High Heel Pain, Footcare, & Insolia Inserts Blog

Wear Your Heels 3 to 4 Times Longer!

You've heard our claim that Insolia High Heel Inserts let you wear your favorite heels 3 to 4 times longer.

Right...

Actually, it is right.  Here's where the numbers came from.  After Insolia High Heel Inserts were featured in InStyle we sent a survey out to 500 women about their experience with high heels, before and after Insolia High Heel Inserts, and 20% of the women responded.

They reported an average increase in wear time of 4.7 times.

The median increase in wear time was 3 times.  That is, half the women who responded reported that they could wear their high heels at least three times longer.

Here's what the data looked like.

The reason the average is so much higher than the median is that some women reported extraordinary results.

May you all be on the right side of this curve.

Brian

Original Sin

"Original Sin"

by Angela Gallia

When I first saw this at the Guene Clay Festival several years ago it was love at first sight.

What an amazing image to create.

The question sits there.  "What will you take?  The Apple or the Shoe?"

We of course know the answer...

Yahoo Answer - Insolia vs. Foot Petals

Insolia High Heel Inserts vs. Foot Petals' Killer Kushionz?

Hey girls (and guys)! Have any of you had experience with both of these high heel inserts? Is one more comfortable than the other? Which insert would you recommend? Thanks so much!

love_love_love at Yahoo Answers

----------

Ok, full disclosure - I'm the Insolia Product Engineer.  But, here are the facts.

Insolia High Heel Inserts work by shifting weight from the forefoot to the heel.  Foot Petals Killer Kushionz are just that - cushions.  So, a quick bit of physics.  Does standing on foam rubber reduce the force on your feet?  No.  Not at all.  Think about it.  If you put a piece of foam rubber over your scale and stand on it, you weigh just the same.  (Well, plus the weight of the foam...)

When you wear 3 inch heels, about 25% of your weight is on your heels, and you guessed it, 75% is on your forefoot.  If you stand on a scale, you weigh what you weigh.  The image on the left shows you what the pressure map is with a standard 3 inch high heel.

When you have Insolia High Heel Inserts properly placed in your heels, you still weigh what you weigh, but now the weight is closer to a 50/50 balance between forefoot and heel.  Think about that, we reduce the pressure on the forefoot by shifting it to the heel - where nature intended.  No magic, just good bio-mechanical engineering.  The image on the right is the same 3 inch heel, worn by the same woman, with Insolia High Heel Inserts installed.  The total weight is the same - it's the distribution that makes all the difference.

So how can Insolia High Heel Inserts work?  They are placed, by you, in the heel of your shoes. (Instructions here - seriously - don't be a Guy - read the instructions!)  They slightly raise the front of the big heel bone, the calcaneus, and that causes your posture to realign, and that shifts weight from the forefoot to the heel.

Now, here's what really weird, at least by US standards.  Insolia High Heel Inserts come in 4 sizes.  Imagine that, a foot product in sizes.  Foot Petals are one size fits all.  Think about that.  Are your shoes one size fits all?  No.  So why are almost all US Foot care products one size fits all?  So the drug stores don't have to allocate more than one peg per product.  Really.  When we were in stores, they only carried two sizes - the 6 to 7 1/2 and the 8 to 10.  They didn't carry the 4 to 5 1/2 and the 10 to 12.    The amazing thing is they real ly wanted to discontinue the 8 to 10, the logic being that those women would be happy with the 6 to 7 1/2.  We pulled out rather than cave in.

Final point - are  your toes crushed into the front of your high heels?  Do you think that adding a pad under the ball of your foot and toes is going to reduce the pressure, or increase it by taking up valuable real estate?  Pressure map testing shows that adding a forefoot cushion - even a thin one like Foot Petals, increases the pressure on the ball of your foot.  And that image on the left, is the same woman in the same 3 inch heels as above - no Insolia - just a thin forefoot cushion - see how the pressure is a little higher in the center - red vs. the orange above?  That's the price you pay for installing a cushion in the already crowded toe box.

Brian Hughes

Insolia Product Engineer

HBN Shoe LLC, Chooses Tekscan's F-Scan System to Confirm Effectiveness of High Heel Insert Design

Recognizing the need for a better solution for women suffering with pain from wearing high heels, world-renowned podiatrist Howard Dananberg, DPM created Insolia® insole inserts and used the F-Scan® system to confirm the effectiveness of the design.

Boston, MA (PRWEB) December 2, 2009 -- The F-Scan® system was used by world-renowned podiatrist Howard Dananberg, DPM to analyze the effectiveness of insole inserts for high heels. The F-Scan is a force and pressure mapping measurement system that captures dynamic plantar pressure and force information using extremely thin, high resolution sensors placed inside the shoe.

Recognizing the need for a better solution for women suffering with pain from wearing high heels, Dr. Dananberg created Insolia® insole inserts. These inserts function to relieve the pressure on the ball of the foot. Using Tekscan's force and pressure mapping technology, Dr. Dananberg was able to pinpoint the pressure on the ball of the foot in a high heel shoe in comparison to the favorable foot position that is achieved with the insert. The accurate and quantified data that the F-Scan provides makes it the ideal tool to measure in-shoe force and plantar pressure. It gives you a view from inside the shoe without interfering with the natural foot function and gait pattern. Dr. Dananberg states, ugins/editors/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/themes/advanced/langs/en.js" type="text/javascript"> "In order to design Insolia products to work in high heeled shoes, we needed an accurate way to assess pressure loads without altering the fit or design of this type of shoe. The only pressure measuring product on the market which could allow this is the F-Scan system from Tekscan. We never could have refined our products without it, and are currently using it for other new and innovative products for the shoe manufacturing business." Dr. Dananberg also uses the F-Scan to treat patients in his Bedford, NH clinic.

Insolia insole inserts are designed to shift the weight over a larger area and away from the ball of the foot, thereby redirecting it back to the heel, and resulting in less pain. The insole inserts also help prevent the feet from moving forward within the shoes, reducing back pain and improving comfort and overall posture.

Dr. Dananberg states, "a woman wearing a pair of 2-inch high heels experiences 64 percent more pressure in her forefoot than in a pair of flat shoes. Insolia reduces this to 22 percent."

Insolia is available worldwide and can be purchased directly from the Insolia website. They can also be purchased as shoes with Insolia built in to them.

Tekscan's force and pressure mapping systems are used by prominent universities, hospitals, and corporations around the world to measure force and pressure in a variety of applications including footwear research and design, gait analysis and foot function, balance assessment, and wound care. For more information, please visit our website.