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Medical Rehabilitation - quarterly journal
Volume 13 year 2009, Issue number 3
Mechanizm rocker – mechanizm przetaczania stopy
1 The Department of Neurological and Psychiatric Rehabilitation, the Academy of Physical Education in Cracow, Poland
2 The A&S Studio Surgery of Functional Rehabilitation in Cracow, Poland
gait, foot, biomechanics, closed-chain, rocker, rehabilitation, exercise
The main idea of this article is the understanding of the anatomical work of foot rocker mechanisms during gait phases together with the muscle work of the hip, knee, ankle and foot being collectively responsible for the proper positioning of the joints in the lower limb. There are three rockers in a human’s foot: the heel rocker, the ankle and forefoot rocker. The names given to each of them are in accordance with their location in the foot. The term rocker is used to describe the process of the rolling of one element in a foot over another. The existing evidence suggests that analyzing foot work and its disorders in gait phases is crucial in planning the treatment of patients with walking problems, as it is an element of the cyclic opening and closing of the biomechanical chain. This analysis should go together with the awareness of the fact that proper gait is the result of combined work of the hip, knee and foot and demands a knowledge of the correlation between the tibia, calcaneus, metatarsum and forefoot. The information given helps one to evaluate trials of the ankle and foot and to assess the methodological quality of treatment in close chains in opposition to those in open chains, which brings fewer effects - hence stressing the need to widen the terminology of therapists working on gait problems. A knowledge of the ‘rocker mechanism’ can be an indicator in treatment progress, rehabilitation documentation as well as in the choice of exercises and the introduction of abilities acquired during therapy to daily functioning.