A Comparison of Muscle Activities in the Lower Extremity between Flat and Normal Feet during One-leg Standing

[Purpose] This study examined the differences in muscle activation between flat and normal feet in the one-leg standing position which delivers the greatest load to the lower extremity. [Subjects] This study was conducted with 23 adults, 12 with normal feet and 12 with flat feet, with ages ranging from 21 to 30 years old, who had no neurological history or gait problems. [Methods] The leg used for one leg standing was the dominant leg of the subjects. The experimenter instructed the subjects to raise the non-dominant leg with their eyes open, and the subjects maintained a posture with the non-dominant leg's knee flexed at 90° and the hip joint flexed at 45° for six seconds. In the position of one-leg standing, a horizontal rod was set at the height of the waist line of the subjects who lightly placed two fingers of each hand on the rod to prevent inclination of the trunk to one side. Measurements were taken three times and the maximum value was used. A surface electromyogram (TeleMyo 2400T, Noraxon Co., USA) was used to measure muscle activities. [Results] We compared muscle activities between flat and normal foot, and the results show a significant difference between normal and flat feet in the muscle activity of the abductor hallucis muscle. [Conclusion] The subjects with flat feet had relatively lower activation of the abductor hallucis muscle than those with normal feet during one leg standing. We infer from this that the abductor hallucis muscle of flat foot doesn't work as well as a dynamic stabilizer, compared to a normal foot, during one leg standing.