As the athletics competition starts at the Olympics today we thought it would be a good idea to cover some of the foot injuries suffered by athletes and offer advice on how to avoid them.
A study titled "Injuries During the Summer Olympic Games 2008" by Lars Engebretsen of the University of Oslo in Norway and other authors offers an insight into the level and 
type of injury suffered at the Olympics.
According to the report 9672 (88%) athletes took part in the study and the response rate depending on response form was between 70%-80%. "1055 injuries were reported, resulting in an incidence of 96.1 injuries per 1000 registered athletes." i.e. 9.6% "The most prevalent diagnoses were ankle sprains and thigh strains." Thigh (13.3%) and knee (12.1%) were most commonly injured, followed by the lower leg and ankle. Looking in particular at Athletics, 241 athletes out of 2132 or 11.3% suffered an injury with 69 (42.6%) suffering an injury in training.
A recent article by PR Newswire 'Foot and Ankle Surgeons Offer Tips for Athletes of All Levels' covers the topic of foot injury prevention extremely well.
The article notes that "according to Maryland foot and ankle surgeon and Fellow member of ACFAS, Timothy Swartz, DPM, FACFAS, "One of the most common athletic foot injuries, plantar fasciitis, is a painful injury that is most commonly found in those who are on their feet a lot, like athletes. It can be caused by abnormally high or low arches, insufficient support in footwear or simply putting too much strain on one's feet."
Footbalance has covered what plantar fasciitis is on a number of occasions but it is important to cover it again to make sure all are familiar with this injury.
What is Plantar Fasciitis?
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