Gerri Ward of the comprehensive women’s news website, www.sheknows.com just posted a wonderful article on the She Knows Beauty & Style page entitled Sins of a sensuous sole. Subtitled with the rhetorical How dangerous are your heels? Gerri’s interview with Casey a few months ago is beautifully summarized in the news story below.
We are especially pleased that She Knows offers both clear reasoning and then a thoughtful suggestion to women shopping for superior footwear. Perhaps this site might now be called She Does Know. Thanks Gerri!
Aaaah! The eminent red leather sole that saunters across the red carpet and adorns the feet of those who can afford to splurge. Oooh, but what Monsieur Louboutin sews today must the lower extremities of those who invest in his beautiful craftsmanship reap tomorrow.
How dangerous are your heels?
As I stepped into a journey of “sole” searching the shortcomings of wearing sinister high heels, I stumbled in my 2-inch heels onto Dr. Casey Kerrigan, M.D., an authority on gait and the effects of footwear. After regaining my feet, I knew I had to learn more about this phenomenal woman. Not only is Dr. Kerrigan an M.D. in physical, sports and rehabilitation medicine, but she is also an aerospace and mechanical engineer as well as the inventor of two of this country’s top gait/motion labs and creator of her own footwear named OESH, (that’s shoe upside down and inside out).
OESH was born after Dr. Kerrigan’s findings from her biomechanical research showed that wearing shoes with heels higher than the forefoot play a major role in the development of the degenerative disease osteoarthritis. Upon reading about this painful disease, I quickly kicked off my high heels fearing they would arouse the destructive knee torques that are responsible for devouring cartilage and leaving their own signature of red (inflammation in the knee joints).
While I strolled down memory lane on a quest for the first time I put on a pair of high-heeled shoes, I saw many flashes of light brightly illuminating my mother’s feet in chunky 2-inch heels. Soon, I would have the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Kerrigan who would tell me that chunky heels actually put more pressure on the knee joints than narrow heels because women tend to wear them for longer. Could this be the reason my mother has had both of her knees replaced? I asked myself…
There were a couple more questions that I needed to know the answers to and who better could answer them but Dr. Kerrigan? I have always heard that wearing high-heeled shoes 2-inches and above not only strengthened the calf muscles but also made them shapelier. Unfortunately, Dr. Kerrigan informed me that wearing high-heeled shoes does just the opposite; they shorten the calf muscles and make them weak.
A question I have pondered for a very long time is one I am sure many women have as well: What heel height is safe to wear? Dr. Kerrigan told me if you do not want to risk developing osteoarthritis, then never wear heels that are over a 1/2-inch high.
Dr. Kerrigan has stepped full-time into devoting her heart and soul into OESH, an all-day shoe specifically created for women based on medical and scientific research. OESH is the only shoe on the market with a mid-sole (made of carbon fiber cantilevers) whose primary job is to decrease stress on the joints by compressing and releasing at the right time when the foot is entirely planted to prevent injuries to the body. It would be sinful to not invest in a pair of OESH shoes for $195.00 — not only will your joints be saved, but your sole will never feel the same.
