Biomechanics & Medical

Being a new employee here at OESH, I was skeptical to hear that many existing athletic shoes are designed all wrong.  As a recent Industrial Design graduate from James Madison University and being involved with sports my whole life (shoutout to the 2013 WCLA D2 National Champions aka JMU Women’s Club Lacrosse), I had never […]

The conversation started over the Jerusalem Artichoke, a perennial vegetable with bulbous roots tasting like a cross between a potato and an artichoke. A wonderful OESHer friend gave me some of her roots last year which I planted, and this year, I gave some of the roots to another OESHer and long-time friend (who is […]

I had just about forgotten the typical volatile organic compound (VOC) smell of a new running shoe, until Bob left a pair in our closet last night. (Why, you wonder, is Bob not wearing our new La Vida’s? Because, unfortunately, his feet are still too big for our largest La Vida size 12.) You might […]

I think our new Athletic sandals are so especially good for combating bunions, I almost wanted to call them our “anti-bunion sandals.” The toe strap that reaches back to the ankle not only helps secure the foot, but also helps actively separate the big toe from the second. That gentle separation between the big and […]

One of our friends, journalist Max Lockwood of Running Insight magazine, cut to the chase by asking me a few simple questions this week: What is torque and How bad is it for the runner? To properly answer Max, I referenced the landmark study we published in 2009, when I was director of the University […]

I wasn’t even going to go but I’m sure glad I did — my 25th reunion from Harvard Medical School. In the backdrop of my Plum Sandals are the main building and quadrangle. Back in school I was pretty much in awe of my 166 fellow classmates. Everyone was either brilliant or had done something […]

I just got my copy of the new book “Tread Lightly: Form, Footwear and the Quest for Injury-Free Running,” written by my friends, Pete Larson and Bill Katovsky over at the Natural Running Center. Knowing how much hard work Pete and Bill put into this up to date treatise of running, I was excited to […]

It is amazing how quickly the OESH name is gaining prominence in both the key-word and blogosphere orbits. I say this because we often take our own tour of the same searches you might to see the influence OESH is developing. Today I jumped aboard the “plantar fasciitis and OESH” phrase to learn what a […]

I know, that’s a lot but this post that I’ve been promising to write on behalf of all you OESHers who have told me that OESH has helped with metatarsalgia and Morton’s Neuroma, has been a long time in the waiting. Pain in the forefoot, specifically pain in the ball of the foot, occurs far […]

In preparing a lecture that I will give at the end of the month, I came across an old picture that I’ve used in lectures past, to talk about women’s “professional dress” shoes. As I recall, this picture came from the Harvard Medical School Alumni magazine, recognizing the first group of nurses to become part […]