Sports Medicine
Basic Fitness
Whether you are a professional athlete or play sports just for fun, the demands made on your feet and lower limbs can lead to a range of injuries. This includes blisters, sprained ankles, torn ligaments, shin splints, knee pain, lower back pain and other joint or muscle problems.
Here are some recommendations to get the most from your fun and fitness activities:
- Pay attention to the little things. Your running style, quality of footwear, and even minor limb length differences can contribute to injury.
- Get fit! Out of shape and overweight puts added stress on muscles, tendons, joints and ligaments of the feet. Condition yourself gradually before and after fitness and exercise activities by stretching for 15 to 20 minutes (warm-up and cool-down periods).
- If the shoe fits... A running shoe is built to take impact, while a tennis shoe is made to give lateral support, and permit sudden stops and turns. Cross training shoes do quite well as a general athletic shoe, such as for physical education classes or health club exercising, because they provide lateral support for court activities while having flexibility similar to a running shoe.
- Try a well-cushioned sock for reinforcement, preferably one with cotton/acrylic fiber content (80%/20%) so that perspiration moisture is evaporated or moved away from the skin.
- Don't ignore foot pain during your activities; the term “no pain, no gain” is not normal. If you experience any type of persistent pain in the foot or ankle, please contact our office.
Athletic Footwear
Footwear should be given the same consideration as any other piece of sporting equipment. Sport shoes should protect as much as possible, be durable, and should be specifically designed for that sport and surface. In other words, don’t wear a running shoe to play tennis! It should also fit to hold the foot in a position most natural to the movement involved. Athletic shoes protect your feet from stresses encountered in a given sport. The many differences in design, variations in material and weight, and other internal/external factors seen in athletic shoes are meant to protect the areas of the feet encountering the most stress. Conditions such as sesamoiditis (inflammation of the small bones below the great toe), shin splints (from over-pronation and muscle imbalance), and stress fractures (common in the metatarsals) can occur when incorrect or over-worn shoes are used for a specific activity.
Athletic shoes, under daily use, should be replaced between 8 and 12 months. Whether they appear worn or not, repetitive force placed in one position over time wears down the structural materials. The American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine recommends replacing running or walking shoes after 300 to 500 miles of wear, and replacing aerobic/crosstraining, basketball, and tennis shoes after 45 to 60 hours of wear. Athletic shoes should also be replaced when they show signs of uneven wear. This may be seen as noticeable creasing of the shoe upper, compression or excessively worn outsole materials and/or when the heel counter breaks down.
Recommended athletic shoe brands for supportive and accommodative fit:
Recommended casual and dress shoe brands for supportive and accommodative fit:
