Calcaneal Apophysitis
Calcaneal Apophysitis is the technical name for severs disease. This is an injury or inflammation to the back of the heel bone in growing kids. The classic symptom is pain on squeezing the sides of the heel bone. The pain is usually present with activity and can limit sports participation.
This video from PodChatLive is an in-depth look into calcaneal apophysitis.
The standard treatment for this condition is to use a heel raise to lesson the pull from the achilles tendon and cushion the impacts with the ground. A reduction is sports activity is often needed. If none of these treatments help, then calcaneal apophysitis should be placed in a walking cast.
Hoka One One
The Hoke One One are new entrant into the running shoe market coming from France. They are what could be considered a maximalist running shoe, having maximum cushioning and support.
The shoe is becoming very popular which is surprising considering all the interest in barefoot running or running in shoes that offer minimal support and minimal cushioning. There are plenty of testimonial from runners to like these shoes.
Circulation Booster
This is a product that seems to be coming up more often and I was not familiar with it so did some digging around. The Circulation Booster uses a subtle electric current to stimulate the muscles on the bottom of the foot to activate them to increase the circulation around the body.
Does the Circulation Booster work? There are plenty of testimonials but very little research I could find. There was this discussion, with lots of different opinions and there have been some issues with the claims being made and advertising regulations bodies in a couple of countries. I have not actually seen one to try, so I assume we just have to wait for more research.
Restless Legs Syndrome
Restless Legs Syndrome is a particularity unpleasant problem that can drive people crazy. When at rest, especially at bed at night, they have an uncontrollable urge to move the legs.
There is very little that can be done for the problem, except getting up and walking or taking drugs to help the sleep. Drugs can often deal with a lot of the symptoms, but it can take a while and some trial and error to get the exact drug or comobination in the right does right for the individual. There are a number of natural approaches that have been advocated, but very little evidence supports these approaches, though the testimonials do suggest that they help some people. Support groups, in person and online, are often helpful.
Barefoot Running Shoes
This sounds something like an oxymoron. How can you have such as thing as barefoot running shoes? A barefoot running shoe is something that probably should be called something else. A shoe that is considered a barefoot running shoes would be a shoe that is so minimal that it does not interfere with the way the foot functions, so it might as well have no shoe on. The Vibram Five Fingers are the most well known. These shoes became a fad in around 2009-2010, but that fad droped off from around 2013-2014 and you hardly ever see anyone running in these types of shoes anymore.
These shoes are not without their controversy as a lot of claims get made for them reducing the injury rate, but those that treat a lot of running injuries are reporting seeing a lot more injuries in runners using these shoes, in some cases, they are quite serious. However, these shoes despite there decline in popularity still exits and are still used by a small hardcore group of runners.