Influence of prolonged wearing of unstable shoes on upright standing postural control

Abstract

Objective: To study the influence of prolonged wearing of unstable shoes on standing postural control in prolonged standing workers. Methods:The participants were divided into two groups: one wore unstable shoes while the other wore conventional shoes for 8 weeks. Stabilometry parameters related to centre of pressure (CoP), rambling (RM) and trembling (TR) as well as the total agonist/antagonist muscle activity, antagonist co-activation and reciprocal activation were evaluated during upright standing, before and after the 8 week period. In both moments, the subjects were evaluated wearing the unstable shoes and in barefoot. Results:The unstable shoe condition presented increased CoP displacement related variables and decreased co-activation command compared to barefoot before and after the intervention. The prolonged wearing of unstable shoes led to: (1) reduction of medial-lateral CoP root mean square and area; (2) decreased anteroposterior RM displacement; (3) increased anteroposterior RM mean velocity and mediolateral RM displacement; (4) decreased anteroposterior TR RMS; and (5) increased thigh antagonist co-activation in the unstable shoe condition. Conclusion:The unstable shoe condition is associated to a higher destabilizing effect that leads to a selection of more efficient and accurate postural commands compared to barefoot.Prolonged wearing of unstable shoes provides increased effectiveness and performance of the postural control system, while wearing of unstable shoes in upright standing, that are reflected by changes in CoP related variables and by a reorganization of postural control commands.

Stiffness Effects in Rocker-Soled Shoes: Biomechanical Implications

“…Some studies evaluated the effect of the prolonged wearing of rocker-soled shoes [3, 11]. They compared the variability of biomechanical variables using rocker-soled shoes and conventional shoes.…”

The Role of Footwear in the Pathogenesis of Hallux Valgus: A Proof-of-Concept Finite Element Analysis in Recent Humans and Homo naledi

“…Because in activities such as running and jumping, the windlass mechanism of the MTPJ (Hicks, 1954 ; Bolgla and Malone, 2004 ) plays a fundamental role. When wearing shoes, the elastic moduli of the shoe's uppers, the skin, the muscle tendons and ligaments are not consistent, resulting in stress-shielding (Wearing et al, 2006 ), and then increasing stress concentration on muscle tendons and ligaments (Sousa et al, 2014 , 2016 ). In addition, when the MTPJ involves windlass, the shoes bring stress-shielding to the medial side of the first MTPJ other than bearing the pressure.…”

Pedographic assessment of the impact of off-the-shelf orthopedic shoes on the load distribution under the feet in patients with a high risk of developing diabetic foot syndrome

“…Кроме того, предполагается, что часть нагрузки, которая действует вертикально, при наличии жесткого переката трансформируется во вращение относительно линии переката, что и позволяет снизить нагрузку [6]. Есть данные и о стимуляции проприорецепции при длительном применении так называемой «перекатной» обуви [7,8]. Этот эффект обуви также представляется немаловажным у пациентов со снижением проприорецепции вследствие диабетической полинейропатии и саркопенией, которая характерна для больных с тяжелой полинейропатией [9].…”