Abstract Summary
This study investigated whether prolonged and repetitive exercise stiffens the plantar soft tissue. Healthy early twenties female subjects with similar BMI but different majors (13 engineers and 13 ballerinas) were recruited. The plantar tissue thickness, peak pressure and force and pressure distribution were obtained using Zebris® machine. Also, the stiffness was evaluated using self-developed indenter.¶ There was no significance in the tissue thickness of the 2nd sub-metatarsal head (MTH) and heel between the two groups. In the 2nd sub-MTH, the ballet group showed significantly higher peak pressure, distribution ratio, and stiffness than the control group. However, in the heel, there were no significant differences except for the distribution ratio. Our results quantified the impact of prolonged and repetitive exercise on the plantar soft tissue stiffness and explained why healthy individuals who do such activities can be vulnerable to foot injuries even if they have no other diseases.
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