Immediate effect of foam roller on pain and ankle range of motion in patients with plantar fasciitis: A randomized controlled trial
OrthoEvidence Journal (OE Journal) - ACE Report
OE Journal. 2021;9(15):9 Hong Kong Physiother J. 2021 Jun;41(1): 25-33.What this means for my practice?
Results of this trial suggest that in patients with plantar fasciitis, foam rolling exercises can help improve threshold of pain in the calf muscle immediately after exercise compared to self-stretching exercises, but no difference was observed for the plantar fascia. Limitations of this study include the small sample size of 25 patients in each arm, and lack of standardized treatment since foam rolling includes applying pressure according to the patient's body weight. Therefore, future randomized controlled trials are needed with a larger sample size of patients, and inclusion of patients with similar body weights to confirm the findings of this trial.
Study Summary
Fifty patients with plantar fasciitis were randomized to undergo foam rolling (n=25) or self-stretching (n=25) exercises. Outcomes of interest included pain on the visual analogue scale (VAS) and pain pressure threshold (PPT) of the gastrocnemius, soleus, and plantar fasciia muscles, and range of motion of ankle joint using the weight-bearing lunge test (WBLT). Outcomes were measured immediately after treatment. Results revealed that gastrocnemius PPT and soleus PPT were significantly higher in the foam rolling group vs stretching group (p=0.029; p=0.013, respectively). However, no significant difference was observed between the 2 groups for VAS pain, plantar fasciia PPT, or WBLT immediately after treatment.
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