Air cushioned trainers may cause injury
Air cushioned trainers may
increase the risk of injury to the
ankle, according to a study published in the British Journal of
Sports Medicine (2001;35:103-8).
The report's authors observed
over 10 000 amateur basketball
players and concluded that
those who wore shoes with air
cells in the heel were 4.3 times
more likely to injure an ankle
than those who did not.
The air cells in the heels of
air cuhioned trainers are
thought to decrease the impact
between the foot and the
ground when the wearer takes
part in high impact athletics.
The study's authors are unsure
why the wearers of these trainers have such an increased risk
of injury while playing basketball, but speculate that the stability of the foot may be
decreased by the air cells in
the heel of the shoe. This
would make it much more likely that players would suffer
injury when landing from
jumps.
Could wearing these couse injury ?
Nike UK, makers of the air
cushioned trainer Nike Air,
responded to the findings by
saying, "We are taking this
study seriously and are looking
into it, but we need to know
which shoes the basketball players were wearing, and who
made them. This type of shoe
has been in production for 24
years and has had countless
rounds of testing."
Siān Knight, Nottingham
studentBMJ 2001;09:129-170 May ISSN 0966-6494
