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OESH Shoes' Company Says "Ditch Your Orthotics"

Discussion in 'Biomechanics, Sports and Foot orthoses' started by Kevin Kirby, Jan 19, 2012.

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    I just came across a website for a new shoe company called "OESH" founded by Casey Kerrigan, MD, that tells people to "ditch your orthotics". Her shoe company claims that "Orthotics are not only worthless but actually harmful." Of course, her new shoes provide the complete alternative solution to orthoses.

    http://oeshshoes.com/technology/

    I hate to say that I told you so, but I knew that this would eventually happen. All one had to do was look at Kerrigan's previous research (Kerrigan DC , Franz JR , Keenan GS , Dicharry J , Della Croce U , Wilder RP: The effect of running shoes on lower extremity joint torques. PM & R, 1:1058-1063, 2009), certainly aimed not at answering a scientific question objectively, but more at promoting her plans to market a new shoe in the future with her new shoe company

    Here is what I said over two years ago on January 4, 2010 on Podiatry Arena where we were discussing Kerrigan's paper that made great leaps of faith in order to set the stage for introduction of her OESH shoe company's products....

    http://www.podiatry-arena.com/podiatry-forum/showthread.php?t=42471&page=2

    Amazing!:butcher::mad::bang::boxing::craig:
     
  2. DaVinci

    DaVinci Well-Known Member

    Re: Casey Kerrigan's Shoe Company Says "Ditch Your Orthotics"

    Never let the flawed evidence get in the way of selling something with a good sales pitch!

    She obviously missed the research that shows foot orthotics work. Where is the evidence that her shoe works?
     
  3. Craig Payne

    Craig Payne Moderator

    Articles:
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    Re: Casey Kerrigan's Shoe Company Says "Ditch Your Orthotics"

    Indeed! The leaps of faith they make on the website is extraordinary.....funny how the $ makes that happen! They are certainly showing their ignorance of foot biomechanics and foot orthotics. The gullible public would not realize that they making so much up.

    Someone with a PhD in biomechanics should know the difference between lab based research and clinical outcome research. If foot orthotics are so bad, why has every single clinical outcome study shown they work? Why do they have no outcome studies on the OESH shoe?

    Given the litigation that toning shoes are facing because of the claims they made, the statements on the OESH website is certainly opened them to the same.

    Having said that, I would love to try a pair of the shoes!
     
  4. Re: Casey Kerrigan's Shoe Company Says "Ditch Your Orthotics"

    Was thinking the same thing re law suits - got to be careful with you claims these days especially if you are from the states.
     
  5. Griff

    Griff Moderator

    Did we have a thread on here about these already?

    I seem to vaguely recall speaking with someone about these. Something along the lines of "its not a shoe its a complete turnaround (OESH not SHOE)". Oh please...
     
  6. AlexDP

    AlexDP Member

    Re: Casey Kerrigan's Shoe Company Says "Ditch Your Orthotics"

    Yes, the class action lawsuits, which are very popular in the States, make it so that pretty much every company is involved in a lawsuit at some point. Still.. it's quite the claim to make, don't you think?
     
  7. pod29

    pod29 Active Member

    good looking shoes ;) :D
     
  8. SarahR

    SarahR Active Member

    Anyone have any links to or PDF for positive clinical outcome studies? I'm presenting and hopefully convincing my physio colleagues (many of whom believe muscle conditioning is enough and barefoot is best) to refer to my bmch clinic in a few weeks.

    I'll keep my orthotics thanks ;-) have a pair for all my shoe types now, and enjoy being pain free.
     
  9. Dana Roueche

    Dana Roueche Well-Known Member

    One component of OESH shoes that has my attention is the use of carbon fiber for cushioning and stability.

    I assume that with time, the engineers and designers in the running shoe industry will be able to develop the use of carbon fiber or thermoplastic plates that will outperform EVA foam.

    The concept is to not only provide cushion and stability but can act like a spring to capture and return energy. The key will be to develop a shoe that replaces foam with carbon fiber or thermoplastic that is lightweight, durable and at the right price point.

    Mizuno has the wave series shoes that use a thermoplastic plate. An apparent downside that I see with these shoes are that they are expensive and heavy. I don't know about their durability.

    I have seen concept shoes from Adidas and Puma using carbon fiber, I would not be surprised if many of the other big shoe manufacturers are secretly developing their own carbon fiber or plastic spring plated concept shoes.

    It will be interesting to see were this goes over the next few years. In the world of minimal shoes, a little carbon fiber or plastic with the right design, might result in a big time advancement in shoe technology.

    Dana
     
  10. I took the time this evening to post up onto the facebook wall page for OESH the following message:. http://www.facebook.com/OESHshoes#!/OESHshoes?sk=wall&filter=2

    "It is unfortunate that OESH shoes has taken it on themselves to proclaim that all patients suffering from mechanically-related foot and lower extremity pathologies should "ditch their orthotics". Not only does this advice border on medical negligence, but it also is certainly not supported by the majority of scientific articles from peer-reviewed articles that show that foot orthoses help reduce pain and also positively alter the motion of the foot and lower extremity and the abnormal forces which cause many pathologies.

    Rather, OESH seems to be taking the path of saying "ditch your orthotics" so that they can then claim that their shoes, with a very high price tag and minimal to no valid scientific research to back up their questionable marketing claims, will take the place of their medically prescribed custom foot orthoses. I would have thought that an otherwise well-respected physician with a financial interest in a shoe company would have taken a more responsible approach to marketing their shoes rather than totally ignoring the considerable body of prospective and retrospective orthosis research that clearly shows that foot orthoses are a very valuable medical device for a large number of patients, possibly causing harm to these individuals, rather than benefitting them."

    Unfortunately, five minutes after my facebook posting was placed, it was suddenlty deleted by OESH. Nothing like prompt elimination of negative reviews in order to sell some over-priced shoes?
     
  11. DaVinci

    DaVinci Well-Known Member

    Doesn't it speak volumes about a company that just deletes anything negative rather than engages with them. They obviously can not defend the claims that they are making.
     
  12. DrPod

    DrPod Active Member

    Kevin, you are not the only one with this problem. This was in todays PM News "I recently posted a response to the claims of the makers of the OESH shoes. I disputed their claims as to ability to cure foot pathology and their claims to have scientific evidence to back up their claims. If you go to the site, my post has been eliminated, and I have been blocked from the site"

    What are they afraid of?
     
  13. That's where I got the idea from. Maybe we need to figure out a way to put something up on the internet so that anytime OESH shoes is put into a search engine, that podiatrists' thoughts on the effectiveness of foot orthoses and OESH's elimination of negative critiques are mentioned also. How can we do this? Anyone have any ideas?
     
  14. admin

    admin Administrator Staff Member

    I just checked and this thread ranks about 20th in Google for OESH shoes. Should not take much work to get it on page one.

    BTW, FYI:

     
    Last edited: Sep 22, 2016
  15. CamWhite

    CamWhite Active Member

    What bothers me about OESH, is that the "ditch your orthotics" claim is completely unnecessary. It doesn't create anything value for the brand. It does invite controversy and creates a lot of enemies. When you're a new, emerging brand, you can't afford to be engaged in open battles with the medical community.

    Several fitness & toning brands suggested that just wearing their shoes replaced the need to go to the gym. They created huge enemies in the fitness community, and some in the medical community. The PR counter-offensive, launched by the American Council for Exercise (ACE) successfully swayed public opinion about the brands in question, and class-action lawsuits are being filed. Sales of these shoes are in steep decline, and lawsuits are on the rise.

    Sadly, it doesn't need to be this way. OESH does have a body of very positive anecdotal feedback from customers. Their technology could be very beneficial for many suffering from a wide variety of lower extremity pathologies. If I were in charge of marketing for OESH, I would discuss the technology behind the shoe, why we believe it could be potentially beneficial, and offer a money-back guarantee if not satisfied within a specified period of time. If it's a great product, the marketplace will respond with a wave of unsolicited testimonials from grateful consumers. If you have a gracious return policy, the number of complaints will be minimal.

    The minute you claim that your product is the "cure" for anything, you had better be prepared to clearly make your case and back it with hard evidence. All they really had to say was that the goal of OESH was to produce a shoe that makes walking more enjoyable. The controversy wouldn't exist, and if they produced surprisingly good anecdotal results, then this discussion might be completely different. Kevin Kirby, and others might be engaged in a discussion about the potential merits of the brand (i.e. Hoka One One). I don't see that happening anytime soon with OESH.
     
  16. sspod2001

    sspod2001 Active Member

    it is a cool place to store your pens and pencils though! ;-)
     
  17. paulgiacherio

    paulgiacherio Welcome New Poster

    As the brand manager at OESH, I wanted to point out that we have long discontinued our "Ditch Your Orthotics" page. While we continue to believe that generic, off-the-shelf orthotics are overly used, we very much appreciate that many people benefit from orthotics, especially prescribed orthotics, for a number of reasons. In fact, many women actively seek out our shoes with the intent to wear them with orthotics, something that we encourage given that our shoes accommodate them so well. The OESH sole being flat in all directions with no side-to-side contouring, provides a unique interior roominess and stable platform for orthotics. The other primary design feature of OESH continues to be the unique compliance or springiness of the sole achieved with new, advanced materials and manufacturing methods. Together, these two attributes - flatness and compliance - make an ideal foundation for orthotics.
     
  18. Honestly, Paul, the damage has been done by Casey Kerrigan and OESH shoes when they decided, for whatever reason, to proclaim that wearing her expensive shoes would cause the customer to want to "Ditch Their Orthotics".

    Here is a snippet from an article written regarding this bizarre marketing campaign where it clearly appears that Dr. Kerrigan was not acting like the otherwise respected researcher that we thought she was.

    http://www.runningwritings.com/2012/01/when-bad-science-attacks-use-and-abuse.html

    We do know that Dr. Kerrigan also went out of her way to make the following claim in the past, "orthotics are not only worthless but actually harmful".

    from the comments section of the above article.

    If OESH truly wants to now get in the good graces of the worldwide podiatry community, then Dr. Kerrigan will have to publicly apologize for making these bizarre claims about foot orthoses and post them up on the OESH website that you are now trying to sanitize, obviously to sell more shoes. As for me, because of the erroneous comments that Dr. Kerrigan and OESH shoes made about orthotics in order to try and sell more of their own shoes, I have made it a personal mission of mine to tell everyone that asks about the OESH shoes to stay away from them.

    Thanks for posting. Looking forward to the apology. I won't hold my breath.:cool:
     
  19. paulgiacherio

    paulgiacherio Welcome New Poster

    Hi Kevin-

    I understand your position, but recognize that this is exactly why I'm here, addressing criticism. We admit that the "ditch your orthotics" language was an over-zealous marketing campaign, which is exactly why we removed it. To be fair, it was a single page deep in our site that was not well considered. And, it should be noted that language regarding orthotics has never been a primary messaging strategy for OESH, ever.

    The perceived conflict of interest is something we are acutely aware of. Respectfully, OESH Shoes, and Dr. Kerrigan's research, are very separate things. OESH is more than just Dr. Kerrigan, and as a company we do in fact exist to sell shoes. We are not perfect, but we have amassed enough evidence to suggest that we are producing products that women love.

    You undoubtedly recognize that we have a very fine line to toe, regarding Dr. Kerrigan's research and our shoes. We're not always going to get it right, but we're making an honest effort to respect the complexities of the relationship, and admit when we're wrong.
     
  20. Paul:

    And how about Dr. Kerrigan's comment "orthotics are not only worthless but actually harmful". Are we supposed to have more respect for a physician who makes such absurd statements that is not backed by scientific research? Or, are we to think the person making those types of comments has lost all objectivity due to their financial interest in their product? I think the latter.
     
  21. Craig Payne

    Craig Payne Moderator

    Articles:
    8
    Paul - thanks for stopping by

    Like a lot of brands OESH seem to want to damage their brand.

    I see lots of claims about OESH shoes being evidence based, yet I see absolutely no evidence anywhere supporting them. It damages a brand when these unsupported claims get made (let alone the bank balances of brands like Vibram, Skechers, Reebok et al who all made claims about the evidence that does not exist)

    I see lots of blog posts and statements on the OSEH website that are just not true and contradicted by the actual evidence. Brands that do that open themselves to ridicule.

    OESH aligned itself with the "minimalist" fad which has failed.

    OSEH deletes comments on blog posts when the questions about the above issues get to hard. That just does not look good.

    I just do not understand why brands go down that pathway.
     
  22. paulgiacherio

    paulgiacherio Welcome New Poster

    Hi Craig-

    I appreciate your feedback. We certainly are not trying to damage our brand.

    I worry that some of the opinions reflected in this thread, while valid, are based on our old content and clumsy language which we are actively working to improve upon. I would greatly appreciate direct feedback on specific claims, posts or language on our current site that you think we should reconsider. We recognize our previous missteps, and would like to ensure we don't make the same mistakes going forward.

    I think the perception of OESH as a 'minimalist' shoe has more to do with coincidence, than brand alignment. We came to market at the tail end of the minimalist fad, but our messaging has never been aligned with the trend.

    Unfortunately, I can't speak to how the blog was managed in the past. Recently, like many sites, we removed commenting from our site. Our experience is that comments aren't as effective in fostering a community as they once were.

    If you have feedback about language currently on our site, please don't hesitate to email me at the address below.
     
  23. Paul:

    Sorry you are having to try to repair the damage done to OESH shoes by Dr. Kerrigan's previous comments:

    "Orthotics are not only worthless but actually harmful".


    "Ditch Your Orthotics→

    Just as traditional shoe design is flawed, so is the concept of immobilizing the foot with an orthotic. Orthotics are not only worthless but actually harmful. Whether flexible or rigid, made of foam or plastic, an orthotic detrimentally increases joint torques and pressures. Even a minimal, flexible, off-the-shelf orthotic increases knee joint torques and forces that are associated with knee osteoarthritis."


    Maybe, Paul, you or Dr. Kerrigan can explain these comments here to the international podiatry community that has previously been posted up on the OESH website. If you don't think they now represent OESH's views, then it would be appropriate for OESH shoes to publicly acknowledge their mistake and why they were wrong in making such claims. That may be a first step toward a reconciliation of OESH shoes with the international podiatric medical community.

    Otherwise, Paul, you are wasting your breath here. Dr. Kerrigan and OESH shoes both need to publicly state that they were wrong for making such ridiculous statements about foot orthoses and state what the actual research shows about foot orthoses. OESH will not be able to improve its reputation with podiatrists until it first makes amends for the medically unethical and inflammatory statements it has made in the past about orthotics being not only worthless but also harmful.

    The ball is in your court, Paul.
     
  24. toomoon

    toomoon Well-Known Member

    Do not hold you breathe KK!
     
  25. Here is one of the comments I made on Podiatry Management News in response to OESH shoes and their slogan "Ditch Your Orthotics":

    http://www.podiatrym.com/pmnewsissues.cfm?pubdate=02/04/2012

    OESH just wants us to forget about the things Casey Kerrigan said and now acts like this now never happened. I won't hold my breath, Simon, for an either an explanation or an apology from Dr. Kerrigan or from OESH shoes.
     
  26. I received a phone call yesterday from the chairman of OESH shoes, Casey Kerrigan, MD. We had never spoken before, but we had a pleasant chat regarding some of the comments that we have both made on public forums regarding her shoe company, OESH, and the use of foot orthoses.

    I told her that the previous comments made on the OESH shoe website on foot orthoses were inflammatory and she said this was a mistake on her part. She said that she had made these comments based more on pre-made orthoses used in one of her previous studies on frontal plane knee moments with and without pre-made orthoses inside shoes (Franz JR , Dicharry J , Riley PO , Jackson K , Wilder RP , Kerrigan DC: The influence of arch supports on knee torques relevant to knee osteoarthritis. Med Sci Sport Exerc, 40(5):913-917], 2008). She regrets now that she didn't make the distinction in her previous statements between pre-made and custom foot orthoses and is sorry it caused problems with the podiatric medical community.

    Dr. Kerrigan says she has nothing against podiatry and has worked with podiatrists quite a bit in her role as a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician. Her company is actually now making some of her shoes to accommodate foot orthoses. I told her I would post up this note up on Podiatry Arena and she thought that would be a good idea. I am looking forward to getting to know Dr. Kerrigan better and offered to provide her with more information on the intricacies of the biomechanics and clinical practice of foot orthosis therapy.

    We had a good talk yesterday afternoon and I'm glad she took the time to contact me.
     
  27. dckerrigan@oeshshoes.com

    dckerrigan@oeshshoes.com Welcome New Poster

    Thank you Kevin for the introduction. Honestly, I was a bit hesitant in calling you after all this and all these years but am so glad I did. I?m really looking forward to getting to know you and sharing ideas. As a practicing physiatrist, my respect for podiatrists was always high. Now, after making shoes for awhile, my respect for you all is immense.

    Yes, the source of the inflammatory, not-really-great-way-to-market-a-new-product statements is our research on knee varus torques that indeed, pertained only to pre-made orthoses with arch support. The only specially made orthotics/insoles we ever studied were lateral wedged insoles, which decreased knee joint torque (Kerrigan DC, Lelas JL, Goggins J, Merriman GJ, Kaplan RJ, Felson DT. Effectiveness of a lateral-wedge insole on knee varus torque in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 2002;83:889-93.) The individual variability we saw in all our studies provides a strong case, in my opinion, for individualized custom orthotics. I have to think that you can manipulate the orthotic one way or another for an individual patient to provide whatever effect you need ? e.g. in a patient with lateral knee OA, you?d actually want to increase knee varus torque. Oh, and the reason I?ve cared so much about knee varus torque in the first place is because I believe that a constant elevated knee varus torque contributes over time, to the onset of knee osteoarthritis.

    And yes, we?ve completely re-designed all of our shoes in such a way that they accommodate orthotics really nicely. I can?t imagine a better shoe now than OESH for custom orthotics. The sole is perfectly flat in all directions ? from heel-toe and side-to-side. (In making shoes I was amazed to see how much side-to-side crowning there is in a typical shoe last that results in significant cradling throughout the sole.) It also doesn?t have an arch support. I trust that all provides for a nice clean slate for an orthotic.

    Thanks for your guidance. It?s fun to have a dialogue with you.
     
  28. Casey:

    :welcome:

    Thanks for joining Podiatry Arena (PA). I'll start the dialogue with you and I'm sure that my colleagues here on PA will have more questions for you.

    Yes, in regards to foot orthoses, there is quite a difference between pre-made (i.e. over-the-counter) foot orthoses and custom foot orthoses. Drs. Simon Spooner, Paul Scherer and I participated in a published round-table discussion on just this question (i.e. the differences between custom and pre-made foot orthoses) which I think would interest you. If you haven't read it yet, I'll be happy to send it your way (Kirby KA, Spooner SK, Scherer PR, Schuberth JM: Foot orthoses. Foot & Ankle Specialist, 5(5):334-343, 2012).

    You are correct in that podiatrists and other well-trained health professionals do use custom foot orthoses to treat multiple mechanically-related pathologies of the foot and lower extremity. Due to the need to modify the magnitudes, plantar locations and temporal patterns of ground reaction force (GRF) on the plantar foot during weightbearing activities slightly differently to treat each specific pathology, we utilize a relative large number of custom orthosis modifications that allow us to better reduce the internal forces and moments which are causing the painful pathologies in our patients.

    For example, in medial knee osteoarthritis, we will use a lateral heel skive modification, an everted orthosis and a valgus forefoot extension within the custom foot orthosis to increase the external knee abduction moment which will, in turn, decrease the medial knee compartmental pressures (Kirby KA: Can foot orthoses have an impact for knee osteoarthritis? Podiatry Today, 28(10):50-60, 2015). Also, as you suggested, varus-wedged foot orthoses can be used to redirect GRF medially on the plantar foot for the treatment of lateral knee osteoarthritis.

    These are just a few of the many modifications that we use on a daily basis in our custom foot orthoses to accomplish the three goals of foot orthosis therapy:

    1) Reduce the pathological loading forces on the injured structural components of the foot and/or lower extremity,

    2) Optimize the dynamics of gait for the patient,

    3) Prevent other foot and/or lower extremity pathologies from occurring while attempting to accomplish #1 and #2.

    Various shoes are also recommended by podiatrists and other foot-health professionals for treatment of their patients with mechanically-related foot and lower extremity pathologies. These shoes may be recommended either by themselves or may be recommended as part of a treatment plan along with pre-made orthoses, custom-modified pre-made orthoses or custom foot orthoses. As you know, shoe design characteristics greatly affect the internal loading patterns on the structural elements of the foot and lower extremity and the design characteristics of specific shoe brands and models are often used by podiatrists to attempt to create a positive therapeutic effect on the biomechanical function of their patients' feet and lower extremities.

    That is my brief summary of how the modern podiatrist other foot-health professionals, who have stayed current on recent theories of foot orthosis therapy, will approach the treatment of their patients with foot orthoses and with shoes. I hope this will open up the discussion for others who may have questions for you about your company's shoes and their design characteristics.

    Welcome again to Podiatry Arena, Casey.:drinks
     
  29. dckerrigan@oeshshoes.com

    dckerrigan@oeshshoes.com Welcome New Poster

    Thanks, Kevin. So here's OESH's (and my) story.

    I'd been studying gait since the early 90's for both clinical and research purposes. I was one of the founding members of a larger gait laboratory analysis community that used 3D motion analysis, force plates and dynamic electromyography to evaluate gait to recommend surgeries, bracing, and exercise for patients with a variety of neurological and musculoskeletal conditions. Of the numerous variables we collected, we recognized that joint torques (alternatively called moments) about the hip, knee, and ankle provided the most valuable information regarding stresses and strains in the muscles, tendons, ligaments across those joints, as well as joint loading.

    I studied the effects of gender, aging, and other variables on gait, including, starting in the late 90's, footwear. In 1998, I published a study in the Lancet showing that the external knee varus torque (alternatively called the knee adductor moment) was increased by 23% when wearing high heel shoes, implying increased loading on the medial joint. The external knee flexor torque was increased as well. I wrote that this could help explain why women have about twice the incidence of knee osteoarthritis as compared to men. We then learned that it wasn't just high heels but any commercially available women's shoe, be it dress or "comfort" that increased varus torque. Men's shoes and athletic shoes also increase it but to a lesser degree. We have a series of published papers all demonstrating this.

    From those studies, I came to appreciate three factors in traditional shoe design that are responsible for increasing knee varus torque. They are heel elevation, side-to-side cradling in the sole at the heel and forefoot, and arch support. Any amount of heel elevation increases it, and the larger the heel elevation, the greater the knee varus torque. We showed that eliminating these three attributes from a shoe decreases knee varus torque.

    But the bigger finding with respect footwear that is clear from just looking at the raw data, but not emphasized in the discussion sections, isn't the magnitude of the torques but rather when in the gait cycle the peak knee varus torque, and in fact all the peak joint torques, actually occur. The peaks do not occur with the first "impact" or heel strike transient phase. In fact, all the joint torques in all three axes are very small at the peak of the first heel strike transient or passive peak. Instead, the joint torque peaks occur much later. In walking, they occur twice in (1) loading response and in (2) terminal stance. In running, they occurs once in midstance or alternatively at the peak of the "active" force.

    This implies that stresses and strains throughout our lower extremity are inconsequential at impact through that first impact phase. Rather, they are only significant much later, when, in the case of running and in the case of terminal stance in walking, we are actively trying to generate torques and forces.

    Everyone (not just those in the shoe industry) has assumed that our greatest risk for injury occurs at impact. Based on our torque data, that assumption is wrong. We are at far greater risk for injury much later, at the same time that we are actively generating forces and our ground reaction force is the greatest.

    I think Tom McMahon, a biomechanist at Harvard, realized this when he created the Harvard Indoor Track. The track, which simultaneously improved times and reduced injuries by half, doesn't cushion impact but rather gives and gives back in perfect tune to when the ground reaction forces are at their greatest.

    The challenge was effectively implementing that Harvard Track design into a shoe sole and that's what I left my tenured professor/chairmanship to do. The sole had to be comprised of something that compresses and releases in perfect tune with when the peak torques and forces are at their greatest. Ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) compresses but it doesn't give back fast enough. Initially, we created carbon fiber springs and we implemented that into our first line of OESH shoes. That worked but I thought I could do better, using newer, more advanced materials. That's when I became more of a material scientist and engineer. I created numerous shoe sole molds and experimented with numerous materials and material combinations until finding the right composite that indeed can give and give back in tune with when the joint torques and ground reaction forces are at their greatest.

    With a few tweaks here and there, the same basic composite material has been implemented into OESH shoes for several years now. It's a cellular elastomeric material that's lightweight and importantly, doesn't break down over time like EVA does. We were able to achieve, with the right composite mix and manufacturing process, a unique "skin" to the material that conveniently serves as an outsole. This saves a lot of weight in the sole and also allows more options in design- including, what I hope, is an ideal shoe for custom orthotics.

    That's where we are now. We have thousands of women wearing OESH with this new sole who really do love it. For women with knee pain, there is immediate satisfaction. There also is immediate satisfaction for women with metatarsalgia and Morton's neuroma, which I think is attributable to the elastic spring sole in combination with the elimination of cradling in the forefoot. Ideally, I would like to see these women wear a custom orthotic with OESH that includes some sort of integrated metatarsal cookie. I'm not sure I'm saying this right. I've seen a lot of off-the-shelf orthotics / cookies / pads that just don't fit where they should or are just placed wrong.

    We are finally at the point in R&D where we can scale up production beyond our factory and we've just begun turning over the manufacturing of our injection molded soles to a much larger entity that will finally allow us to produce as many shoes as there is demand.

    The fact that we've been coming at these things from different directions, me with an elastic spring sole and you with the latest innovative orthotics, all scientifically based, I think really makes for a great collaboration going forward.
     
    Last edited: May 15, 2016
  30. scotfoot

    scotfoot Well-Known Member

    In the case of adult acquired flat foot would a properly prescribed orthotic with a medial arch support ,used in conjunction with the OESH shoe , provide an effect way of reducing tissue stress and restoring function ? I don't know the answer to this question but wondered if the possibility had been looked into ?

    Regards

    Gerry
     
  31. scotfoot

    scotfoot Well-Known Member

    Could I draw attention to the OESH twitter account (1) and to the picture featured on May 17th in particular . You can clearly see that the toes of the free foot are dorsiflexed and away from the sole of the shoe as the foot prepares for loading . This is the first part of the initial/ primary windlass phase (2)

    In my opinion , shoes which inhibit this mechanism are more likely to lead to pathology than those which do not . The OESH shoe (arguably orthotic device ?) has a number of features which allow the initial primary windlass to function . Almost tempted to buy a pair .


    (1)https://twitter.com/oeshshoes?lang=en

    (2)
    Windlass mechanisms - plural - and diabetes - Biomch-L

    https://biomch-l.isbweb.org/threads/31054-Windlass-mechanisms-plural-and-diabetes
    2 Mar 2018 - 7 posts - ‎1 author
    Post 1 So during the gait cycle the windlass mechanism is engaged and reversed twice . Going from heel strike to heel strike we have windlass ...
     
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