Painful foot disorders are highly prevalent among older adults causing a significant impact on mobility, function, and risk of falls. Despite its significance, foot pain is often interpreted as a normal part of aging and relatively ignored by health care providers as well as by the older people themselves. Accurate diagnosis of the cause of foot pain is possible for most cases via clinical evaluation without a costly workup. Clinicians should consider, not only musculoskeletal pathologies but also vascular and neurological disorders in older patients with foot pain. Fortunately, most patients improve with physiatric, nonoperative interventions involving biomechanical analysis, function-oriented rehabilitation programs and therapeutic exercise, the use of proper footwear and orthoses, and selected percutaneous interventions, as indicated. In this review, we discuss the physiologic changes of the aging foot relevant to foot pain, the impact of painful foot disorders on function and other key outcomes, and principles of diagnosis and intervention. We also briefly describe painful foot disorders of the older people commonly encountered in a physiatric practice.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/PHM.0000000000001239 | DOI Listing |
Orthopadie (Heidelb)
December 2024
Orthopädische Klinik und Poliklinik, Universitätsmedizin Rostock, Doberaner Str. 142, 18057, Rostock, Deutschland.
Background: In adults, flexible symptomatic flat foot is treated conservatively with supportive foot orthoses. Sensorimotor foot orthoses, however, are controversial due to insufficient data.
Purpose: Comparison of the effectiveness of sensorimotor and supportive foot orthoses in adults.
Toxins (Basel)
November 2024
Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, 37100 Verona, Italy.
Clonus is characterized by involuntary, rhythmic, oscillatory muscle contractions, typically triggered by rapid muscle stretching and is frequently associated with spastic equinovarus foot (SEVF), where it may increase risk of falls and cause discomfort, pain, and sleep disorders. We hypothesize that selective diagnostic nerve block (DNB) of the tibial nerve motor branches can help identify which muscle is primarily responsible for clonus in patients with SEVF and provide useful information for botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT-A) treatment. This retrospective study explored which calf muscles contributed to clonus in 91 patients with SEFV after stroke (n = 31), multiple sclerosis (n = 21), and cerebral palsy (n = 39), using selective DNB.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiomimetics (Basel)
December 2024
Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, 06132 Perugia, Italy.
The use of minimalist shoes can lead to enhanced foot somatosensory activation and postural stability but can also increase the incidence of overuse injuries during high-impact or prolonged activities. Therefore, it appears useful to explore new strategies that employ minimalist shoes to effectively facilitate the somatosensory activation of the foot while minimizing acute and cumulative joint stress and risk of injury. To this purpose, this study introduces a novel exercise paradigm: walking for three minutes in ultra-minimalist shoes on artificial flat surfaces designed to mimic highly rugged natural terrains.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlast Reconstr Surg Glob Open
December 2024
Britecyte, Inc., Frederick, MD.
Background: Loss or displacement of a fat pad on the foot increases plantar pressure, leading to pain and plantar ulcers. These ulcers, especially in patients with diabetic neuropathy, have high recurrence rates, often resulting in amputations. Standard of care focuses on reducing plantar pressure with shoe padding or orthotic devices, leaving the restoration of the fat pad as an unmet medical need.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnn Case Rep
December 2024
Neobiosis LLC, UF Sid Martin Innovate Biotechnology Institute, Alachua, FL 32615, USA.
With this short communication, which contains a new case report on diabetic ulcer, we summarize our research progress in treating several complex conditions at a point where currently available treatments were failing to help the affected patients. We review the first case of lower back pain due to severe spondylitis (T12-L1) treated with intravenous injections of a sterile fraction of human purified amniotic fluid (ViX001) obtained from thoroughly screened volunteers at the time of planned c-section at the term of normal pregnancies. Then, we review the first case of recalcitrant diabetic ulcer treated successfully by twice-daily applications of ViX001 directly on the wound and describe another case of diabetic ulcer treated successfully with ViX001.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!