Sensorimotor and Gait Training
trunk muscles and activation characteristics
of trunk musculature [54,55] . The patients
gained better sensory feedback by
enhancing sensory inputs which decreased
over contraction of muscle (which is
compensatory strategy to gain more stability)
around the joint.
Our study shows that the intervention
helped in increasing the activity of tibialis
anterior (22.8% in the interventional group
and 14.34% in the control group) and medial
gastrocnemius (18.89% in the interventional
group and 8.8% in the control group) during
treadmill walking, although the difference
between the groups was not found to be
significant. Sartor et al. results was found
similar to our study; improvement in the
ankle dorsiflexion and eccentric control of
forefoot contact, as a function of the tibialis
anterior, and increased participation of
hallux and toes, as a function of medial
gastrocnemius during walking [32] . Therefore,
we can say that the intervention helps in
increasing shock absorption during the
initial contact phase of gait as contributed by
the tibialis anterior and increasing push off
power during heel off phase as contributed by
the gastrocnemius. Technically, the skewed
distribution of the data might be the reason
for the statistically non-significant result.
Although inconsistent, a large number of
patients showed improvement in muscle
activation during walking in the intervention
group in comparison with the control
30 Pedorthic Footcare Association | www.pedorthics.org