External rotation elastic bands at the lower limb decrease rearfoot eversion during walking: a preliminary proof of concept.

The study included 17 healthy participants who were symptom-free and had no lower limb or lumbo-pelvic pathology in the previous six months. The participants did not necessarily have excessive hip internal rotation or foot pronation, so the study did not test the group most likely to need treatment. The bands were tested only during an acute treadmill walking session, so mid- and long-term effects during or after use were not assessed. Hip and knee motion and joint moments were not measured, so the authors could not confirm that the bands produced different external rotation moments or that proximal mechanics caused the rearfoot changes. In the post-hoc comparison of foot external rotation at initial contact, statistical power was only 0.63, so the sample was too small to conclude why the two bands did not differ. Only the right limb was measured, and the walking speed was each participant's preferred treadmill speed.

Do not read the reduced rearfoot eversion as evidence that elastic bands treat foot or knee pain. The study tested only healthy adults during a treadmill session and did not measure symptoms, hip or knee moments, or long-term effects.