Effects of metatarsal bar and heel lift on foot biomechanics during gait: implications for performance-related biomechanics.

Participants were healthy university students, so the findings may not apply to other populations. The orthoses were 3-mm PORON, which may have been thinner than materials typically used for metatarsal bars and heel lifts. The same participants underwent both conditions, so carryover or learning effects cannot be completely excluded. No baseline barefoot condition was included, so it cannot be determined whether differences were increases in the MTB condition or decreases in the HL condition relative to baseline. The study focused on sagittal-plane variables and did not assess frontal or transverse plane foot motions.

The authors declare no conflicts of interest associated with this manuscript.

Do not read these changes as evidence that a metatarsal bar or heel lift improves pain or performance. The study measured sagittal-plane biomechanical variables in 20 healthy adults, had no barefoot baseline, and compared MTB and HL rather than testing clinical outcomes.