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Dynamic Knee Valgus: Are We Fixing the Right Problem? Dynamic knee valgus (DKV)—the knee moving inwards during landing or cutting—is often treated as something that needs to be “corrected”. But does reducing valgus actually make an athlete safer? A recent randomised controlled trial compared two established injury-prevention programmes, Stop-X and Knee Control, in 45 male professional futsal players with DKV. After eight weeks, both programmes reduced knee valgus during a max

Rigid Tape vs Kinesiotape for Runners: Support, Restriction or Sticky Placebo? Ankle taping is common in running and field sports. Rigid tape is generally used to constrain movement and reinforce the joint, while Kinesiotape is marketed as a more flexible way to influence proprioception and muscle activity. But do either of them preserve performance once fatigue sets in? A 2025 crossover clinical trial compared rigid tape, Kinesiotape and no tape in 22 trained runners. The re

Introduction - Midfoot Osteoarthritis If you've ever treated or run through a nagging, dorsal midfoot ache that flares on hard surfaces and hill work, there's a decent chance midfoot osteoarthritis (OA) is on the list of differential diagnoses. It's a common source of foot pain and disability, affecting roughly 1 in 8 adults over 50, and yet clinicians managing it are working with almost no solid evidence to guide treatment decisions. A 2023 systematic review published in Rhe

More Arch, Same Jump: Does Kinesio Tape Actually Improve Performance? Kinesio tape is everywhere in sport. You see it on runners, footballers, volleyball players and gym-goers, often applied with the promise of improving support, alignment, muscle function or performance. For athletes with flexible 'flat feet', the appeal is obvious. If the medial longitudinal arch collapses more under load, perhaps adding some support with tape could improve force transmission, reduce unwant

A Look at Soccer Referee Injuries Referees cover 10–13 km per match at genuinely demanding intensities, with repeated accelerations, decelerations, and directional changes, yet the injury research base for these athletes has been almost entirely overlooked in favour of the players they officiate. A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis in Sports Medicine by Alimoradi and colleagues sets out to change that, pulling together 17 studies and 3,621 referees to produce the first

Can foot orthoses reduce midfoot pain? For clinicians treating painful feet, one of the perennial questions is deceptively simple: If foot orthoses reduce someone's pain, what are theyactually doing? Are they changing joint motion? Redistributing plantar pressure? Altering internal tissue loading? Or simply providing a different sensory environment that makes the foot feel better? A 2025 study by Halstead et al., published in Arthritis Care & Research, titled offers an intrig

Introduction: How do light weighted vests alter sprint performance and running mechanics in female basketball players? Weighted vests are an attractive training tool. They are simple, portable and easy to incorporate into sprint drills without the need for sleds, cables or specialist equipment. But there is an important question for athletes and clinicians: how much additional load can we introduce before the mechanics we are trying to train begin to change? A new study by Ko

Chronic ankle instability - a systematic review Chronic ankle instability (CAI) derails training, alters running mechanics, and drives re‑sprain risk and long‑term joint degeneration. A new systematic review and meta‑analysis in PLOS ONE (2025) aggregates 12 randomised trials (n=405) testing proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) for CAI. For podiatrists, physios, and performance coaches working with runners, the paper is timely. PNF is already in many clinics, but i

A look at steroid injections for foot and ankle osteoarthritis Foot and ankle osteoarthritis (OA) is common, performance-limiting, and often painful in push-off phases that matter to runners and field-sport athletes. In clinic, steroid injections are frequently used to “calm inflammation” and "buy a training window". This new systematic review and meta-analysis asks a simple question: what is the actual randomised-trial evidence for intra-articular corticosteroid injections i

Introduction - a closer look at forefoot strength Forefoot strength is having a moment. From toe flexor dynamometry to “short foot” drills, clinicians and coaches want to know whether a stronger propulsive foot actually moves the performance needle for athletes, and in which directions. A new single‑blind randomised controlled trial in PLOS ONE (2025) offers one of the clearest tests to date: an 8‑week, periodised high‑load forefoot program in highly trained athletes, with de

Should we be using injections for Tendinopathy? This 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis synthesises 27 randomised controlled trials (n=1,779) comparing platelet‑rich plasma (PRP) with corticosteroid (CS) injections across four conditions: rotator cuff tendinopathy, lateral epicondylitis, plantar fasciitis, and tenosynovitis. For clinicians counseling runners and field-sport athletes, two themes matter: the time course of benefit and whether improvements translate to fun

Introduction Every runner has experienced it. You cross the finish line feeling surprisingly strong, only to discover five or ten minutes later that your legs suddenly feel like concrete. This new study investigates exactly that phenomenon by examining how young trail runners respond immediately after competition using two familiar tests; the squat jump (SJ) and countermovement jump (CMJ). Rather than finding immediate fatigue, the authors observed a brief improvement in jump

Introduction Chronic tendinopathy remains one of the greatest frustrations in sports medicine. Whether it's a runner battling mid-portion Achilles tendinopathy, a footballer with patellar tendinopathy, or a recreational athlete unable to shake chronic plantar heel pain, treatment often becomes a lengthy journey of progressive loading, patience and occasionally frustration. A recent systematic review by Maag et al. (2024) examined whether ultrasound-guided Percutaneous Needle

Can Wearable IMUs Replace the Gait Lab? Wearable technology has transformed endurance sport. GPS watches, foot pods and motion sensors now promise laboratory-level biomechanics almost anywhere from the clinic to the running trail. For podiatrists, this is particularly appealing. Imagine performing objective gait analysis during an outdoor run rather than relying solely on a few minutes on a treadmill. A new systematic review and meta-analysis by Bissenov et al. (2025) tackles

Introduction Plantar fasciopathy remains one of the most frustrating injuries faced by runners and one of the most common conditions treated by podiatrists. While extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) has become increasingly popular over the past decade, many patients and clinicians still ask the same question: Is shockwave actually better than good physiotherapy? A recent randomised controlled trial published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders attempts to answer exactly that

Introduction Wearable technology continues its relentless march into sports medicine and clinical biomechanics. The latest study by Jung and colleagues proposes something remarkably ambitious: estimating walking energy expenditure using a single sacrum-mounted inertial measurement unit (IMU) combined with a biomechanically-informed machine learning model. For podiatrists, running coaches, rehabilitation specialists, and sports clinicians, the promise is attractive. If metabol

Introduction Plantar fasciopathy remains one of the most common injuries seen in sports medicine and podiatry clinics. For runners, it can be frustratingly persistent, limiting training volume, altering gait mechanics, and reducing overall quality of life. A recent Norwegian study by Røe and colleagues sought to answer an important question: How do pain, function, and quality of life change over the first year after treatment for plantar fasciopathy, and can we identify who r

Overview This 2026 randomised controlled trial by Zare Bidoki & Haj Lotfalian investigated whether combined balance and perturbation training improves the following in women with patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS): Gluteal muscle activation (EMG) Hip kinematics Pain (VAS) Function (AKPS) Participants completed a 6-week neuromuscular training program (18 sessions) or no intervention. Patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) also known as Runner's Knee is a common complaint 🏃 Key

Introduction Kaczor et al.(2025) state that flat feet (pes planus) aren’t just a structural variation they’re often linked to reduced ankle mobility, altered running biomechanics, and increased injury risk. For runners, this can mean anything from plantar heel pain to Achilles tendinopathy. In their 2025 randomized controlled trial Kaczor et al. set out to test whether myofascial release (MFR), a popular hands-on therapy can improve ankle range of motion (ROM) and foot functi

Introduction Flexible pes planovalgus (flatfoot) remains one of the most common presentations in paediatric podiatry, thought to account for nearly 90% of pediatric podiatry visits (according to the authors). For clinicians managing young athletes, the real question isn’t whether flat feet exist, it’s whether early intervention improves long-term outcomes in: Running performance Balance and neuromuscular control Injury risk (e.g., tibial stress, patellofemoral pain, Achilles