Injuries Associated with Strenuous Road Marching

Abstract

Injuries were recorded during and up to 12 days after a maximal effort road march. Light infantry soldiers (N = 335) carried a total load of 46 kg over a 20 km course. Twenty-four percent of the soldiers suffered one or more injuries, resulting in 44 days of limited duty. All injuries involved the lower extremities and/or the back. Foot blisters and back problems were the most common complaints (35% and 23%, respectively, of the total injuries). These data indicate that units without recent road marching training can expect a high incidence of injuries as a result of a single demanding road march.

Ground reaction forces and plantar pressure distribution during occasional loaded gait

“…The absolute pressure increases in all RF regions (medial, central and lateral) in the present study supports this notion. This relation (PkAPB and RF pressure increase) may be one of the mechanisms that contribute to blister development, which is the most common injury related to load carriage (Cooper, 1981;Knapik et al, 1992).…”

“…Carrying heavy loads such as 20 kg seems to contribute to second metatarsal stress fractures (Arndt et al, 2002) and may play a role as a co-factor in plantar fasciitis onset (Wearing et al, 2006). Analyzing strenuous conditions such as walking long distances (20 km) with heavy loads (45 kg), the incidence of metatarsalgia and knee pain were found from 3.3% to 20% and 0.6e15%, respectively (Knapik et al, 1992). The most common load-carriage-related injury is foot blisters (Cooper, 1981;Knapik et al, 1992).…”

“…Analyzing strenuous conditions such as walking long distances (20 km) with heavy loads (45 kg), the incidence of metatarsalgia and knee pain were found from 3.3% to 20% and 0.6e15%, respectively (Knapik et al, 1992). The most common load-carriage-related injury is foot blisters (Cooper, 1981;Knapik et al, 1992). Their development is believed to be a consequence of increasing pressure on skin and the creation of more friction between the foot and shoe through higher propulsive and braking forces (Kinoshita, 1985;Knapik et al, 1992).…”

“…The most common load-carriage-related injury is foot blisters (Cooper, 1981;Knapik et al, 1992). Their development is believed to be a consequence of increasing pressure on skin and the creation of more friction between the foot and shoe through higher propulsive and braking forces (Kinoshita, 1985;Knapik et al, 1992). As the abnormal force application over the plantar surface of the foot may be an important factor in the development of many of the mentioned injuries (Arndt et al, 2002;Knapik et al, 1996;Wearing et al, 2006), the knowledge of the GRF and plantar pressure distribution over the foot may help to better understand these pathological conditions as well as to prevent and treat them.…”

Influence of a 12.8-km military load carriage activity on lower limb gait mechanics and muscle activity

“…The high injury rates (Birrell, Hooper, and Haslam 2007;Knapik et al 1992;Orr et al 2014) and specifically the high stress fracture rates in military populations (Knapik, Reynolds, and Harman 2004;Orr et al 2014) have been associated with these load carriage activities. Royal Marine recruits (United Kingdom) have a high rate of lower limb stress fracture, with the tibia and metatarsals the most commonly fractured sites (Davey et al 2015).…”