Biomechanical Assessment and Orthotics

This is a very specialist service offered under the guidance of one of the worlds leading sports injury biomechanists / podiatrists. Clifton Bradley of Sub4 has trained both Jennie Bowman and Amy Cowx to provide biochemical assessments following the practices that he has set up at Sub4. They can also, where appropriate, send prescriptions to Sub4 to make orthotics.

If you imagine the pelvis as the 'carriage' of the body; the upper body is the 'passenger 'and the legs the 'locomotor unit'. If the passenger is not sitting properly on the carriage the locomotor unit cannot carry the upper body centre of mass (centre of gravity) efficiently and the legs will function asymmetrically during gait (walking and running).

Assessments will take two to three hours depending on the complexity of the problem. The principles of biomechanics are based around walking and running and how the weight is distributed through the foot. There are two main issues with people's posture which stem from the way they walk. The first occurs when the arch in the foot doesn’t flatten at all. This typically occurs in a person with a high arch - because the arch doesn’t flatten it absorbs shock poorly and this places stress on the joints.

A different problem results if the arch flattens too much. This is known as over pronation and over time can lead to hammer toes, bunions as well as knee, hip and lower back pain. Orthotics help to redress these problems, which come about through repetition.

Some of the injuries that can incur if your biomechanics are not working well include:

• Muscle imbalance of the feet and legs
• Ankle pain or discomfort in the ball of the foot
• Strain on the Achilles tendon and Plantar fascia ligament
• Tightness in the gastrosoleal complex (calves) and hamstrings
• Impingement of the sciatic nerve
• Lower back pain
• Knee pain
• Hip pain
• Head aches during or after sport
• Stress fractures