Twisted ankles and jerking knees

Not exactly known for sensationalism, the British Journal of Sports

Medicine has just published what sounds like a very interesting study

showing that among amateur basketball players, those who wore shoes

with air cells in the heel (that’ll be Nikes, then) were four times

more susceptible to ankle injuries. This was reported

by ABC News, which immediately called up a number of doctors who hadn’t

read the report to rubbish it.

There was a Dr Jon Shriner of the Michigan Center for Athletic Medicine

in Flint, Michigan, for instance, who said that "the air-soled

shoes, like those in the Nike basketball line, do not contribute to

ankle injuries," without giving any reasons for his beliefs.

Of course, the fact that Centers for Athletic Medicine probably get

a lot of money from Nike, or at the very least from athletes sponsored

by Nike, would never influence Dr Shriner’s opinion — or get reported

by ABC News.

The article continues: "A major way recreational players can

protect themselves from ankle injuries is to tape their ankles for

more support and to replace their shoes after a month or two of constant

wear. The shoes wear out and so do their support systems." Ah,

yes, of course. A couple of months after buying my new $150 Air Shoks,

I’m going to go out and replace them. I don’t think.

Oh, and I was going to link to the Nike Air Shok page, but the site

is so horrible, with Flash 4 and pop-up windows and no URLs, that

I can’t. Sorry.

This entry was posted in Culture. Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to Twisted ankles and jerking knees

  1. Natalie says:

    Yes, exactly ! It is not about the shoes you wear. I can tell that it’s better using tape and same time, being careful.

    Natalie from portique balançoire 

Comments are closed.