The importance of foot posture when recording lower leg electromyography when walking in non-textured and textured foot orthoses

Foot posture describes the anatomical variance in an individual’s overall foot shape, an important consideration in the provision of foot orthoses. Current orthoses designs could be optimized by considering the topographical organization of cutaneous mechanoreceptors. Currently, the effect of foot orthoses designs to enhance skin stimulation across different anatomical foot posture remains unknown. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate how foot posture variance modulates lower leg muscle activity when walking in non-textured orthoses and in textured orthoses which facilitates cutaneous mechanoreceptors under five different regions of the foot sole. Fifty-one (51) healthy young adults were subdivided by the Foot Posture Index and completed level walking trials wearing non-textured and textured foot orthoses. Surface and fine-wire electromyography (EMG) recorded muscle activity in 8 lower leg muscles. Statistically significant interactions were observed in each muscle’s average EMG across textured location and Foot Posture Index score. For example, in pes cavus compared to pes planus feet, texture under the calcaneus generated greater aEMG of the tibialis anterior (44.9 mV ± 22.7 mV to 30.9 mV ± 11.4 mV) medial gastrocnemius (26.1 mV ± 16.7 mV to 17.5 mV ± 6.0 mV), and tibialis posterior (84.4 mV ± 77.1 mV to 64.4 mV ± 44.5 mV) muscles. This study demonstrates that lower leg muscle activity is modulated across the foot posture spectrum wearing non-textured and textured foot orthoses. Furthermore, in the development of new orthoses designs, specifically with texture, foot posture remains an important consideration when clinicians interpret EMG results and academics are designing new experimental protocols.