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Background and Objective: Plantar fasciitis is due to irritation and inflammation of the plantar fascia, which may occur in patients aged 30-60 years old. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of new modified foot orthosis on improving the quality of daily life, sport and recreational activities in patients with plantar fasciitis.

Materials and Methods: This clinical trial study was done at orthotics and prosthetics clinics in Tehran during Aug 2007 to May 2008. 15 patients with plantar fasciitis including 4 male and 11 female with ranging age 25-45 yrs old (35±5.02) were selected by non probability sampling. Patients used new modified foot orthosis. FAOS questionnaire was used for evaluating the activity daily life and sport and recreational activities. 2 stages included: once before intervention and the second stage after 4 weeks after intervention. Data analysis has been done with paired T-Test , Smironov-Kolomogrov by SPSS-13.

Results: Quality of daily life was 44.30±10.16 before interventional treatment and 61.08±16.26 after intervention and difference between two stages was not statistically significant. The results for sport and recreational activity were 26.50±10.09 before interventional treatment and 52.50±12.23 after intervention and difference between two stages was statistically significant (P<0.05).

Conclusion: This study showed that the new modified foot orthosis was no effective on improving of activity daily life but, was effective in sport and recreational activities in patients with plantar fasciitis.

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Background and Objective: Skeleton abnormalities have adverse effect on skeleton structure and natural shape of hight. This study was done to compare the postural position and body mass index in elementary male students in public and private elementary schools. Methods: This descriptive - analytic study was done on 1254 boys (627 subjects of elementary public school and private elementary schools Abhar city in North West of Iran. Weight and height and body mass index of students were measured. Stature abnormalities measured with Bob, Kayfometer, Goniometer, Caliper and Padscope. Results: BMI of students was more in private school (18.23±3.76) in compare to public schools (17.4±3.46) (P<0.05). Scoliosis, kyphosis, flat back, lordosis, flat foot and pescavus abnormalities was more in students of public schools in comparision with private school (P<0.05). Conclusion: Physical inactivity and lack of adequate exercise space in private schools cause over weight and stature abnormalities.

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Background and Objective: Hysterectomy is stressful in women operation, due to increased release the level of catecholamines some physiological reactions including increase in breathing, heart rate and blood pressure are clinically observed. Massage therapy helps to improve the nervous and cardiovascular system and modifies physiological responses. This study was done to determine the effect of foot massage on the vital signs of patients after hysterectomy.
Methods: In this clinical trial study 60 women underway hysterectomy were randomly divided into intervention (n=28) and control (n=29) groups. Subjects in intervention group were received a
20 minute foot massage according to the mentioned method in two sessions first and second day after surgery, with 24-hours interval. Before and 30 minutes after intervention , vital sign including systolic and diastolic blood pressure, pulse, breathing were recorded for each subject.
Results: In the intervention group, all of the signs of vital signs before and after massage in the first and second days after the operation showed a significant decrease (P<0.05). The number of pulses and diastolic blood pressure in the first and second day after surgery and systolic blood pressure on the second day in the control group showed a significant reduction (P<0.05). At the end of the first day after the intervention group, the systolic blood pressure and respiratory rate showed a significant decrease compared to the control group (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Foot massage improves systolic blood pressure and breathing at the first day after hysterectomy, which may indicate an increase in parasympathetic activity.

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Background and Objective: The asymmetry index during walking can be used for clinical treatment. This study was done to determine the immediate and long-term effects of foot orthoses on asymmetry of ground reaction forces frequency spectrum in male children with flat foot during walking.
Methods: This clinical trial study was done on fifteen children with flat foot. Subjects were randomly divided into without foot orthoses, immediate and long term usage of foot orthoses groups. The kinematic and kinetic data during three without foot orthoses, immediate and long term use of foot orthoses conditions were recorded by the motion analysis and force platform systems, respectively.
Results: Asymmetry index of medio-lateral frequency spectrum component during walking without foot orthoses, immediate and long term use of orthoses in median frequency and band width were greater than 4 percent. There were not any significant differences in asymmetry index of ground reaction force frequency spectrum components, asymmetry index of essential harmony numbers, asymmetry index of essential harmony total powers, and asymmetry index of fundamental harmony number in vertical, anterior-posterior,  and medio-lateral axes between without foot orthoses, immediate and long term use of foot orthoses conditions. However, asymmetry index of essential harmony total power in medio-lateral axis during immediate use of foot orthoses tend to be reduced than that walking without foot orthoses. However, this difference was not significant.
Conclusion: Despite the high asymmetry index of the ground reaction force frequency spectrum in the medio-lateral component during walking without foot orthoses, immediate and long-term effects of foot orthoses in the median and bandwidth frequency variables, the acute or long term use of foot orthoses did not show any significant effect on improvement of asymmetry index of ground reaction force frequency spectrum components.

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Background and Objective: Long-standing groin pain (LSGP) is a common injury in ball games. This study aimed to compare the electrical activity of selected lumbopelvic-hip muscles during a single leg jump-cut maneuver in football players with LSGP and healthy players.
Methods: In this case-control study, 32 football players were divided into two groups: LSGP (n=16) and healthy (n=16). A force plate was used to determine the heel-contact and heel-off moment. The ground reaction forces and the average of three trials of the electrical activity of selected lumbopelvic-hip muscles during a single leg jump-cut maneuver were recorded bilaterally.
Results: At the heel-contact moment, the rectus abdominis and adductor longus muscles on the dominant side and the multifidus muscle on the opposite side showed significantly higher activity in the LSGP group compared to the healthy group (P<0.05). Similarly, at the peak of the vertical reaction force, the rectus abdominis and adductor longus muscles on the dominant side and the multifidus and gluteus medius muscles on the opposite side were significantly more active in the LSGP group (P<0.05). At the toe-off moment, the internal oblique, adductor longus, and gluteus medius muscles on the dominant side and the internal oblique, multifidus, and gluteus medius muscles on the opposite side were also more active in the LSGP group compared to the control group (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Long-standing groin pain causes changes in the electrical activity of muscle groups during different phases of the single-leg jump-cut maneuver, leading to increased dynamic stability and possibly an increased risk of overuse injuries, chronic injuries, economic consequences, and exclusion from sports activities.
 

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Foot pronation, as one of the prevalent foot abnormalities, can influence the biomechanics of the lower limbs. The use of various foot orthoses, including insoles and braces, is very common in eliminating this problem. The results obtained regarding the effect of orthoses on pain and biomechanics of individuals with foot pronation are different. The present review study was conducted to evaluate the effects of foot orthoses and shoes on the biomechanics of the lower limbs and balance in individuals with foot pronation. The articles were searched in Persian and Latin languages during 2004-22 in the databases of PubMed, Web of Science (WOS), Scopus, Islamic Science Citation (ISC), and Google Scholar search engine. Moreover, the types of the searched studies were original research, review studies, and clinical trials. Using keywords of Foot pronation, Foot orthoses, Medical soles, and Motion-control shoes, 52 relevant articles were selected, and 22 articles regarding the effects of orthoses and shoes on foot pronation were finally analyzed. Eight articles also reported that reducing forces imposed on the joints, absorbing shock, preventing pronation-related running injuries, and improving muscle activity occurred when using orthosis. Furthermore, 4 articles reported improving sports performance in athletes, reducing the ground reaction forces, and changing the frequency of muscle activity. Finally, 2 articles showed that motion-control shoes prevented intensifying the injury due to increased fatigue and subsequently increased mechanical loading during running. The results of the present study demonstrated that foot orthoses and motion-control shoes could have positive effects on balance, improving the activities of the lower limbs and reducing foot pronation and force imposed on the foot and lower limb joints.