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Plantar heel pain (PHP) is common. Foot orthoses are often applied as treatment for PHP, even though there is little evidence to support this. To investigate the effects of different orthoses on pain, function, and self-reported recovery in patients with PHP and compare them with other conservative interventions, a systematic literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, CINAHL and Google Scholar up to January 2017.

Randomized controlled trials compared foot orthoses with a control (defined as no intervention, sham, or other type of conservative treatment) reporting on pain, function or self-reported recovery in patients with PHP.

Conclusions: Foot orthoses are not superior for improving pain and function compared with sham or other conservative treatment in patients with PHP.

Source: Nadine Rasenberg, Henrik Riel, Michael S Rathleff, Sita M A Bierma-Zeinstra, Marienke van Middelkoo, British Journal of Sports Medicine [3/19/18] via multiple podiatrists.