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Background: Sports injuries often occur during landing, necessitating postural stability for injury prevention. Electrical stimulation of the plantar foot induces activities of the intrinsic foot muscles and improves somatosensory and postural stability during landing. However, this effect remains unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the immediate effects of electrical stimulation on the activities of the intrinsic foot muscles, plantar somatosensory system, and postural stability during landing., Methods: Twenty-two college athletes were divided into an electrical stimulation group and a control group. Electrical stimulation was applied to the plantar foot using a commercial device. The toe function and plantar tactile sensations were evaluated. The activities of the intrinsic muscles and the parameters of the ground reaction force were measured and calculated. We compared pre- and postintervention outcomes., Results: In the electrical stimulation group, two subjects showed improvement in toe function, and plantar tactile sensation improved significantly postintervention. The control group exhibited no significant change in plantar tactile sensation. A significant interaction was observed in anteroposterior postural stability during landing, notably improving in the electrical stimulation group., Conclusions: Electrical stimulation of the plantar foot immediately improved toe function, plantar tactile sensation, and postural stability during landing. Such stimulation would be beneficial in preventing sports injuries.

Background: Female soccer players are often diagnosed with medial shin pain, which includes tibial stress fracture, medial tibial stress syndrome, and chronic exertional compartment syndrome. As the possibility of varied sites of pain affecting sports activities has not been fully researched, an urgent discussion and evidence is required. This study investigates the prevalence and effect of sites of pain on the sports activities of female soccer players with medial shin pain., Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted for 196 female soccer players with medial shin pain to assess symptom duration, the effect of practice and performance, and sites of pain. The players were classified into three conditions (tibial stress fracture, medial tibial stress syndrome, or medial shin pain with neurological symptoms) and compared based on sites of pain., Results: We observed that medial tibial stress syndrome had a lower impact on performance compared to that of tibial stress fracture and medial shin pain with neurological symptoms. While participants with tibial stress fracture had to suspend practice sessions more frequently, the difference in symptom duration between the classified groups was not statistically significant. The effect of sites of pain on sports activities was not significantly different in participants with medial tibial stress syndrome., Conclusions: Medial shin pain should be evaluated carefully to differentiate between medial tibial stress syndrome and medial shin pain with neurological symptoms. Restriction of sports activities may help improve the patient's condition early, regardless of the presentation.