Press Release: May is National Arthritis Month; New Alternative on the Market to Help Ease Arthritis Pain

Albuquerque, NM – According to 2005 statistics from the Arthritis Foundation, nearly one in three American adults has arthritis, adding an $86.2 billion hit to the U.S. economy due to health care needs. More than 100 conditions are classified under the term arthritis including: fibromyalgia, rheumatoid, gout, lupus and scleroderma. Arthritis affects more women than men by nearly a 2 to 1 ratio and is crippling or life-altering for more than 7 million people.

Prescription pain medications are often the first attempt to solving pain issues, but recent popular pain meds for arthritis have been pulled off the market due to serious side effects. Now hundreds of arthritis suffers are looking to alternative pain relief resources. A relatively new line of footwear on the market, Z-CoiL® Pain Relief Footwear™, is specifically engineered to relieve foot, leg and back pain. Testing conducted by the U.S Department of Energy (The Los Alamos National Laboratory Report - PDF) finds the footwear helps reduce the force and impact by up to 50 percent, while providing 40 to 50 percent energy return back to the body.

“I developed osteoarthritis several years ago and have had considerable pain for the last three years,” says Victoria Meindl, a healthcare professional from Waveland, MS. “My passion is travel! My husband and I have had to accommodate my "infirmities" to enjoy our recent travels. I have not been able to walk unassisted for any length of time.”

Victoria purchased her first pair of Z-CoiL® shoes on Thanksgiving Eve 2004 and has been walking with joy since then. “After two knee surgeries and physical therapy, all it took was a pair of shoes. I am so grateful to have my mobility back.”

The unique footwear incorporates a rigid full-length orthotic for mid-foot support, superior forefront cushioning to help soften each step and a conical-shaped steel coil in the heel, which provides the extraordinary impact reduction.

“I couldn't walk around the grocery store or the mall without a lot of pain in my arthritic knees,” says Barbara Swords of Shasta Lake, CA. “I have been wearing my Z-CoiL® shoes for two months and the pain has decreased 99.99 percent. I can walk longer and even run now.”

“A large percentage of our customers nationwide are arthritis sufferers,” says Z-CoiL communications coordinator, Pamela Trhlik. “In 2004, the Arthritis Foundation included the Z-CoiL® Cloudwalker style in its Walking Guide as an appropriate walking shoe. So the word is starting to spread about how our footwear is helping those with arthritis.” (more)

NOTE: The 2004 Walking Guide is no longer available and has been replaced with the 2005 Walking Guide. Companies pay to have their products included in the annual publication.

Z-CoiL® is currently in the Arthritis Foundation's Product & Services Directory.