Health & body · 2018
Do healthy older adults feel less through their feet and sway more when wearing thick socks than when barefoot?
Yes—in a study of 14 healthy older adults, thick socks reduced the ability to detect touch on the soles and increased sway while standing compared with being barefoot. Adding orthopedic insoles reduced sway compared with socks alone, but the study did not establish whether this prevents falls.
Details
The same participants were tested barefoot, wearing thick socks, and wearing thick socks with orthopedic insoles. Researchers assessed touch sensation on the soles with and without socks, and measured how the point of pressure beneath the feet moved during standing as an indicator of balance.
With thick socks, participants detected touch less well and showed more movement in all reported measures of standing sway. Adding insoles reduced those sway measures. These differences met the study’s statistical thresholds, but the abstract does not report how large the changes were or whether insoles restored balance to the barefoot level.
The researchers suggested that changes in how pressure is distributed under the feet might help explain the insole finding. This remains a proposed explanation. The small study measured standing balance in healthy older adults, not actual falls, so it does not show that insoles prevent falls or that the findings apply to all older adults.
What do you think?
Good conversations begin with curiosity.
You can read comments without an account. Sign in to write.
Loading comments…