以增加缓冲。在跑鞋中，使用跑步机行走时，记录两种矫形器的足底压力。确定足部三个区域（足跟、中足和前足）的平均压力、峰值压力和压力接触面积。采用配对样本 t 检验比较每个区域的差异（P<0.05）。
HP 矫形器降低了足跟的平均压力、峰值压力和压力接触面积的总体平均值，同时倾向于增加中足和前足的这些测量值。三个测量值在足跟处显示出统计学上的显著降低，而在中足处的平均压力和峰值压力则显示出统计学上的显著增加（P<0.05）。
与常规 CFO 相比，带有 HP 的 CFO 在减轻足跟的足底压力方面更有效，同时增加了中足的压力。这是一个重要的发现，因为在足底筋膜炎等病理中减轻足跟的压力对于减轻疼痛和增加功能至关重要。
