Minimalist Shoes May Increase chance of Stress Fractures!
Minimalist Shoes and Stress Fractures
We discussed stress fractures yesterday. Today well focus on one specific way they can occur, and how YOU can prevent them! I put the abstract of an article that was just published this month. The article was done by Bergstra et al in the Journal of Sports and Medicine and goes on to conclude that, "This increased pressure in the forefoot region might play a role in the occurrence of metatarsal stress fractures in runners who switched to minimalist shoes and warrants a cautious approach to transitioning to minimalist shoe use." Keep reading below if you want to learn more.
I provided the abstract to the article below, but those that are interested, I will provide a summary of this article for your own education.
I'm not anti-minimalist shoe running but I am here to provide recent literature on certain topics. If you have a topic you would like to discuss and like me to research, comment or email me at zbeth02@gmail.com
Intro:
The interest in barefoot running started because of the scarcity of research showing running with shoes prevented injuries
When running barefoot, your body adapts to each foot strike, mainly by striking on your midfoot/forefoot area instead of you rearfoot(which you do with athletic shoes). Your ankle is more flexed when you run barefoot.
Several authors suggested that these changes in running biomechanics lead
to a lower impact load during loading phase and a more distributed
force, which might eventually reduce the risk of running overuse
injuries (e.g. knee overuse injuries and heel and tibial stress
fractures)
Disadvantages: These minimalist running shoes generally have no heavy cushioning in the heel, no motion control features, a more flexible sole and a reduced drop from heel to toe.
"This study looked at the effects on forefoot pressure with minimalist shoes and well-cushioned shoes."
Methods:
They looked at barefoot, minimalist shoes, and standard shoes.
The study examined only females to keep it gender specific.
Results:
The study showed an increase in all forefoot areas with minimalist shoes compared to athletic shoes.The landing strategy was not different between using athletic shoes and minimalist shoes but the forefoot pressures were different.
Conclusion:
This increased pressure in the forefoot region might play a role in the occurrence of metatarsal stress fractures in runners who switched to minimalist running shoes and warrants caution in sudden use of minimalist running shoes.
Abstract of Article
OBJECTIVES:
Minimalist running shoes have been proposed as an alternative to barefoot running. However, several studies have reported cases of forefoot stress fractures after switching from standard to minimalist shoes. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to investigate the differences in plantar pressure in the forefoot region between running with a minimalist shoe and running with a standard shoe in healthy female runners during overground running.DESIGN:
Randomized crossover design.METHODS:
In-shoe plantar pressure measurements were recorded from eighteen healthy female runners. Peak pressure, maximum mean pressure, pressure time integral and instant of peak pressure were assessed for seven foot areas. Force time integral, stride time, stance time, swing time, shoe comfort and landing type were assessed for both shoe types. A linear mixed model was used to analyze the data.RESULTS:
Peak pressure and maximum mean pressure were higher in the medial forefoot (respectively 13.5% and 7.46%), central forefoot (respectively 37.5% and 29.2%) and lateral forefoot (respectively 37.9% and 20.4%) for the minimalist shoe condition. Stance time was reduced with 3.81%. No relevant differences in shoe comfort or landing strategy were found.CONCLUSIONS:
Running with a minimalist shoe increased plantar pressure without a change in landing pattern. This increased pressure in the forefoot region might play a role in the occurrence of metatarsal stress fractures in runners who switched to minimalist shoes and warrants a cautious approach to transitioning to minimalist shoe use.If you have any questions comment or email zbeth02@gmail.com
If pain persists please seek medical attention immediately.
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