Vibram Five Fingers Shoes Named In Lawsuit

Yes, you read it correctly, Vibram Five Fingers (VFF) shoes are currently embroiled in a lawsuit as they are alleged to have made "deceptive and misleading statements about the benefits of barefoot running".

You've read it here before, we've posted on runners who still land on their heels despite running in their VFF.

As part of the lawsuit, there was even a research paper cited, where the American Council of Exercise (ACE) found that many people who made the switch to wear VFF's continue to land on their heels. The researchers found that runners wearing the VFF had twice the loading rate compared to runners using "normal shoes" if they landed on their heels.

You would already know that 2 times loading rate is still fairly low, especially so if you have come to the running workshop. This is actually considerably less than another study done by prominent barefoot running researcher Daniel Lieberman who found that barefoot runners who landed on their heels had impact forces 7 times higher than if you land on your heels in shoes.

As discussed in the workshop, barefoot running is a skill that needs to be mastered. The ACE study had their runners do a 2 week "familiarization" period in the VFF, where they ran 20 minutes a day to get used to it. However, 50 % of runners still landed on their heels after the 2 week familiarization period, while in Lieberman's study, 83% of his runners were still heel striking.

Hence, it doesn't matter what you shoes you wear, it's how good your running technique is and how you land that really matters. That means if you master the technique, you can run in literally any shoes you want.

It is then important for me to add that if you as a coach/ physiotherapist/ personal trainer etc are asking your athletes/ patients/ clients etc to run barefoot, you need to teach them the right way to do it and you need to make sure you will make them good enough to avoid them getting hurt. If not, you've caused them to be injured despite your good intentions.

Please contact us if you want to learn how to run pain free.

References

Lieberman DE, Venkadesan M et al. (2010). Foot Strike Patterns & Collision Forces in Habitually Barefoot Versus Shod Runners. Nature. Jan 463(7280): 531-535.

Read the ACE article (and the link to the paper) here.

*Picture from Flickr.com

KT 2 On 250312

Here are more pictures from day 2 of the course.

The participants also learned that the Ram's head technique  (Fascia Correction) can also be done at the elbow joint (or knee) and not just at the ITB - something previously not taught before (Picture 2).

Mechanical Correction of the PF joint

Ram's head

The participants

Kinesio Taping KT 1 Course On 240312

The first KT 1 course for the year held @ Progress Healthcare. We have overseas participants from Malaysia and the Philippines as well as local participants of course.

Teaching the glut medius taping

Close up of the glut medius taping

Participants in action

Stay tuned for KT 2 tomorrow.

Are Our Backsides Getting Bigger?

Rain or shine, I still ride my bicycle to work, I hardly ever take buses or the MRT. But this is what I came across in the papers.

Read in the New York Times that their Transport Authority is reassessing the width of the seats on their public transport as their nation's citizens' backside size is ever increasing.

Wonder if LTA considers that since they are increasing the number of our buses & trains.


Reference

Here's the NY times article.

*Picture from Flickr

The Look

No this is not what you imagine. Great work done by Brian Dettmer who does his carvings one page at a time out of medical journals, old encyclopedias, anatomy illustration books etc.

*Picture from Briandettmer.com

Sports Injuries Talk/ Kinesio Taping Workshop @ SMRT

Sports Solutions did a Sports Injuries management talk followed by a Kinesio Taping awareness course for SMRT Sports & Recreation Club at their club house at Bishan this evening.

Please contact us if you're keen to have talks/ workshops for your company.

MEAT vs RICE

RICE (rest, ice, compression & elevation) is a standard treatment protocol for acute sports injuries. But, what if I say that for ligaments and tendons, RICE can actually hinder the healing process. Please read on if you like to find out a little more.

Muscles have very good blood supply while tendons and ligaments have very poor blood supply. So if you reduce blood supply (and hence decrease blood flow & nutrients) to ligaments & tendons by administering RICE, ligaments and tendons may take a longer time to heal as a result.

The MEAT (movement, exercise, analgesics & treatment) protocol on the other hand is proposed to be superior to treating ligaments and tendons.

Movement -  The key here is controlled movement. Controlled movement of the affected area/ limb will stimulate blood flow to the ligaments & tendons while allowing for the regenerating collagen fibres (or scar tissue) to be laid in the areas of stress to improve recovery.

The authors in a study of patients with ankle ligament sprains had better treatment outcomes (less swelling, and quicker return to sports) with controlled functional movement treatment compared to immobilization (Kerkhoffs et al, 2002).

Exercise - Again here the key is controlled & correctly prescribed exercises. Range of motion, strength and especially proprioception (joint position sense) help improve function and weight bearing in patients with acute ankle sprains (Bleakley et al, 2010).

Analgesics - It is suggested that natural analgesics such as proteolytic enzymes e.g. bromelain (found in pineapples), papain (found in papayas) and not anti inflammatory medications (which can hinder healing) be used as natural analgesics decrease the painful swelling but do not stop the natural inflammatory reactions to lead to healing. Codeine (a narcotic) can also be used, although large amounts may cause constipation.

Treatment - Well, not much to add here except to say that you need a competent physiotherapist (that's why you need us at Physio & Sports Solutions) to implement evidenced-based treatments to assist in your recovery and quick return to sports.

It is important for me to point out that RICE should still be used in acute muscle strains & injuries. It would be best to incorporate both RICE & MEAT in the treatment of soft tissue injuries depending on where the injury is, which stage the injury is at and what the injury is.

References

Bleakley CT et al (2010). Effect Of Accelerated Rehabilitation On Function After Ankle Sprain: Randomised Controlled Trial. BMJ 340: c1964

Caring Medical and Rehabilitation Services (2010). MEAT vs RICE Treatments. Retrived from http://www.caringmedical.com/symptoms/meatvsrice.asp

Kerkhoffs GMMJ et al (2002). Immobilisation And Functional Treatment For Acute Ankle Ligament Sprains In Adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2002, Issue 3.