• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.789-795
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• 2010

This study aimed to investigate the effect of differing heel height on static balance and muscle activation of ankle joint during standing. Twenty-one young females volunteered to participate in this study. To measure balance function and EMG activity of tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius muscles, the subjects were asked to perform 1-min standing with eyes open and closed state under 3 different heel heights: barefoot, 3cm, and 7cm each. During the standing, postural sway distance and area, and EMG activity of tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius muscles were significantly augmented with increasing heel height (p<0.05). For comparison between eyes open and closed in terms of postural sway area and EMG activity of tibialis anterior muscle, barefoot and 7cm height conditions respectively showed significant differences as well. The findings indicate that high-heeled shoes may have disadvantages in maintaining balance function because of extra-muscular effort of ankle joint. This study provides useful information that will inform future studies on how heel height affects muscle activity around the ankle joint in aspects of static and dynamic balance.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.31 no.2 s.161
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• pp.258-268
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• 2007

The purpose of this research is to develop functional midsole that can restrain the heightening of plantar pressure in forefoot pressure so as to develop high-heeled shoes that can lessen foot ailments among women. The pumps shoes used for the research were of the same pumps type last. The variant was heel height, 3cm, 6cm, and 9cm, and the shoes were made in both normal midsole and functional midsole. The variant was applied to investigate the changes of foot pressure on forefoot and hindfoot according to heel height.'Heel Cup' was chosen for modification of functional midsolepumps type. to enlarge contact area in hindfoot, and 'Heel Posting Pad' was attached under sustentaculum tali to suppress the weight moving to forefoot pressure. If such functional parts are developed and used, it is possible to lessen the amount of Pmax or Impulse imposed by high-heeled pumps type on forefoot pressure. This can greatly lessen foot ailments, largely caused by high-heeled shoes, among women.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.771-778
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• 2009

We aimed to determine the effect of heel height on foot pressure by comparing and analyzing data on foot pressure in shoes with different heel heights. Qn the basis of a previous study, we selected 3cm and 7cm as the shoe heel heights preferred by female college students. We divided 10 female students into forefoot and hindfoot to measure vertical force, maximum pressure, and average pressure. The average pressure on the forefoot was higher and that on the hindfoot was lower in the case of 7cm high-heeled shoes. The maximum pressure on the forefoot was significantly higher in the case of the 7cm heel height (p<.05). The vertical force, maximum pressure, and average pressure on the hindfoot were also significantly higher in the case of the 7cm heel height (p<.05). The results showed that wearing 7cm high-heeled shoes exerted greater maximum pressure on the forefoot and greater vertical force, maximum pressure, and average pressure on the Hndfoot. This leads to increase in confining pressure caused by high pressure distribution over the forefoot and increase in the pressure on the hindfoot, which may cause deformation of toes and heel pain over a long period. Therefore, female college students who wish to wear high heels are recommended to wear 3cm high-heeled shoes rather than 7cm high-heeled shoes.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.41-50
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• 2020

The consequences of wearing high heels can be different according to the heel height, gait speed, shoe design, heel base area, and shoe size. This study aimed to focus on the knee extension and flexion range of motion (ROM) during gait, which were challenged by wearing five different shoe heel types and two different self-selected gait speeds (comfortable and fast) as experimental conditions. Measurement standards of knee extension and flexion ROM were individually calibrated at the time of heel strike, mid-stance, toe-off, and stance phase based on the 2-minute video recordings of each gait condition. Seven healthy young women (20.7 ± 0.8 years) participated and they were asked to walk on a treadmill wearing the five given shoes at a self-selected comfortable speed (average of 2.4 ± 0.3 km/h) and a fast speed (average of 5.1 ± 0.2 km/h) in a random order. All of the shoes were in size 23.5 cm. Three of the given shoes were 9.0 cm in height, the other two were flat shoes and sneakers. A motion capture software (Kinovea 0.8.27) was used to measure the kinematic data; changes in the knee angles during each gait. During fast speed gait, the knee extension angles at heel strike and mid-stance were significantly decreased in all of the 3 high heels (p<0.05). The results revealed that fast gait speed causes knee flexion angle to significantly increase at toe-off in all five types of shoes. However, there was a significant difference in both the knee flexion and extension angles when the gait in stiletto heels and flat shoes were compared in fast gait condition (p<0.05). This showed that walking fast in high heels leads to abnormal knee ROM and thus can cause damages to the knee joints. The findings in this preliminary study can be a basis for future studies on the kinematic changes in the lower extremity during gait and for the analysis of causes and preventive methods for musculoskeletal injuries related to wearing high heels.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.227-235
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to analysis the effect of form of outsole on lower leg Electromyography (EMG) during gait. The subject were 11 women(mean age $47.33{\pm}4.4$ years, height $158.00{\pm}3.3$cm, weight $59.50{\pm}6.1$, body mass index $23.80{\pm}1.8kg/m^2$), who had no serious foot musculoskeletal disease within3years prior to study. The vastus medialis, gastrocnemius, semitendinosus, tibialis anterior were compared during gait with 2 types of shoe(complex function double rocker sole, negative-heel rocker sole) by using pair t-test(p<.05). The vastus medialis, gastrocnemius, semitendinosus were not found to be significantly different among the 2 types of shoe but tibialis anterior were found(p<.05). The complex function double rocker sole shoe caused a significant change in energy expenditure compared to the negative-heel rocker sole shoe.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.17-25
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• 2013

The purpose of this research is to provide right information about deformation and to relieve fatigue of high-heels lovers. The research data includes 15 tests and survey on 71 female students. The result follows 1. Age of surveys is mostly 22, consisting 43.7% of all. The most frequently worn shoe kind is high heels that 45.1% of surveys wear 2. Female students those are 155~160cm high wear high heels most frequently, 40.8%. 3. The fatigue condition classified by hours of wearing: Surveys wearing high heels over 7 hours and 5~7 hours state starting to feel fatigue by 40.8%, 38.0% each, and the result was stastically significant 4. The appearance of pain on calf classified by hours of wearing: 35.2% of surveys answered they start to feel pain when worn high heels over 7 hours, and 33.8% of students answered 5~7 hours 5. The fatigue condition classified by kinds of shoes worn: 45.0% of the surveys felt tired when wearing high heels, 40.8% answered wearing heel inserted running shoes, and 14.0% for flat shoes. 6. The fatigue condition classified by heel height: 69.0% of survey answered they feel fatigue after wearing shoes with 5~9cm high heels, 21.1% answered under 3cm high heels, and 9.9% answered over 10cm heels(p<0.05) 7. The experience of cramp in calf cramp muscle classified by heel height: 69.0% of surveys experienced cramp when wearing 5~9cm high heels, 21.1% answered under 3cm high heels, 9.9% for over 10cm heels.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.19-30
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of foot orthotics on the overall comfort and muscle activity during running. The subjects were 10 members from the joggers' club which consisted of 2 women and 8 men. These individuals ran on the treadmill by 4.0m/s speed with and without the custom foot orthotics. The data concerning the overall comfort was collected by a questionairre that examined the overall comfort, heel cushioning, forefoot cushioning, medio-lateral control, arch height, heel cup fit, shoe heel width, forefoot width, and shoe length The MegaWin ver. 2.1(Mega Electronics lid, Ma. Finland) was used to gain electromyography signals of the muscle activity; Tibialis anterior, medial gastronemius, lateral gastronemius, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, biceps femoris, and rectus femoris were measured. The results of the study were as follows. 1. During running the overall comfort was higher for the foot arthotic condition than the nonorthotic condition. Among the inquiries the overall comfort showed the biggest difference comparing the two conditions. and the shoe heel width showed the highest score for contort. 2 The muscle activity of the biceps femoris, and vastus lateralis in the stance period decreased. due to the foot orthotics. The muscle activity of the vastus medialis in the swing period also decreased and the muscle activity tibialis anterior in the stance and swing stance decreased as well During running, orthotics showed positive result in foot comfort. The foot comfort related to decreased stress, muscle activity, and foot arch strain. Overall comfort and the adequate decrease of muscle activity were associated with injury prevention and the best method to prevent injury semms to be the maintenance of foot comfort.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.24-31
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• 2009

This study aimed to investigate the effect of differing heel heights on the electromyographic (EMG) activity in vastus medialis (VM) and vastus lateralis (VL) during stair ascending and descending activities. A total of 26 healthy women volunteered to perform stair-ascending and stair-descending tasks with 3 heel heights: barefoot, 3 cm, and 7 cm. The EMG activities of the VM and VL were recorded during the tasks. During the stair ascending and descending tasks, the EMG activities of both VM and VL significantly changed with differing the heel heights (p<.05). Moreover, the EMG activities of VM and VL during the stair ascending task were significantly higher than the corresponding values during the stair-descending task (p<.05). However, there were no significant differences between the VM:VL EMG ratios for the 3 heel heights (p>.05). The VM:VL EMG ratios between the 2 tasks differed significantly in the 7 cm high heel condition (p<.05). Despite an increase in the EMG activities in both VM and VL during stair ascending and descending tasks, there was no change in the relative EMG intensities of VM and VL, which was measured by calculating the VM:VL ratio this result indicates that no VM:VL imbalances were elicited. The relative EMG intensities of VM and VL during stair descent were lower than the corresponding values during the ascent, suggesting that VM and VL may show an imbalance in the eccentric activation during the weight-acceptance phase. This study provides useful information that will facilitate future research on how heel height affects muscle activity around the knee joint.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.75-84
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• 2003

The objective of this paper was to analyse the foot type of female university students by the direct and indirect measure of foot and the measures of foot outline. The results were as follow: 1. The length and the width of foot were small and ankle slender and the modification of the big toe slight. 2. The analysis on the 16 measure items revealed five factors; the first factor was related to the width and girth of foot, the second one to the length of foot, the third one to the transformation of the little toe, the fourth one to the height of foot, the fifth one to transformation of the big toe. 3. The grouping on the shape of foot revealed three types. The inline angle of foot was the smallest in average in the type 1, while it appeared to be middle in the other types. The wider foot shapes were grouped as type 2 because their inline and outline angles of foot were the biggest in average. In the type 3, the big toe was curved a lot, since it was the largest in average. 4. From the naked eye measuring method, classification from which toe was popped-out told that Egyptian foot was 30.9%, Greek foot 27.9%. On the other hand, the instrumental method showed that Egyptian foot was 57.3%, Squared foot 35.3% and Greek foot 7.4%. 5. The result from the analysis about the traits of foot shape by the degree of the arch formation of bottom foot, showed that 33.8% had the normal foot, 66.2% slightly flat foot or middle one. There was no one with rigid flat foot. 6. The shoes size they declared were that 240cm was 33.3%, 235cm 18.1% and 245cm 18.1%. The shape of their shoe heel were flat heel(34.8%), cuban heel(25.5%), and narrow straight heel(19.9%); and that of the shoe toe were round toe(25.4%), oval toe(20.4%) and squared toe(20.4%). 7. The discomforting parts when they wear shoes were the little toe(35.4%), the rear of foot(13.9%), and the width of foot(13.9%), which was related to their dislike of shoe with the pointed toe.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.101-108
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to compare GRF characteristics during walking wearing jogging and roller shoes. Twelve male middle school students (age: $15.0{\pm}0.0\;yrs$, height: $173.6{\pm}5.0\;cm$, weight: $587.6{\pm}89.3\;N$) who have no known musculoskeletal disorders were recruited as the subjects. Kinematic data from six S-VHS camcorders(Panasonic AG456, 60 fields/s) and GRF data from two force platform; (AMII OR6-5) were collected while subjects walked wearing roller and jogging shoes in random order at a speed of 1.1 m/s. An event sync unit with a bright LED light was used to synchronize the video and GRF recordings. GRF data were filtered using a 20 Hz low pass Butterworth. digital filter and further normalized to the subject's body weight. For each trial being analyzed, five critical instants and four phases were identified from the recording. Temporal parameters, GRFs, displacement of center of pressure (DCP), and loading and decay rates were determined for each trial. For each dependent variable, paired t-test was performed to test if significant difference existed between shoe conditions (p <.05). Vertical GRFs at heel contact increased and braking forces at the end of initial double limb stance reduced significantly when going from jogging shoe to roller shoe condition. Robbins and Waked (1997) reported that balance and vertical GRF are closely related It seems that the ankle and knee joints are locked in an awkward fashion at the heel contact to compensate for the imbalance. The DCP in the antero-posterior direction for the roller shoe condition was significantly less than the corresponding value for the jogging shoe condition. Because the subjects tried to keep their upper body weight in front of the hip to prevent falling backward, the DCP for the roller shoe condition was restricted The results indicate that walking with roller shoes had little effect on temporal parameters, and loading and decay rates. It seems that there are differences in GRF characteristics between roller shoe and jogging shoe conditions. The differences in GRF pattern may be caused primarily by the altered position of ankle, knee, and center of mass throughout the walking cycle. Future studies should examine muscle activation patterns and joint kinematics during walking with roller shoes.