The effect of the heel- to- toe rocker shoe on moments of ankle joint and temporal-spatial of gait in female student

Rocker shoes are the most commonly prescribed external therapeutic shoe modification and are used for treatment of the ankle and midfoot problems. The aim of this study was to assesse the effects of the heel- to-toe rocker shoes on temporal-spatial and ankle joint moments in sagital and frontal plane. In this quasi-exprimental study, three-dimentional gait analysis was carried out on 20 healthy university female students with normal normal gait pattern selected by convenience sampling method. A Vicon 470 system(Oxford Metrix, U.K.) consisting of 6 cameras operating at 60Hz and kistler forceplate (A9286) was used.The paired samples T test was used to statistical analysis. The results showed that there is no significant change in temporal-spatial parameters while wearing this modified shoe, but the ankle moments while wearing rocker shoes in sagittal plane was significantly less than that while wearing traditional shoes(p=0.002) but in frontal plane significantly increased(p=0.007). Based on the current findings the major benefits of this modified shoe appear to be significantly restricted sagital plane moments with maintenance of walking speed so the loads on ankle joint and achilles tendon reduced, but increases frontal plain moments which leads to increase of mediolateral instability of ankle joint.