Sports Medicine Association Singapore (SMAS) is the registered society for Sports Medicine and Sports Science professionals in Singapore. Our members represent and embody the multi-disciplinary spirit that is key to the specialty. Our integrated community includes doctors, physiotherapists, podiatrists, sports nutritionists and dieticians, exercise physiologists, sports scientists and sports psychologists. We are a non-profit organisation committed to the promotion of quality Sports Medicine and Sports Science education to the sporting community in Singapore and beyond.

smas.secretariat@gmail.com c/o Department of Sport & Exercise Medicine, Changi General Hospital, 2 Simei Street 3, Singapore 529889
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Oh the coveted pointe shoes. After years of hard work, it is every little ballerina’s dream to be told by the teacher that they are ready to start pointe. Yet we have all heard stories the likes of Black Swan (the movie), with dancers having blisters and losing their toenails from the torture of pointe work. This article hopefully provides some insights into what exactly are these special shoes, and how do we reduce incidences of bloody toes. Why do dancers wear pointe shoes? The simplest answer is to look nice, but

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Why do pointe shoes need to be fitted? There are over 20 brands of pointe shoes, each with various models differing in shape of the toe box, vamp length, profile height, and shank strength. Combined with the length and width of the shoe, there are a few hundred options to choose from. Pointe shoe fitting requires a trained fitter, who is able to assess the foot and look for a shoe mostly closely fitted to the characteristics of the dancer’s foot. This is especially so for the novice who is just

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Low Carbohydrate, High Fat (LCHF) diets, otherwise known as ketogenic diets have been touted as the next big thing in endurance sports nutrition. The idea behind ketogenic diets seems simple enough: since glycogen (our carbohydrate storage in muscles and the liver used to fuel exercise) is in limited supply, whereas our fat stores are far more plentiful, is there some way to force our bodies to use fat as a primary fuel source, rather than carbohydrates? Professor Louise Burke, a world renowned expert in sports nutrition, examined the merits and drawbacks of

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A excerpt from VOX to the new science of treating lower back pain: A review of 80-plus studies upends conventional wisdom.         Access the full article here: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/8/4/15929484/chronic-back-pain-treatment-mainstream-vs-alternative Additional reading: https://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/topics/back-pain-treatment/research/

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Information is readily available at our fingertips 24hrs a day. Along with this accessibility discernment can be lacking. Readers may not pay attention to the credibility of the source and the information propagated “becomes” fact just because it appears on many platforms of unvetted media (social or otherwise). The following are some of the more common misconceptions circulating about running shoes and orthotics. For practicality, the following shall be in a question & answer format.   Running Shoes Q: Is there one best brand of shoe? A: It’s not so much the brand of the

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This is the second of our two-part series on Running Shoes and Orthotics. In this article, we explore the topics revolving around insoles and orthotics. Q: Aren’t all Insoles the same? A: There are 3 types of Insoles / Orthotics. i) Over the Counter (OTC) Insoles. These are mass produced to a standard. General price range: $20 – $80. ii) Prefabricated Insoles which can be modified. These are like OTC insoles but they can be modified either by heating them up and bending them in the desired shape. They can also be modified by adding external wedges and

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