The relationship between the flexible flatfoot and plantar fasciitis: ultrasonographic evaluation
PainSci summary of Huang 2004?This page is one of thousands in the PainScience.com bibliography. It is not a general article: it is focused on a single scientific paper, and it may provide only just enough context for the summary to make sense. Links to other papers and more general information are provided at the bottom of the page, as often as possible.
From the abstract: “There was a higher incidence of plantar fasciitis in the flexible flatfoot group than the normal arch control group in this study.”
original abstract†Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between flexible flatfoot and plantar fasciitis.
METHODS: Twenty-three subjects with flexible flatfoot and 23 subjects with normal arched feet were enrolled. Footprint analysis was used to evaluate the foot conditions in both groups to calculate the individual arch index. We compared the sonographic images of plantar fascia in the flexible flatfoot group with the normal arch group using high-frequency ultrasound.
RESULTS: The analysis results indicated that the thickening of the plantar fascia in the flexible flatfoot group was significantly different from the normal arch group. In the flexible flatfoot group, 10 of 23 patients (43.4%) had plantar fasciitis, but only two subjects (8.7%) in the normal arch group had plantar fasciitis.
CONCLUSIONS: There was a higher incidence of plantar fasciitis in the flexible flatfoot group than the normal arch control group in this study.
related content
- “Application of ultrasound in the assessment of plantar fascia in patients with plantar fasciitis: a systematic review,” an article in Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology, 2014.
- “Reproducibility of sonographic measurement of thickness and echogenicity of the plantar fascia,” an article in Journal of Clinical Ultrasound, 2012.
- “The correlation between plantar fascia thickness and symptoms of plantar fasciitis,” an article in Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association, 2011.
- “Ultrasonographic evaluation in plantar fasciitis,” an article in Journal of Foot & Ankle Surgery, 2007.
These two articles on PainScience.com cite Huang 2004 as a source:
- PS Save Yourself from Plantar Fasciitis! — Plantar fasciitis explained in great detail, including every possible treatment option, and all supported by recent scientific research
- PS Plantar Fasciitis Patients Have Thick Soles — There’s a connection between plantar fasciitis and a surprisingly thick tissue in the arch of the foot
