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Patent for barefoot arch support

Discussion in 'Biomechanics, Sports and Foot orthoses' started by NewsBot, Dec 18, 2007.

  1. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1

    Members do not see these Ads. Sign Up.
    This patent was granted last week:
    Arch support independent of footwear
    Link to patent
     
  2. bareAndFooted

    bareAndFooted Welcome New Poster

    Sorry, but I had to register here just to say how incredibly absurd this idea is! I couldn't quite believe that somebody actually went through with patenting such thing. I may go ahead and patent the chocolate teapot idea as it seems equally useless, yet not as absurdly sinister.

    Anyone trying to profit from people who are not fully versed on the benefits and methods of going barefoot should be ashamed of themselves. One of the main benefits of going barefoot/barefoot running is that is strengthens your arches. The main reason people have flat feet/arches are the fact that they don't use their arches (from having orthotics in their shoes or unsuitable footwear from a young age). Show me a member of an indigenous tribe that goes barefoot most/all of the time that has flat feet and I'll eat my hat.

    If there is a reason for this, say people that have malformed arches from birth that are unable to strengthen naturally then perhaps in some small way this patent isn't a waste of time. Please let us know who this patent is actually aimed at assisting and why. Inquiring minds would like to know!
     
  3. Craig Payne

    Craig Payne Moderator

    Articles:
    8
    If you have access to Peter Cavanagh's book on running shoes from the early 80's he has a chapter in it on patents that were registered for different running shoe design features. If you think this one is absurd, you want to see some of teh ones he looked at.
    Could you please provide us ONE study that actually shows that?
    Thats nonsnese. Can you provide ONE peice of evidence to back that up? There a a lot of causes of flat or pronated feet. Weak muscles is proabbly the least common of them. If you look at all the different casues, strengthening the muscles can not impact on most of them. Strengthening teh muscles will only help when a weakness is teh casue of the problem.
    You do realise that the research evidence is that foot orthotics actually strengthen muscles. Not ONE of the studies that have looks at foot orthotics and muscle strength has actually shown that they weaken muscles. You are making up a fiction.

    You do realise that weak intrinsic muscles of the foot actually casues a higher arch supinated foot?
     
  4. DaVinci

    DaVinci Well-Known Member

    Why do we get so many barefoot runners who join up and then tout the unspported nonsensical party line:
    and then get challenged or have things pointed out to them:
    and then never come back to provide the evidence or respond to what was pointed out. Why is that? It happened many times in this thread:
    http://www.podiatry-arena.com/podiatry-forum/showthread.php?t=43282
     
  5. Chloe P

    Chloe P Member

    Hi Craig

    I'm a Pod student just getting to grips with biomechanics, would you be able to explain how weak intrinsic muscles cause a higher arch, supinated foot?

    Thanks

    Chloe
     
  6. Craig Payne

    Craig Payne Moderator

    Articles:
    8
    Think 'intrinsic minus' foot you see in diabetes as the motor neuropathy and intrinsic muscle weakness sets in --> cavus high arch foot.

    A key function of the intrinsic muscles is to hold the proximal phalanx on the ground, so the foot can move around that stable base. ....what happens if the proximal phalanx is not held on the ground? ...... it dorsiflexes .... what happens as the proximal phalanx dorsiflexes --> the metatatarsals plantarflex --> higher arched cavus supinated foot.

    As Davinci was alluding to, the barefoot running community do not let little facts like this get in the way of the 'party line' (...like that word -- first time I heard it used in this context, but very apt)
     
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