WO2018014105A1

WO2018014105A1 - Plantar fascia stretch apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2018014105A1
Application number: PCT/CA2016/050850
Authority: WO
Inventors: John Menear
Original assignee: 2523142 Ontario Inc
Current assignee: 2523142 Ontario Inc
Priority date: 2016-07-20
Filing date: 2016-07-20
Publication date: 2018-01-25
Anticipated expiration: 2019-01-20

Abstract

The invention is a full foot covering, or in the alternative, a partial foot covering where the toes are open, which has a flexible, adjustable strap connected to the back of the ankle above the heel. The strap contains a second loop fabricated as a toe hood which is placed over the human hallux, or great toe. When the strap is connected around the leg to itself using a hook and loop (Velcro) closure and the great toe is inserted into the toe hood, the great toe is placed in a position of dorsiflexion which is required to passively stretch the plantar fascia. The foot covering may be worn for many hours around the home while it passively stretches the plantar fascia by way of great toe dorsiflexion. The great toe stretch is a recognized therapeutic stretch prescribed by foot care professionals to relieve the pain of plantar fasciitis and ultimately cure the condition. To date, there is no apparatus similar in the marketplace.

Description

PLANTAR FASCIA STRETCH APPARATUS

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a painful disorder of the foot, namely Plantar Fasciitis, which causes significant pain in the area of the heel of the foot.

Discussion of the Related Art

The plantar fascia is a thick ligament which runs from the human hallux, (known commonly as the great toe, or big toe) along the bottom of the foot to the heel. When the plantar fascia suffers an injury from overuse or other causes, it creates heel pain. This heel pain is called plantar fasciitis.

Approximately 10% of the population will suffer the pain plantar fasciitis during their lifetime. The discomfort can range from mild to very severe, in some cases making it intolerably painful to walk, especially after resting the leg or sleeping.

Night splints are often recommended to those who suffer plantar fasciitis. The intention of a night splint is to hold the foot rigid at night in a slight dorsiflexion, or position bended up toward the knee. This is thought to take pressure off the plantar fascia while the patient is sleeping, which allows it to heal.

Night splints are commonly made of a hard, inflexible plastic which immobilizes the foot and ankle while the patient remains in bed. These night splints are bulky and uncomfortable, and are difficult to tolerate wearing while sleeping. It is dangerous to walk in a night splint due to the risk of slip and fall.

There are some sock-like products on the market which are designed to hold the patients' foot in dorsiflexion while sleeping by pulling all the toes together in an upward direction toward the knee, using a fabric strap. Similar to night splints, these products are also designed for use while sleeping and are not suitable to walk in, other than for short trips, for example, from bed to washroom and back to bed. There is a vast array of other products available for purchase at retail, or online, claiming to relieve plantar fasciitis including compression ankle socks, shoe and heel inserts, foot exercise balls, foot rockers, gel products and pain relieving creams. There are also off the shelf and custom made orthotics which are available.

While many of these products relieve the pain of plantar fasciitis to one degree or another, or stop the condition from worsening, they do not tend to cure plantar fasciitis.

Many doctors, sport physiotherapists, podiatrists, chiropodists and other health care professionals prescribe a rehabilitative protocol of stretches and strengthening exercises to resolve plantar fasciitis. One of the main prescribed stretches involves placing the injured foot on the adjacent leg in a seated position and manually pulling back the great toe in a dorsiflexion. This stretch isolates and stretches the plantar fascia.

This great toe stretch is very helpful in resolving plantar fasciitis; however, given the manual nature of the stretch, it is only possible to perform it for short periods of time. Unfortunately, due to the thick and resilient nature of the plantar fascia, it tends to retract to its original length after manual stretching, thereby significantly reducing the long term benefits of stretching the plantar fascia.

Therefore, there is a need for a device which can isolate and passively stretch the plantar fascia for longer periods of time than is possible by manual dorsiflexion of the great toe on an intermittent basis, to assist in the rehabilitation of patients suffering plantar fascia.

Description of the Invention

The invention consists of a full foot covering which isolates the great toe from the other toes in two separate toe compartments. In the alternative, the foot covering is only a partial foot covering which leaves the heel open and terminates at the instep of the foot, thus allowing the toes to be openly accessible.

In either case, the great toe is free for dorsiflexion independent of the other four smaller toes. To achieve the required dorsiflexion, a flexible hook and loop strap, (commercially known as a Velro strap) is connected to the back of the foot covering which extends around the foot. The loop section of the strap is fabricated using an innovative elastomer material which allows the strap to stretch when pressure is applied to it.

The loop portion of the strap contains a smaller loop which is designed as a small hood. Due to the elastic nature of the loop strap, the small hood can be easily secured over the great toe. When the hook and loop strap is connected and tightened, the great toe will raise to any desired degree of dorsiflexion.

The foot covering applies mild compression to the foot which increases blood flow to the foot and provides comfort and warmth as the plantar fascia is passively stretched and lengthened.

The innovative stretching quality of the hook and loop strap allows the patient to walk while wearing the restorative foot covering. As the patient takes a step and the foot touches the ground, downward pressure is naturally applied on the toe hood of the hook and loop strap. This is due to the biomechanics of the foot. The great toe moves down to touch the ground in a normal walking fashion. As the foot is raised off the ground to take a step, or the patient stops walking and sits down, the great toe automatically moves back in the desired dorsiflexion because of the pressure exerted by the elastomer strap.

The degree of tension applied by the elastomer strap dictates the speed at which the great toe moves up and down from the ground to the desired dorsiflexion position.

The foot covering is designed to be comfortably worn for hours around the home, either walking, sitting or sleeping. It constantly and passively stretches the plantar fascia using an elastomer hook and loop strap and toe hood system, which is not currently available or even possible using existing products in the marketplace.

The manner of creating dorsiflexion of the great toe and stretching the plantar fascia by way of an adjustable or elastomer strap can be achieved in other similar ways, which are also claimed in the patent application.

It is not necessary to isolate the great toe to achieve a similar stretching of the plantar fascia, although isolating and stretching the great toe is more effective. A product which creates dorsiflexion in all toes using an adjustable strap would also flex and stretch the plantar fascia. This conceptual "all toe" stretch is also addressed in the patent claim. By way of summary, the following alternative approaches for great toe dorsiflexion using a full or partial foot covering and strap are:

1. A strap connected to the great toe section, or both toes sections of the foot covering and connected behind the ankle, exactly opposite of the current design;

2. A strap connected to the foot covering in the area of each side of the ball of the foot, and extending horizontally around the great toe or all of the toes; and

3. A strap connected to the foot covering at the instep of the foot which loops around the great toe, or all of the toes.

Claims

I claim:

A strap comprised of a flexible band of material which is adjustable in length and which connects to itself in a loop commencing from the great toe at the front of the foot, continuing around the back of the leg and returning to the great toe, and which contains a small hood on the band of flexible material which solely encircles the great toe, when such strap is in place on the wearer's foot.

A flexible foot covering comprising a. a foot sole section covering part or all of the sole portion of the wearer's foot when said foot covering is in place on the wearer's foot, extending from the back of the mid sole, or the back of the heel of the foot and extending forward to the toe sections of the wearer's foot; b. two toe sections in which one toe section exclusively encompasses the great toe and the other toe section encompasses the four smaller toes when said foot covering is in place on the wearer's foot; c. an instep foot section covering the instep portion of the wearer's foot when said foot covering is in place on the wearer's foot; d. a body section surrounding the lower leg which commences at or above the heel section of the foot and extends upward from the back of the instep section of said foot covering along the Achilles Tendon of the wearer when said foot covering is in place on the wearer's foot; e. a top rim on the body section of said foot covering positioned above the wearer's ankle when said foot covering is in place on the wearer's foot; f. a strap consisting of a band of flexible material connected horizontally to the back of the foot covering at, or above the heel of the foot when said foot covering is in place on the wearer's foot, such strap which is adjustable in length and connects to itself in a loop and which contains a small hood on the band of flexible material which solely encircles the great toe; g. an inside surface located adjacent to the wearer's skin when said foot covering is in place on the wearer's foot, and h. an outside surface.

3. The foot covering described in Claim 2 (a) to (e) and (g) to (h) and including a strap consisting of a band of flexible material connected horizontally to the foot covering below the top rim and at, or above the heel of the foot when said foot covering is in place on the wearer's foot, such band which extends around one, some or all of the wearer's toes and which is adjustable in length and connects to itself in a loop;

4. The foot covering described in Claim 2 (a) to (e), and (g) to (h) and including a strap consisting of a band of flexible material connected horizontally below the top of the great toe section and above the ball of the foot when said foot covering is in place on the wearer's foot, such band which extends around the back of the wearer's leg at a point at, or above the heel of the foot and which is adjustable in length and connects to itself in a loop;

5. The foot covering described in Claim 2 (a), (c) to (h) in which the toes extend beyond the front of the foot sole section and beyond the front of the instep foot section when said foot covering is in place on the wearer's foot;

6. The foot covering described in Claim 2 (a), (c) to (e) and (g) to (h) in which the toes extend beyond the front of the foot sole section and beyond the front of the instep foot section when said foot covering is in place on the wearer's foot; and, a strap consisting of a band of flexible material connected horizontally to the foot covering at, or above the heel of the foot when said foot covering is in place on the wearer's foot, such band which extends around one, some or all of the wearer's toes and which is adjustable in length and connects to itself in a loop;

7. The foot covering described in Claim 2 (a), (c) to (e) and (g) to (h) in which the toes

extend beyond the front of the foot sole section and extend beyond the front of the instep foot section when said foot covering is in place on the wearer's foot, wherein a band of flexible material is connected to each side of the foot covering and extends around one, some or all of the wearer's toes.

8. The foot covering described in Claim 2 (a), (c) to (e) and (g) to (h) in which the toes extend beyond the front of the foot sole section and extend beyond the front of the instep foot section when said foot covering is in place on the wearer's foot, wherein a band of flexible material is connected to the top front of the instep and extends around one, some or all of the wearer's toes.