News — PPL Article

Managing Plantar Fasciitis - 2023 Update of Clinical Practice Guidelines

Posted by PPL Biomechanics on Apr 18, 2024

By Sharon Morris, MISCP BSc Physiotherapy, MSc Applied Biomechanics, 18th April 202 This article aims to summarize the recent publication of updated clinical practice guidelines for the management of plantar fasciitis. The update was carried out by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and published in the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy in November 2023. The guidelines are particularly useful in supporting us as clinicians as we endeavour to use peer reviewed literature to enhance our clinical decision-making. Incorporating a Grading System This paper uses a grading system for the recommendation of different interventions based on the strength...

Tags: plantar fascia, Podiatry, PPL Article

Footwear First

Posted by PPL Biomechanics on Feb 21, 2024

When approaching a biomechanical assessment for new patients with a view to provision of foot orthoses, consider the impact of poorly fitting footwear, the patient's individual needs, and also how to convince them to transition from their previously-loved "elegant" footwear.

Tags: Footwear, Orthotics, PPL Article

Intrinsic Muscle Strength: Is It Important?

Posted by PPL Biomechanics on Jun 18, 2020

For a long time, the plantar fascia (aponeurosis) has been given a leading role as ‘the’ soft tissue for maintaining the foot’s profile in gait and for stiffening the foot during the stance phase through the windlass mechanism (1; 2). More recently researchers have taken a harder look a the plantar intrinsics to see how significant their role is in foot function (3). Our intent is this short article is to answer the question; ‘is intrinsic foot muscle strength important?’ Foot rehabilitation is an integral part of foot orthosis design and provision, both for the intrinsic and extrinsic foot muscles...