How Shoes With Rocker Soles Affect Walking
How Shoes With Rocker Soles Affect Walking
The purpose of this study is to compare how 3 special types of shoes with rocker-shaped soles
 help people with foot deformities to walk better. This study will use modern gait lab
 techniques to measure the forces on the bottom of the feet and to examine whether there is
 any effect higher on the leg from the rocker soles.
The rocker sole is the most commonly prescribed external shoe modification. Use of rocker
 soles has been based on theoretical considerations and empirical observations with minimal
 scientific study and validation. With the passage of the therapeutic shoe bill (PL-100-203,
 section 4072) authorizing Medicare coverage of shoes and shoe modifications for diabetics, it
 is important to have objective data regarding the effect of rocker soles. This cross-over
 study will randomize 46 subjects (40 sensate and 6 insensate) to a combination of 3 rocker
 soles. Patients will be evaluated at baseline and after 20 minutes wearing each rocker sole
 shoe design to determine the effect of the type of rocker sole on plantar pressure and gait.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Healthy individuals

 -  Insensate individuals

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  History or physical findings of any trunk, back or lower extremity orthopedic or
 neurologic abnormalities

 -  Inability to walk

 -  Inability to follow verbal directions