RSI in womens feet

[Alison2805]

I found this article from 1997 - bit old, but it is specifically about women doing kendo. Ive never bothered much with stretching during warmdown, I think I will now!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...=pubmed_docsum

[Beckmeisterrr]

I found this article from 1997 - bit old, but it is specifically about women doing kendo. Ive never bothered much with stretching during warmdown, I think I will now!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q...=pubmed_docsum

Awesome find. Now... why were you searching PubMed for? You geek!!!

Hehe....

[Alison2805]

hehehe, I was searching for unbleached white hakama on the net, this just happened to pop up. Very handy to know!

I also found an article on the Brittish Kendo Association website that covers the best way for women to do jigeiko against guys and vice-versa. Awesome stuff!!!

[ratdeau]

I also found an article on the Brittish Kendo Association website that covers the best way for women to do jigeiko against guys and vice-versa. Awesome stuff!!!

Yes, every kendoka (male or female) should read it. http://www.kendo.org.uk/newsevents/articlespast.shtml

[runsyi]

I ran across this abstract before. Has anyone got the full article?

[Alison2805]

My university library doesnt have that journal, alas. Any other students here able to get it?

[kpmooney]

My university library doesnt have that journal, alas. Any other students here able to get it?

Our electronic archives only go back to 1998. We have the physical journal, though. If no one else has an electronic version, and you really want it, I can scan it and send it to you.

[Alison2805]

That would be great!!!

[Landorph]

interesting...

well some say use hot water wash your foot and massage your food while washing every day will be really good for you.

[ben]

This is an issue not just for women, but it is interesting that (these) women seem to present with high rates of plantar facitis. Of all those things mentioned in the research, I think the crucial (and in a sense most insidious one) is the hardness of floors. It is possible that the small sample of women in this research were all doing kendo in the same or very similar locations, leading to the problems described.

Unfortunately so many floors in Aus are laid directly onto concrete slabs. The 'good' ones are supported by joists, which means they're springy until you do fumikomi directly on top of a joist and then it's as hard as concrete. Sometimes squash courts have truly sprung floors, which are the best surface but so hard to find in a regular dojo outside Japan. Old halls that had floors put in for ballroom dancing 50+ years ago are the best but they are rarely available to hire, or have often had their old floors replaced with something less giving.Even the Kenshikan in Melbourne, a 'purpose-built' kendo dojo has a floor made of hardwood that is so hard (a hangover from the days when it was a factory), that it feels as if it has a concrete substructure.

Personally I would encourage people never to train on a floor laid onto a concrete slab. I know this is not always possible, but altering fumikomi or wearing heel protectors are not real solutions. Fumikomi always becomes more vigourous in the heat of jigeiko.

Observing the other preventative measures mentioned in the article is definitley recommended.

b

[ben]

Another contributing factor is genetics. Some people find simply walking around bare-footed can cause significant pain in their insteps. Others can punish themselves for years and present with no symptoms. The implied question from this thread I suppose is "are women genetically or biomechanically more disposed to these kind of injuries from kendo than men?" Based on this article alone it is not possible to answer. Would be interesting to hear from all the women on these boards. Maybe a poll is a good idea?

b

[Alison2805]

From reading the author info it seems she herself was a professional kendoka, perhaps she just chose to study women out of preference? Dunno.

Ive never had a problem with feet myself, has anyone else seen more females with feet problems than males at their dojos? Women do have the added stress of wearing heels and other constiricting shoes that can aggrevate the problem. That may be a bigger factor than genetics! My mother wore highheels almost every day of her life and now cant walk barefeet without cramps because her achillies shortened.

Perhaps a poll is a good idea.

[iceman_213]

Hi

I'm newish to this forum and haven't started kendo yet due to a shoulder injury. Anways, I have an idea of what your talking about since I play alot of football (soccer) and have personally had many foot/achilles/ankle related injuries and dealt with them. I stumbled across this website on Google, quite useful, short n sweet :-

http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/fact/thr_r...?Thread_ID=144

Also warming down and stretching after exercise is SO important, since we use the leg muscles alot I do additional calf/heel stretches before and after. In the long run when one gets older it helps. I think its important to look after your feet/legs. I know sometimes the hard concrete floors cant be helped but what can help is wearing cushioned footwear so alot of the stress and impact of walking is taken by the cushioning before it reaches your feet/heels.

As it seems that mainly women are effected here, those of you who practise Kendo and wear heels (of any sort) all/most the time should from time to time change footwear to flat, so its almost 50/50 in ratio. When you're in heels the calf muscle naturally is always tensed up. So continuous tensing of the calf muscle can result in what Alison2805s' mother is experiencing.

I found when I had 3rd degree ligament damage to my ankle/achilles that constant massaging around the heel and achilles (obvious depending on which ligaments get damaged) helped a great deal. Also hot and cold treatment speeds up recovery bigtime. I'd get a bucket of freezing water with ice in it and one with water as hot as i could stand and would dip my foot in for like 20-30 seconds each until the hot water went cold. This method is good even when not in injuries. I know pro footballers, pro boxers etc sometimes have ice baths after a heavy game for a short period of time then shower, helps the blood flow.

I dont know how much of this can apply to those who have or are beggining to feel they will get injuries. If you want I have strengthening exercises for the ankle/foot. Although it may not primarily work on the heel, it will work the achilles and strengthen the ligaments which is only a good thing!

Cheers

[Alison2805]

good advice! Ta

[GreenArrow]

I also had a few feet issues- not so much with Kendo (although left foot would be very stiff and sore after practice) but more of toes getting numb when I cycled. Even with a recumbent and wider pedals, I would get numb toes within 5 mins of riding.

My chiropractor had a look, eased some of the joints, and after a few weeks of this, lo and behold my feet were better both for Kendo and cycling... As for causes... well, I did have a job requiring high heels as part of the "dress code" a few years ago, trained myself to wear them, hurt like hell at the time.

So my theory is that high heels could be at least partly responsible for higher incidence of foot problems in women...