Hello Pashionista,
We already know that Pashions are just about the most practical and comfortable shoes you will ever get your hands on, but now we have some snazzy science to back it up!
Dr. Scott Kolofer, a chiropractor, reviewed our convertible heels, documented their long term effects on the body, and provided us with his personal assessment!
Kolofer noted that “the ability to change from a high heel shoe to a flat instantaneously gives women the opportunity to always chose a much more mechanically stable environment for immediate pain relief. As flats, Pashions offer excellent arch and heel support to immediately relieve stress on the foot and lower leg.” Pashions give you the opportunity to take control over your day. You can wear your heels and be a 10, then when you decide you need to change it up and switch to flats, you can do so seamlessly. Boom. And guess what? You’re still a 10.
Ok, so the short term benefits are pretty spectacular, but can these shoes really help you out in the long run? Duh. According to Scott, “Long term benefits can include a much more safe and efficient gait [walking] pattern, resulting in fewer potential areas of chronic pain areas caused by wearing high heel shoes.”
Here's some science to further explain:
Ankle Dorsiflexion is the act of extension of your foot at the ankle. Plantar flexion is the opposite, extension of the ankle so that the foot points down and away from the leg. Both play a critical role in the gait cycle. Ankle plantarflexion is required for the necessary 'push off', generating power to move us forward. Ankle dorsiflexion is the recoiled deceleration of the ankle and foot as it comes back in contact with the ground. This spring-like relationship of the foot to the ground helps to drive and maintain healthy mobility and stability throughout the knees, hips, low back, even shoulders and neck”.
Ok, we get it, heels are great. Well, that's until you are walking to your car after work, or on hour four of wine tasting with your friends, or enjoying a night on the town until and realize your feet hurt and you have NO backup plan. But why does this unavoidable pain come back to doom us every time?
Here’s why:
“The problem with high heel shoes is that they do not allow for enough space for the ankle to adequately dorsiflex while walking, resulting in compensatory ankle rigidity and hyperextension of the lumbar spine and knees to maintain a pseudo-balanced center of mass. This compensation disengages core and pelvic floor musculature and places an added stress on stabilizing joints of the body, expediting the degenerative process, potentially leading to arthritic changes and other 'overuse' injuries such as achillies tendonitis, iliotibial 'IT Band' syndrome, patella bursitis, Morton's neuroma, sacroiliac joint sprain, and plantar fasciitis just to name a few. All of these injuries must be treated with some form of foot mechanical training”.
You heard it from the expert himself, “Less time in heels is the answer. Pashion Footwear is at the forefront”.
Now consider yourself educated. Don’t keep yourself in heels all day when you don’t have to. Please. That hurts our feet just thinking about it. Don’t make us think about hurt feet when our job is to prevent that from happening EVER again. Do yourself (and your achillies, iliotibial 'IT Band', patella, sacroiliac joint, you get the idea) a favor and check out our website to get your hands on one of our new fall styles.
We hope to see you rocking some Pashions soon!
Cheers!
Justyn Wolf