The Effects of a Short Foot Exercise Device on Foot Posture, Pain, Balance, and Walking Speed for Individuals With Foot Pain

Introduction Weak intrinsic foot muscles may lead to foot pain, altered foot posture, single‐leg balance issues, and altered gait. Short foot exercises can strengthen intrinsic foot muscles, which can improve foot posture and single‐leg balance. This study tested the efficacy of a training device designed to strengthen intrinsic foot muscles, the FootCore MAX, for decreasing pain, improving single‐leg balance, improving foot posture, and increasing comfortable walking speed. Methods Thirteen participants with chronic foot pain (10 female; 25.4 ± 4.3 yrs; body mass index 26.7 ± 6.8) performed 6 weeks of at‐home short foot exercise using the FootCore MAX training device. Pre‐ and post‐training visits included questionnaires, single‐leg balance testing, foot posture measures, and comfortable and fast walking speeds. Participants also rated their foot pain before and after each lab visit. Results Foot and Ankle Outcome Score pain subscore decreased 30% (37 ± 18 to 26 ± 15, p = 0.040) after 6 weeks of training. Foot and Ankle Disability Index scores decreased 25% (4 ± 4 to 4 ± 3, p = 0.032), indicating disability decreased. Foot and Ankle Ability Measure total scores improved by 14% (72 ± 15 to 82 ± 16 p = 0.015), indicating ability improvement. Visual analog pain rating scores showed a significant interaction between both the beginning and end of lab visits as well as pre‐ and post‐training ( p = 0.002), suggesting pain scores were influenced by the training, as pain scores significantly increased from the beginning to the end of the pre‐training lab visit (12 ± 11 to 27 ± 14, p = 0.001), but not from beginning to end of the post‐training lab visit (14 ± 13 to 16 ± 18, p = 0.314). Preferred gait speed significantly increased with training (1.06 ± 0.33 to 1.16 ± 0.20, p = 0.008). Neither fast walking speed, balance, or foot postural measurements changed from pre‐ to post‐training ( p > 0.05). Conclusion Six weeks of short foot exercise training with the FootCore MAX can improve foot pain and increase comfortable gait speed.