• Magazine
    • Past Issues
    • Subscribe
    • Change Mailing Address
    • Surveys
    • Guidelines for Authors
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Editorial Deadlines
    • Dynamic Chiropractic
      • Newspaper
      • Subscription
    • The American Chiropractor
      • Magazine
  • Practice
    • Business Tips
    • Chiropractic Schools
    • Clinical & Technique
    • eBooks
    • eCourses
    • Sponsored Content
    • Infographics
    • Quizzes
    • Wellness & Nutrition
    • Personal Growth
    • Podcast
    • Coronavirus (COVID-19)
  • Resource Centers
  • Products & Services
    • Buyer’s Guide
    • Products Directory
    • Submit a Product
    • Vendor Login
  • Datebook
    • Become an Events Poster
    • Post an Event
    • View Events
  • Jobs
    • Jobs
    • Post a Job
  • Advertise
    • Advertising Information
    • Media Kit
    • Contact Us

Your Online Chiropractic Community

Chiropractic Economics Your Online Chiropractic Community
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • News
  • Webinars
  • Chiropractic Research
  • Students

Flip-flops cause back problems

Chiropractic Economics June 12, 2008

June 12, 2008 — Take a look at your patients’ footwear. The back pain some of your patients experience may be due to what they wear on their feet.

 

Auburn University (AU) researchers have found that wearing thong-style flip-flops can result in sore feet, ankles and legs. The research team, led by biomechanics doctoral student Justin Shroyer, presented its findings at the recent annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine in Indianapolis.

 

“We found that when people walk in flip-flops, they alter their gait, which can result in problems and pain from the foot up into the hips and lower back,” Shroyer said. “Variations like this at the foot can result in changes up the kinetic chain, which in this case can extend upward in the wearer’s body.”

 

The researchers, in the AU College of Education’s Department of Kinesiology, recruited 39 college-age men and women for the study. Participants, wearing thong-style flip-flops and then traditional athletic shoes, walked a platform that measured vertical force as the walkers’ feet hit the ground. In addition, a video camcorder measured stride length and limb angles.

 

Shroyer’s team, under the direction of Wendi Weimar, PhD, associate professor of biomechanics and director of the department’s Biomechanics Laboratory, found that flip-flop wearers took shorter steps and that their heels hit the ground with less vertical force than when the same walkers wore athletic shoes.

 

When wearing flip-flops, the study participants did not bring their toes up as much during the leg’s swing phase, resulting in a larger ankle angle and shorter stride length; possibly because they tended to grip the flip-flops with their toes.

 

Shroyer, who owns two pairs of flip-flops himself, said the research does not suggest that people should never wear flip-flops. They can be worn to provide short-term benefits such as helping beach-goers avoid sandy shoes or giving athletes post-game relief from their athletic shoes, but are not designed to properly support the foot and ankle during all-day wear, and, like athletics shoes, should be replaced every three to four months.

 

“Flip-flops are a mainstay for students on college campuses but they’re just not designed for that kind of use,” he said.

 

The study included thong-style flip-flops from well-known retailers and manufacturers and ranged in price from $5 to $50. Athletic shoes included in the study also ranged in price and style.

Shroyer’s interest in flip-flops has other footwear applications, as well as applications in other areas of biomechanics research. He will apply conclusions from the flip-flop study to his dissertation research on specialty athletics shoes and how they support the foot and aid in biomechanic performance.

 

Source: Auburn University, http://wireeagle.auburn.edu/news/359

Related Posts

  • Chiropractic can help with ailments other than back painChiropractic can help with ailments other than back pain
  • ChiroTouch to host documentation webinar with Bharon HoagChiroTouch to host documentation webinar with Bharon Hoag
  • NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice attends homecoming of Palmer College of ChiropracticNFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice attends homecoming of Palmer College of Chiropractic
  • 123Chiropractors.com renews pledge to support F4CP123Chiropractors.com renews pledge to support F4CP
  • California Jam (Cal Jam)California Jam (Cal Jam)
  • Louisiana orthotic law to stand until trialLouisiana orthotic law to stand until trial

Filed Under: Chiropractic News, News

Current Issue

CE issue 9 cover

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube logoYouTube logoYouTube

Compare Subscriptions

Dynamic Chiropractic

The American Chiropractor

3948 3rd Street South #279,

Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250

Phone 904.285.6020

CONTACT US »

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Copyright © 2021, All Rights Reserved

SUBSCRIBE TO THE MAGAZINE

Get Chiropractic Economics magazine
delivered to your home or office. Just
fill out our form to request your FREE
subscription for 20 issues a year,
including two annual Buyers Guides.

SUBSCRIBE NOW »

Latest Chiropractic News

  • Standard Process Launches SP Children’s Immune
  • Academy of Chiropractic names DC as elite ‘Trauma Team Member’
  • Free 1-hour chiropractic research course offered by EasyWebCE