The arch support insoles show benefits to people with flatfoot on stance time, cadence, plantar pressure and contact area

Abstract

Background Pes planus (flatfoot) is a common deformity characterized by the midfoot arch collapses during walking. As the midfoot is responsible for shock absorption, persons with flatfoot experience increased risk of injuries such as thumb valgus, tendinitis, plantar fasciitis, metatarsal pain, knee pain, lower-back pain with prolonged uphill, downhill, and level walking, depriving them of the physical and mental health benefits of walking as an exercise. Methods Fifteen female college students with flatfoot were recruited. A wireless plantar-pressure system was used to measure the stance time, cadence, plantar pressure, and contact area. Parameters were compared between wearing flat and arch-support insoles using a two-way repeated measures ANOVA with on an incline, decline, and level surface, respectively. The significance level α was set to 0.05. The effect size (ES) was calculated as a measure of the practical relevance of the significance using Cohen’s d . Results On the level surface, the stance time in the arch-support insole was significantly shorter than in the flat insole ( p <0.05; ES = 0.48). The peak pressure of the big toe in the arch-support insole was significantly greater than in the flat insole on the uphill ( p <0.05; ES = 0.53) and level surfaces ( p <0.05; ES = 0.71). The peak pressure of the metatarsals 2–4 and the contact area of the midfoot in the arch-support insole were significantly greater than in the flat insole on all surfaces (all p < 0.05). Conclusions These results imply that wearing an arch-support insole provides benefits in the shortened stance time and generation of propulsion force to the big toe while walking on uphill and level surfaces and to the metatarsals 2–4 while walking on the level surface. More evenly distributed contact areas across the midfoot may help absorb shock during uphill, downhill and level walking.

Design and Preliminary Validation of Individual Customized Insole for Adults with Flexible Flatfeet Based on the Plantar Pressure Redistribution

“…The present study showed that, compared to the flat insole, the stance time with the PPRI was reduced when level walking at slow gait speed (0.8 m/s). Huang et al pointed in the research of prefabricated insoles that the shortening of stance time within the range of gait balance shows benefits for gait efficiency [17], which was consistent with the aforementioned results of this study. However, with the increase in gait speed, compared with the other two insoles, the stance time when wearing PPRI did not decrease and remained basically the same.…”

“…Some previous studies have confirmed that customized insoles can be used as an auxiliary physiotherapy tool, which has a positive effect on helping subjects change their gait and re-adjust the pressure distribution on the pelma [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. Designing customized insoles based on plantar pressure can specifically help users change the abnormally distributed pressure on the plantar, which is one of the most common traditional methods.…”

A Three-Dimensional Printed Foot Orthosis for Flexible Flatfoot: An Exploratory Biomechanical Study on Arch Support Reinforcement and Undercut

“…The 3D printed heel support insoles fabricated by Jin, et al [ 43 ] for healthy individuals and the 3D printed insoles fabricated by Tarrade, et al [ 44 ] for workers also found a significant reduction in peak pressure over the hindfoot region. It was anticipated that the midfoot pressures were increased because of the arch support, which is consistent with other similar studies [ 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 ].…”

The influence of myofascial release on pain and selected indicators of flat foot in adults: a controlled randomized trial

“…Available reports on the effectiveness of various physiotherapeutic techniques on dynamic foot indicators do not analyze the impact of applied therapies on gait phases in relation to flat feet with pain. However, such an analysis seems to be warranted, because, as it has already been mentioned, incorrect arching of the foot and related pain may affect the biomechanics of gait by disturbing the pressure of the feet on the ground 2 , 47 . In our research, we assessed the effectiveness of the proposed 4-week therapies.…”