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FOR FUN:Met head positions and subsequent mechanics

Discussion in 'Biomechanics, Sports and Foot orthoses' started by phil s, Jan 6, 2012.

  1. phil s

    phil s Active Member


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    Hypothetical foot
    Long 1st with 1st met head most anterior. 2-5 met heads sequentially more posterior positioning.*High gear propulsion through first less likely?......Windlass less used/effective when walking? (not really used for ridged lever creation).*Low gear propulsion caused by the positioning of the met heads: (I can only as yet describe as an angled hinge: e.g. 45 degrees from mid-line ). Inversion of the foot causes by this positioning during forefoot loading/heel lift and subsequent ridged lever creation yada yada....Go easy, only a humble 2nd year undergrad from up north! ;)

    Philip I.Sneyd
     
  2. I have no idea what it is that you are trying to say. Taking a guess, are you trying to work out if there is a relation between the metatarsal length pattern and the propulsive strategy adopted?
     
  3. phil s

    phil s Active Member

    Yes. Perhaps a diagram or two would have been more appropriate to describe my hypothetical foot.
     
  4. In the biomechanics forum at the top you'll find a number of sticky's, within the threads recommended for students you'll find this discussion- http://www.podiatry-arena.com/podiatry-forum/showthread.php?t=2023

    There are other threads where we have discussed this concept. Henenfeld was the first to describe the relationship between the metatarsal length pattern and the propulsive strategy. Alas, I no longer have those papers.

    N.B. the windlass mechanism functions via all of the toes- not just the hallux.
     
  5. G Flanagan

    G Flanagan Active Member

    google metatarsal parabola
     
  6. Hate that term because it rarely is.
     
  7. phil s

    phil s Active Member

  8. G Flanagan

    G Flanagan Active Member

    I agree

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parabola

    But searching for that term will still bring up some background information for Phil plus as with the plethora of terms used in Medicine its still widely used although largely incorrect.

    Most students (if not all) do not know the term met parabola (you could look at that as a good thing) although this is mainly because they lack knowledge regarding the significance of met length.


    George
     
  9. See the work of Philip Demp
    http://www.tsb-web.org.tw/isb2007/isb2007-paper/ISB/SD04.pdf
    http://www.japmaonline.org/content/88/9/437.short

    etc etc he published stacks.

    For those that think they have a new paradigm and wish to present it to the podiatric community, you could take more than a leaf out of Demp's book, this man has continuously published upon a subject within peer reviewed journals for a number of decades. As far as I am aware, he has not started moaning and complaining. Rather, he has continuously published his ideas without feeling the need to copyright or trademark. Many a lesson to be learned from he.
     
  10. G Flanagan

    G Flanagan Active Member

    Simon I certainly wasn't trying to claim the term met parabola as my own. I'm really not interested in trying to re invent the wheel.

    I was simply guiding Phil and anyone else to more information. The link to wikipedia was for those interested who may not have heard the term. As such I still advocate those interested to look up the term metatarsal parabola.


    George
     
  11. Chill, I didn't say you were. I was merely pointing out that the transverse plane projection of the metatarsal heads rarely forms a parabolic arc. Hence the term metatarsal parabola is usually a misnomer. More frequently the line connecting the metatarsal heads forms a hyperbolic curve, as Demp has demonstrated on numerous occasions. Yet, if you google metatarsal hyperbole... you'll probably be disappointed. And the literature still talks of a metatarsal parabola. Just one of my little bug bears, George.

    Have a good weekend, George.

    P.S. For all those who perform surgery which might change the length of the metatarsals, I would highly recommend you read and moreover, understand the work of Philip Demp. In my humble opinion (me no surgeon) it should be part of podiatric surgery 101. At the very least it should be reviewed and critically evaluated. The man has produced a number of predictive models based on metatarsal patterning.

    On another note, does anyone fancy a biomechanics of foot surgery conference in the UK? I know Don Green and Kevin were involved in something similar in the States. I did mention it to Greg Quinn but he felt there might be little interest among the podiatric surgeons here...?
     
  12. G Flanagan

    G Flanagan Active Member

    Sorry Simon I thought you were trying to imply I was trying to pass the term as my own when I was simply guiding Phil to information. :drinks

    Regarding the use of shortening osteotomies for lesser mets, I could't agree more, I've seen this NOT work both here and in the US. However shortening 2nd met osteotomies as an adjunct do seem to work quite well in those with plantar plate pathologies and unstable 2nd MPJ's.

    That would be fantastic

    and you


    George
     
  13. No. The paradigm bit was aimed at the likes of Dennis Shavelson.
     
  14. G Flanagan

    G Flanagan Active Member

  15. efuller

    efuller MVP

    Weather the foot rolls off mets 1 and 2 or mets 2-5 depends more on the relative activity of the posterior tibial an peroneus brevis muscles rather than the relative length of the metatarsal heads. That is the question that I thought I saw in your post.
     
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