Shoe heel abrasion and its possible biomechanical cause: a transversal study with infantry recruits

Abstract

BackgroundExcessive shoe heel abrasion is of concern to patients and shoe manufacturers, but little scientific information is available about this feature and its possible causes. The purpose of this study was to relate this phenomenon with biomechanical factors that could predispose to shoe heel abrasion.MethodsNinety-seven recruits (median age 25) were enrolled in this study. Shoe abrasion was assessed manually with a metric plastic tape on the posterior part of the heel that comes in contact with the ground. The number of sprains, foot alignment, and calf muscle shortening (Silfverskiold test) was also assessed in order to relate it with shoe heel abrasion. After using our exclusion criteria, 86 recruits and 172 were considered for this study.ResultsThe most common abrasion site was the lateral portion of the heel surface (50 %). Forty-four percent of the participants had neutral hind-foot alignment and 39 % had valgus alignment. Twenty-six (30 %) patients have had previous ankle or foot sprains. Neutral foot was related with less calf muscle shortening. On the other hand, valgus hind-foot alignment was more associated with Achilles shortening (p < 0.05). Patients with neutral alignment were associated with more uniform shoe heel abrasion and varus feet were associated with more central and lateral abrasion (p < 0.05). The pattern of shoe heel abrasion was not statistically related with calf muscle shortening nor with number of sprains.ConclusionThis study was able to correlate shoe heel abrasion with biomechanical causes (neutral alignment–uniform abrasion/varus alignment–central and lateral abrasion). More effort has to be done to continue evaluating outsole abrasion with its possible biomechanical cause in order to predict and treat possible associated injuries.

Identification of Gait and Personal Factors Associated with Shoe Abrasion Patterns

“…For medial abrasion and centro-medial abrasion (i.e., inwardly slanted shoe abrasion) among them, in particular, it has been found that abrasion patterns that are inwardly skewed on both feet are very rare. This was similar to the results of a study by Baumfeld et al [5], who measured 47.1% lateral abrasion and 4.7% medial abrasion in 97 infantrymen. Additionally, the total number of subjects with different forms of abrasion on both feet was 18, accounting for only 6.1% of the total number of participants.…”

“…Participants brought their worn-out shoes to analyze the abrasion of the shoes according to the human body dimensions and gait characteristics of the participants. After checking the abrasion on the soles, the abrasion of the shoes was classified into five types by referring to the study of Baumfeld et al [5]. Table 2 shows that the heel is divided into medial, central, and lateral parts to define five types of shoe abrasion.…”

Identification of the Visually Prominent Gait Parameters for Forensic Gait Analysis

“…Among the visually prominent variables in the results of Koreans’ walking characteristics, the main variable appears to be how far forward they bend and walk. The shapes of one’s neck and spine vary from individual to individual [ 17 ], and they depend on the size of one’s muscles [ 18 ]. This difference can cause differences between individuals in neck extension and spinal flexion when walking.…”

Effects of Attrition Shoes on Kinematics and Kinetics of Lower Limb Joints During Walking

“…Patterns of shoe attrition could be classified into lateral, medial, and central degradation ( Baumfeld et al, 2015 ). Lateral heel degradation was found to be the most popular pattern according to a measurement of over 200 shoes, with an average shoe age of almost a year ( Sole et al, 2014 ).…”