Good Housekeeping: Testing Z-CoiL Shoes - Forum Post: Surely, You Jest!

Good Housekeeping: Testing Z-CoiL Shoes:

The Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval has just taken a giant credibility loss, in my book. Your review of Z-Coil shoes was not only poorly researched, it was completely off the mark.

I am not going to confuse you with thousands of reports from folks with arthritis, plantar faciitis, and knee and back pain that these shoes have helped. If you had done any background investigation for your story, you would have discovered this for yourself. Perhaps that would have inspired you to check with additional health care experts who routinely prescribe Z-Coils for their patients. The comments made by your Doctor not only demonstrated a complete lack of knowledge about the footwear, but says a lot about the propensity of otherwise well-educated people to issue 'opinions' about issues they really know little about.

Of course, I have a personal story about how Z-Coil shoes helped me. That's why I am so upset over your unfair and perfuntory review. I had a condition that left me nearly a functional cripple for over 30 years. I suffered from nucleated keratomas on the balls of both feet. I went to doctor after doctor. They all wanted to do surgery, which would have included breaking and resetting the first and second metatarsal bones. 'If' the bones set properly, the condition might have been improved, but, there was no guarantee that it would not reoccur. Because of the generally risky nature of foot surgery and the lack of assurance that it would be successful, I never had it done.

I heard about Z-Coil shoes from a nurse who worked 8-12 hour shifts in a hospital. She had an extremely arthritic spine and she said the shoes relieved her pain to the extent that she could continue working, and reduced her pain medications from powerful narcotics to an occassional aspirin. After hearing such a high recommendation from a health care professional, I decided to give them a try, mostly out of curiosity. I never expected those shoes to relieve the pain caused by the pressure of my keratomas, but they did! This was accomplished the supurb forefoot cushioning (the best I've ever seen in a shoe) and the lessening of pressure on the ball of the foot by the effective rocker design.

So, I am now rid of the nearly constant pain that had been with me for 30 years. Oh, yeah. My back feels better, too, but that's another story.

I guess the point of all of this is that Good Housekeeping has committed a great disservice to their readers by ill-informed and slopily researched review on the Z-Coil shoes. They should be embarrassed.

Hugh Solaas
March 2, 2005, 12:21 pm

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