Foot exercises and improved cutaneous perfusion

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It is known that vigorous exercise produces a systemic ,post exercise increase in cutaneous tissue perfusion but what of local exercises that involve only a small percentage of the bodies skeletal muscle ?

More specifically , can exercising the intrinsic muscles of the foot produce a local increase in cutaneous blood flow ?

I have not yet found any studies that deal with this question specifically but have found a study (1 below ) which shows electrical stimulation of the muscles of the forearm does produce a local increase in cutaneous blood flow . It therefore seems likely to me that exercising the intrinsic foot muscles will increase blood flow to the foot muscles and the cutaneous tissues of the foot .

The study mentioned above also found that locally applied heat had a synergistic effect with muscle exercise producing a large increase in cutaneous perfusion .

One might speculate that exercising the intrinsic foot muscles against resistance will produce more heat within the muscles and hence the foot generally than NMES alone , giving a larger post exercise increase in cutaneous perfusion due in part to local heating .

Any thoughts ?

Study 1


Post Exercise Cutaneous Hypermia as a Result of Local Exercise of ...

neurocare.com/.../post-exercise-cutaneous-hypermia-as-a-result-of-local-exercise-of-a...Post Exercise Cutaneous Hypermia as a Result of Local Exercise of an Extremity. This study was done at: The Creighton Diabetes Center 601 North 30th Street Omaha, Nebraska 68131 by M. S. Rendell*, S.S. Green, A. Catania, J. Oliveto, J. Wells, E.J. Banset, H. Wang. RUNNING TITLE: POST EXERCISE HYPEREMIA.

 

With regard to the above and systemic and local exercise , some clinicians look upon exercise itself as a dosage dependent medicine .

For example , at the local level , properly prescribed muscle resistance exercise forms one of the cornerstones for the treatment of osteo and rheumatoid arthritis of synovial joints such as the knee . These exercises , when properly prescribed and supervised ,have been found to reduce pain ,inflammation and muscle weakness associated with the affected joints .

The foot is one of the most commonly affected sites in both osteo and rheumatoid arthritis and yet I can find no studies which look at the effects of properly structured resistance exercise to help alleviate the synovial joint component of these diseases .

I understand that orthotics can be of great benefit in treating osteo and rheumatoid arthritis in the foot but if strengthening/resistance training of the intrinsic foot muscles is not being prescribed then is all being done that can be done ?

In my opinion , probably not !

 

So with regard to the two previous posts the question is how do you deliver the medicine ?

Podiatrists are intelligent people . In my opinion if exercises such as marble pick ups or toe curls had historically worked to produce significant changes in the strength of the foot muscles and hence the function of the foot ,then these would be used far more than they are today .
. As Mickle KJ recently found in a study into strengthening the toe flexors of older people , if you want to exercise these muscles significantly then you should do so by flexing the toes around the MTFJ .
The human foot and toes have evolved from that of our the last common ancestor with Pan , and I feel that gripping/ grasping exercises are not the way forward unless your patient is an orangutan .
The video below (1)shows a person running bare foot on a loose soil substrate and clearly no toe gripping takes place .

With an appropriate means of delivering a pre- determined , optimal level of exercise ,I feel the podiatry profession will add an important new string to its bow when it comes to dealing with foot related manifestations of common systemic diseases .

Video 1 Note the toes do Not dig in to grip .
Adolescent Kenyan Running Barefoot - Slow Motion - YouTube
▶ 0:11

20 Jan 2010 - Uploaded by skeletonheb
This is an adolescent Kenyan who has never worn shoes in his life and runs a significant amount every day ..