Plantar Fasciitis in Soccer Players—A Systemic Review

Abstract

Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world. Players often suffer a variety of injuries, the most common being injuries to muscles and tendons. It is striking that with soccer, being the most practiced sport, and considering that most injuries occur in the lower extremities, plantar fasciitis (PF) is not one of the most frequent injuries (at least in terms of clinical data collected). The purpose of this review was to provide a comprehensive update of the topic “plantar fasciitis” focusing on soccer players. The review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reportiog ltems for Systmiatic reviews and Meta-Analyses) statement. PubMed, Cochrane Library and Scopus were researched. PICO (Patient, Population or Problem; Intervention; Comparison; and Outcome) components were identified. The keywords used were “plantar fasciitis”, “plantar fasciitis and sport”, “plantar fasciitis risk factors”, “plantar fasciitis soccer” and “plantar fasciitis football players”. With respect to the objective proposed for the research, we found eight specific articles focused on soccer. Of these, five were general reviews discussing the different methods of treatment of this pathology, and we have only found three studies that focused on PF in soccer, with two of them referring to a clinical case whereby the report and discussion only dealt with the specific treatment followed by the soccer player. After reviewing the manuscripts included in this work, we were surprised that there is no data in which the Silfverskiöld test was performed, as this test explores the passive mobility of the ankle and the degree of dorsiflexion in the supine position. We concluded that soccer players suffer pain in the sole of the foot compatible with plantar fasciitis; however, as indicated by Suzue et al., it is often not diagnosed because the athlete does not consider performing the clinical examinations necessary for its diagnosis. The shortage of reported publications in soccer may mask other PF-associated injuries.

Pilot Study: The Relationship between Foot Posture and Movement Quality in Non-Professional Male Football Players

“…When comparing these results with the study by Cain et al in a sample of 76 futsal players, where they obtained mean scores of 5.36 (SD = 2.92), it coincides that most of the athletes had a neutral or supinated foot position [52]. The pronated foot position was the least present in this type of athlete, and the pronated foot causes alterations in the gait cycle and can cause sports injuries [53]. In this line is the study by Cherati et al who evaluated 68 futsal players with mean scores of 4.90 (SD = 2.88) for the right foot and 4.72 (SD = 3.08) for the left foot [23].…”

“…This is the case of excessive foot pronation, which has been shown to be a risk factor for injury in some sports, such as football. Other studies indicate that the position of supinated feet means a higher risk of secondary injury from overuse, as occurs in sports gestures of football players [53]. This would imply its consideration as a risk factor for injury.…”

“…However, the results showed that there is no statistical significance to demonstrate the relationship proposed in this novel study. According to the literature consulted, there are numerous studies that have applied both FPI and FMS in their studies in sports populations, obtaining beneficial results in their health [23,[51][52][53][54][55][56]. However, there is a lack of studies investigating the relationship between FPI and FMS, making this research novel and significant.…”

Clinical and radiological characteristics of patients with plantar fasciitis

“…Ожирение, длительное статичное положение тела, бег, укорочение трехглавой мышцы голени, смещение заднего отдела стопы и пожилой возраст считаются по тенциальными факторами риска развития ПФ среди со временных исследователей [8][9][10][11][12], однако данные науч ных исследований крайне разноречивы.…”

Correlação entre a análise baropodométrica e a incidência de lesões em atletas de futebol

“…O pé é um meio de referência importante para o sistema postural, no qual recebe e distribui o peso corporal, se adapta às irregularidades do próprio corpo ou do meio externo e é o meio de contato com o solo que atua como uma alavanca que impulsiona o corpo durante a locomoção (Noriega et al, 2022). A ação resultante entre o contato dos pés e uma superfície chama-se pressão plantar, reação do solo impactando os membros inferiores (Franco, 2016).…”