Z Coil Shoes

Z Coil Shoes

Sue Ten Pas and Harold Anderson

1/16/2003

I'm wondering if anyone else has had experience with these shoes. When I

first read about them in a newpaper article a few months ago, I was
excited and tried to get a dealership for their shoes in our little
community. Now I'm glad I didn't get it. A friend has the dealership
and his business is very brisk. I'd rather not spend my day fitting
shoes;-). And I have too much problem selling shoes to people if I
don't know that they are going to help them. The guy selling them goes
on and on about the people who come back thanking him for making their
lives so much more bearable. As most of us on this list know, there are

all kinds of people and all kinds of conditions. I suspect that he's
just not hearing as much from the problems.

My wife, I, and two friends purchased at least one pair of the shoes.
 One friend just simply didn't like them and returned them within a
couple of days. My rationale for buying was to see how they are for
different conditions. I'm an over pronator, my wife and her friend have

more rigid, less shock absorbing feet and both have heel and knee pain.
 As the company is advertising these shoes as the solution to all feet
problems, I wanted to see from my small world if I could verify that.

The shoe is set up normally to have greater cushioning medially and more

firmness laterally. The springs, however, can be rotated to place the
firmness posterior or medial. As I suspected, I couldn't tolerate the
springs lateral firmness. It felt like the shoe was putting me into
greater pronation. So, on my shoes, the springs were turned around to
give firmness medially.

These shoes appear to be set into considerable equinas. However, most
of that is optical illusion as the shoes have very thick soles under the

met heads. They do appear to have about 1 of heel pitch. Also, there
must be some spring compression on weight bearing but I was not able to
substantiate that. I assume a final heel pitch of 7/8 - which, though
high, shouldn't be unreasonable for most people.

Walking in the shoes is interesting. At first, they really put a spring

into your step. Having studied Judo and Feldenkrais, I was a bit
disconcerted because I couldn't keep my center of gravity low and I felt

like I was bouncing. And the first time I took them off and put my
Merrills back on, I felt like I was back on the ground after floating in

the air. However, these sensations ended as I learned to walk in the
shoes more efficiently. In some ways, they improved my gait as I
learned to roll from heel strike to foot flat. Running was different,
though. I simply couldn't run in them. Almost immediately after
beginning to run, I'd feel pain under the knee cap and in the anterior
lower leg - as if I were getting shin splints. This was not as bad
after I put my FOs back into the shoes but I still couldn't run any
distance in them.

I began wearing my shoes mid December, '02. I started wearing them
without using my custom FOs (they claim you don't need to as the shoes
will control your feet problems). For the first week, I didn't use them

for longer walking or weight bearing. Then, at a local christmas event,

I ended up wearing them for over 2 hours while constantly on my feet.
 By the end of the first hour, my feet were killing me - worse than if
I'd gone several weeks without my FOs. My wife dragged me home and I
proceeded to put my FOs into the shoes to see if they would make a
difference. They did.

With the FOs in my Z Coil shoes, I didn't experience any of the
discomfort I had without the FOs. I was ready to report success. These
shoes, while not apparently providing any benefit for me, were at least
comfortable. However, about two weeks ago, I began experiencing knee
pain. Not while walking or standing but when I was on my knees in front

of my patients (which seems to be one of my more common postures) and
began standing up. Even the patients were asking if I was getting old -

so, because I'm not, I determined that the pain must be real. It took
me about 2 weeks of this to begin to suspect that this knee pain is
being caused by my new shoes. The pain increased until I was feeling it

as I walked. This morning I decided to not wear my Z Coils. The pain
has been noticeably receding.

What about my wife and her friend? Her friend loves her Z Coils. She
has a history of knee pain and it is gone. She uses her shoes for
hiking which she does a lot. My wife also loves her Z Coils. Her knee
pain has not disappeared but her heel pain is reduced when she wears the

shoes. She is a volleyball and basketball ref and uses her shoes in
both events as well as her daily 1-2 mile hikes.

I'm interested in hearing of any other experiences with these unusual
shoes. You can see more about them on their web site:
<URL Redacted>
I'm also interested in any insight into why such a shoe should produce
knee pain. I don't have a history of knee pain. Wearing shoes without
my FOs doesn't cause knee pain. I've worn shoes with 3/4 heel pitch
before and they don't cause knee pain. I do suspect that these shoes
have more of a high heel inclination rather than a true heel pitch with
the heel parallel to the ground. Walking in them, it feels as if there
is a force putting the knees in slight flexion. Maybe it's compensation

as a result of reducing the bounce effect.

Bottom line: If I have a patient who seems to have reduced shock
absorption with resultant knee or ankle pain, I will probably recommend
trying this shoe but will not guarantee positive results. At $170 -
$180, they are an expensive trial.


Harold Anderson, CO

                          ********************
To unsubscribe, send a message to: <Email Address Redacted> with
the words UNSUB OANDP-L in the body of the
message.

If you have a problem unsubscribing,or have other
questions, send e-mail to the moderator
Paul E. Prusakowski,CPO at <Email Address Redacted>

OANDP-L is a forum for the discussion of topics
related to Orthotics and Prosthetics.

Public commercial postings are forbidden. Responses to inquiries
should not be sent to the entire oandp-l list. Professional credentials
or affilliations should be used in all communications.