The Alzner design of our foot care products are
uniquely designed to position the bones, ligaments, muscles and tendons of the
human foot and restore optimal alignment.
Restoring natural anatomical alignment helps
normalize overall posture. Poor alignment and posture can create additional
strain on the muscles of the feet, legs, and back which in turn can contribute
to foot, knee, hip, back or neck pain.
Developed by foot physiologist Georg Alzner after
many years of biomechanical research, the Alzner arch support has been so
successful in providing relief that it is often imitated, but never
duplicated.
Normal foot function is important for two reasons:
First and foremost is the fact that your feet are
the foundation that your body rests on. Even a couch potato will take over a
thousand steps a day. For the average person, it’s five to eight thousand per
day. Each of those steps will place a force on your foot equal to 1.5 times
your body weight while walking. Running will increase that force to 3 times
your body weight. It’s easy to see why feet that are not functioning properly
will hurt.
Second, when your feet are functioning properly,
your center of gravity is positioned over the arch of your foot. Studies have
shown that when your center of gravity is in this position, it is easier for
the muscles in your legs and back to maintain your balance. With your center
of gravity away from the arch your muscles will have to work harder to keep
you standing and moving throughout the day. The harder muscles have to work,
the more likely it is that you will experience leg, hip, back, or even neck
pain at the end of the day. The majority of common back pain has been
clinically linked to poor posture and the way your feet strike the ground as
you walk. Improved balance is especially important for the elderly, who can
more easily lose their balance, which subjects them to a much higher risk of
devastating falls. In addition, when your center of gravity is properly
positioned, the weight forces on your foot are more likely to be distributed
properly.
When the foot does not function normally, several
things happen:
Pressure is placed on parts of the foot not
designed to deal with that level of stress. That can create pain, calluses and
other foot problems.
The body is not properly centered over the arch.
This causes the muscles of the body to try and compensate for the
misalignment. Often, this leads to knee, hip, back and neck pain.
Many products on the market today are designed to
correct a single foot problem. However, Georg Alzner believed that most foot
and related problems could be helped if the foot functioned normally. The
goal of his design was to guide the foot into its natural position and support
its shock-absorbing arches.
Biomechanical evaluations have shown have shown
that arch supports can affect balance, stability, and the distribution of
forces on the bottom of the foot in two ways; specifically, they can “…change
the motion of the foot, therefore altering ankle, knee and hip joint and upper
body movement” and/or “…can change the forces and torques placed on the body
by altering their distribution on the plantar (bottom) surface of the foot
resulting in a change in the Center of Gravity (CG) of the body. This is
referred to as altering the path of the Center of Pressure (COP) on the bottom
of the foot."
Testing of the Alzner arch support has proven that
the material and design do exactly what its inventor wanted it to do. More
importantly, it shows that they accomplish both of the desirable actions
described above and can have a positive affect on balance, stability, and the
distribution of forces on the plantar surface of the foot.
Consider the following brief summary of studies:
“Less muscular effort was needed to maintain
balance. The reduced muscular effort may provide greater endurance for people
while performing dynamic activities."
Department of Exercise and Sport Science, East
Carolina
University
- Biomechanics Lab
“The Alzner [support] can change the motion of the
foot, therefore altering ankle, knee and hip joint motion and upper body
movement. Reduction of forces on the joints would be consistent with decreases
in back and knee pain reported.”
Biomechanics Evaluation Laboratory, MichiganStateUniversity
– College
of Engineering
“The Alzner [support] appears to be an unusual
design providing both support and stability with little unwanted secondary
effects.”
Kendall Orthotics, Inc. - Institutions Supplying
Measurement: California
College
of Podiatry
In 2004, a clinical study of 67 generally healthy
older men and women was conducted at Armstrong
Atlantic
State University
in Savannah,
Georgia
using the Alzner arch support. The study showed a statistically significant
improvement in scores for balance, functional mobility, and pain reduction in
the back and lower extremities excluding the ankle. In addition, 85.1% of
participants reported that they benefited from wearing the arch supports.
Department of Graduate
Studies
Armstrong
Atlantic
State
University
Your feet are the foundation for your entire body,
so even minor foot pain should not be viewed as inconsequential. If persistent
foot problems can't be helped by a simple change in shoe style, then the
Alzner design arch supports may be the answer to your foot problems.
In fact, our arch support may be the best way to
prevent foot problems by giving your foot proper support and balance before
problems have a chance to develop.