That there are more and more people who incorporate the sport, whatever type it is, to your daily routine is always good news. Both the mind and the body are going to see each other benefited from physical activity. The problem is that this increase also makes some want to take advantage by offering biomechanical studies, gait studies or a foot analysis to all those who come to their establishment to get sports equipment.
Studies and analyzes that are carried out by poorly or unqualified personnel, which “can entail risks for the health of your clients“, they warn from the Illustrious Official College of Podiatry of the Valencian Community (ICOPCV).
As Jorge Escoto, podiatrist and member of the ICOPCV board of directors, points out:
“In this type of spaces, the people who serve either do not have any training or perhaps have done some postgraduate degree in biomechanics, orthopodology or similarwhat is insufficient to diagnose and advise adequately about what needs their lower limbs have”,
“The most common thing is that they talk about whether you are a supinator or a pronator, and it is dangerous because there are other types of footprint, such as neutral, and Error in diagnosis can be a trigger for multiple ailments in athletes”, adds the expert.
5 problems derived from a poor choice of sports shoes
When a misdiagnosis about how we step or what the foot structure is like, the recommendation of the tightest shoe in each case is also wrong. As a consequence, Valencian podiatrists point out the problems that are most frequently found in these cases:
And it is that There are many factors that must be taken into account when analyzing the feet and choosing the best sports shoe in each case..
“We must also know that the foot changes its position according to the gait cycle. For example:
In the heel strike phase, supine
When starting the takeoff phase, property progressively and harmoniously.
Therefore, the foot performs supination and pronation movements with each step” explains Escoto.
The ICOPCV insists that The important thing is to know the degrees of pronation and supination to be able to opt for timely and individualized treatment for each foot, if necessary.
For this reason, an inappropriate choice of the corrective element that is incorporated into the shoe can condition everything. if the weight of the body falls excessively outward or forces inward.
We are not all pronators or supinators
Surely terms such as pronator (those that tend to put in feet inward) or supinator (the step tends to be made with the outside of the foot). Podiatrists point out that there are more types of tread, and each of them makes us more or less prone to injuries.
The person with a neutral gait type is the least likely to suffer injuries. since the weight of the body is better distributed along the foot without overloading the joints.
The supinatorswhose feet tend to go outwards, are more predisposed to bone fractures and ankle sprains. Above all, stress fractures in the fourth and fifth metatarsals, even, in more extreme degrees, a fibula fracture. Instead, pronators, feet in which the heel tends to go inward, ICOPCV experts point out that are the most complexsince, when the knees are turned inward, the kneecaps go outward, the pelvis moves forward and the curvature increases at the lumbar level.
This causes an alteration of the entire musculoskeletal system, from the foot to the neck, because the body tends to compensate for the imbalance. In these cases they are more prone to pain in the lower back or neck.
“Podiatry professionals To advise on choosing a shoe, we not only look at the footprint, but also take other factors into account. as:
The weight of the runner The impact of the heel on the gait The position of the midfoot and forefoot An examination will be performed lying and sitting on the stretcher Joint balance will be analyzed Muscular balance and a neurological examination will be performed.
“In addition, with the patient standing statically on a podoscope, a pressure platform (baropodometric study) or both, we will obtain very useful values and, of course, a study in motion walking, stepping on the platform or running on a treadmilla, among many others,” he adds.
Definitely, Knowing what type of feet we have and what is the best footwear in each case is not an easy question, but requires in-depth study.
For this reason, the ICOPCV insists on the importance of the population knowing that diagnoses made in a sporting goods store “will most likely be wrong.” and, furthermore, in these establishments there will be no health registration number, nor all the devices or instruments necessary to reach a correct diagnosis, therefore, the merchant and the establishment are incurring in what is called intrusion.”