Does medial calcaneal wedge improve static balance and load distribution in young adults with pronated foot?

Abstract

Background: Foot orthoses changing the momentum in the subtalar joint are often recommended, especially in activities loading the foot, to bring the pronated foot posture closer to neutral.

Objectives: To examine the immediate effect of medial heel wedge on static balance and load distribution in patients with increased pronation in the foot.

Study design: Experimental study design.

Methods: Forty people with right dominant lower extremity participated in the study. For static balance assessment, we assessed ellipse surface, sway length, x-y mean, AP index, and Romberg ratio on 1 foot and measured load distribution as right-left foot and fore-hind foot with and without wedge.

Results: There was a difference between the parameters of the ellipse surface and the Romberg ratio on the left side in the measurements performed with and without wedge for static balance on the left side ( P < 0.05) while there was no difference in the remaining values ( P > 0.05). In the load distribution, the change in the right anteroposterior foot was significant, increasing the load on the forefoot with the wedge ( P < 0.05) while we observed no difference in the left fore-hind foot load distribution and right-left foot load distribution ( P > 0.05).

Conclusion: Our study showed that for static balance, medial wedge can improve balance on the left side by decreasing sway, and for load distribution, the medial wedge changed the load distribution from back to front on the right side. These small differences in young healthy individuals are a preliminary indication that further studies are needed.