Have you seen this?

Patterns. That’s what it’s about a lot of times. Dr Allen and I are always looking for patterns or combinations of muscles which work together and seem to cause what appear to be predictable patterns; like a weak anterior compartment and a weak gluteus maximus, or a weak gluteus medius and contralateral quadratus lumborum.

Here is an interesting story and a new combination that at least I have never seen before

I had a 11-year-old right footed soccer player from my son’s soccer team coming to see me with bilateral posterior knee pain which began during a soccer game while he was “playing up” on his older brothers team. He did need to do a lot of jumping as well as cutting. He is generally a midfielder/Forward. Well experienced player and “soccer is his life“.

My initial thoughts were something like a gastroc dysfunction or a Baker’s cyst. On examination, no masses or definitive swelling noted behind either knee. He did have tenderness to moderate degree over the right plantaris and tenderness as well as 4/5 weakness of the left popliteus. There was a loss of long axis extension of the talo crural articulations bilaterally with the loss of lateral bending to the right and left at L2-L3.

If you think about the mechanics of the right footed kicker (and try this while kicking a soccer ball yourself) it would be approximately as follows: left foot would be planted near the ball and the tibia/femur complex would be internally rotating well the foot is pronating and the popliteus would be eccentrically contracting to slow the rotation of the femur and the tibia. The right foot will be coming through and plantarflexion after a push off from the ball of the foot firing the triceps surae and plantaris complexes. He would be “launching“ off of the right foot and landing on his left just prior to the kick, causing a sudden demand on the plantar flexors; with the plantaris being the weak link. As the kicking leg follows through, the femur of the stance phase leg needs to externally rotate (along with the tibia) at a faster rate than the tibia (otherwise you could injure the meniscus) the popliteus would be contracting concentrically. A cleat, because it increases the coefficient of friction with the ground would keep the foot on the ground solidly planted and The burden of stress would go to the muscles which would be extremely routine leg and close chain which would include the semimembranosus/tendinosis  complex as well as the vastus medialis and possibly gracilis and short adductor, along with the popliteus.

I have to say and all of my years of practice I’ve never seen this combination type of injury before involving these two muscles specifically and am wondering if anyone else has seen this?

Dr Ivo Waerlop, one of The Gait Guys

#footproblem #gait #thegaitguys #soccerinjury #bilateralkneepain #popliteus #plantaris

image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Slide2ACCA.JPG

The problems with some cleats....

Spring is here and Dr Ivo Waerlop of The Gait Guys talks about some common problems seen due to manufacturers defects in cleats and how they can affect athletes. From uppers put on the outsole incorrectly and contributing to and potentiating rearfoot varus and valgus to poor cleat placement affecting the 1st mtp mechanics; they all contribute to athlete performance.

Ankle inversion sprain ? or off-loading photo ?

How we do one thing, is how we do all things.

I was sitting having my morning coffee earlier than normal this morning, which left me time to ponder some things.
Look at this picture, is this not a magnification of the "cross over gait" x100 ? Thus, is that planted foot not inverted ? Yes, it has to be, to a degree, a high degree. There is a reason why soccer players have a great affinity for ankle sprains.
When we have a narrow based gait, we are most likely going to strike more laterally on the foot, more supinated, if you will. If you widen step width, less inversion, less lateral forces (typically) and less supination (typically) compared to a narrow based gait.
If we descend stairs with our feet in a more narrow based gait, we are not only going to be inverted more, but striking at the ball of the foot, thus, more on the lateral foot tripod. This is the typical inversion sprain injury position.
When we jump, we should be trying to land with our feet more abducted, certainly not narrow based, because if we are too narrow we are at more risk for the same lateral forefoot landing and thus ankle inversion event. Just like descending stairs.

We see plenty of ankle inversion events. Why?
Because most people do not have enough hip abduction or peroneal skill, strength, endurance and they are unaware of their weak gait patterns or their ankle spatial awareness. Many have lazy narrow based gaits and insufficient proprioceptive awareness. And, they carry these things over into running, walking, jump landing (ie. volleyball, basketball, etc), and descending stairs, just to name a few.

How we do one thing, is how we do all things (mostly).

Rickie Lovell As he struck the ball it would been everted. The momentum of the follow through will have off loaded the everted foot as the energy moves in a similar line to that of the ball. It is extremely rare for a footballer to get a sprain from this, I certainly didn't see over several years working in professional football.
On a side note, find some footage of David Beckham taking free kicks - the mechanics are astounding!

The Gait Guys possibly everted, but no guarantee.It still looks pretty inverted to me.But we see your point, and is a real good one, real good. Super good. We will check our the bender-man thanks for chiming in with such great insight !

The Gait Guys yes, the momentum of the leg kicking across the body would externally spin the stance leg. The picture is likely showing the offloading phase, not the loadin

Rickie Lovell The benefits of being a Brit that used to play!