Winter Footwear

Below are some Holiday gift ideas for your loved one's feet, recommended by Foot Works Waterloo, Ontario.
- Smartwool socks (https://www.smartwool.com/default.cfm)
The resurgence of wool as a high performance outdoor material has really taken off the past several years, and at the leading edge of that trend is Smartwool. The great thing about wool is that it insulates even when wet. These socks are great for skiers, runners, cyclists, or anyone who likes to keep their feet warm and cozy regardless of the conditions outside.
- YakTrax (http://www.yaktrax.com/)
YakTrax is a rubber device with a metal coil that slips over any regular shoe. The metal on the device digs into ice or snow and is great at providing much needed traction on slippery surfaces and thus preventing slipping and falls. They have a walker model and a pro model for running. These are great for anyone who likes to venture outside when the weather is cold and the sidewalks are icy here in Waterloo.
- Winter cycling shoes or shoe covers
One of the biggest challenges for the hardcore cyclists who ride outdoors year round here in Ontario is keeping their feet warm. The Pearl Izumi Barrier GTX (www.pearlizumi.com) is one of the most advanced winter riding shoes on the market. They are lined with Gore-Tex so they are 100% waterproof as well as having Thinsulate insulation to keep you warm. Pearl Izumi, Gore Bike Wear, Castelli, and others also make shoe covers to put over regular cycling shoes to keep out wind and winter road debris.
- Winter boots
For men, you can't go wrong with the classic Sorel Caribou boot (www.sorel.com). A more modern take on this traditional winter boot is the North Face Baltoro 400 II (www.thenorthface.com). Both of these boots are good down to -40 Fahrenheit! For women, Ugg's (http://www.uggaustralia.com/) are extremely comfortable for their warmth, comfort, and style. Patagonia (www.patagonia.com) has also entered the shoe and boot market and has some trendy new styles, including the Attlee Tie boot.
- Winter running shoes
Salomon (www.salomon.com) has had a stronghold on the trail running/Gore-Tex lined shoe for quite some time and continues that trend in 2011 with the Salomon Wings 2 GTX available in men's and women's versions. Many other companies make shoes that would be good for winter running. The trail running shoes tend to have less ventilation and soles with more traction which are both important for winter. If you can afford it, go with a Gore-Tex lined shoe to keep your feet dry on those cold and wet Ontario winter days.
Thanks for reading and have a great week!
---The Foot Works Team

via footworkschiropodyclinic.ca

Posted via email from Northumberland Physiotherapy and Foot Care Centre's posterous

King Tut Wore Orthopedic Sandals : Discovery News

King Tutankhamun might have worn some sort of orthopedic shoes specially designed to cope with his club foot condition, an investigation into the pharaoh's footwear has suggested.

Published in the book, "Tutankhamun's Footwear: Studies of Ancient Egyptian Footwear," the research is the first detailed analysis of the 3,300-year-old footwear since King Tut's mummy and treasure-packed tomb were discovered by Howard Carter in 1922.

See a slide show of sandals worn during King Tut's time here.

Even though the mummy had been X-rayed several times, it was only recently, during a major genetic investigation into King Tut's family, that researchers found a series of malformations in the pharaoh's feet.

Apart from a foot bone disorder known as Kohler disease II, King Tut might have had seriously deformed feet which left him hobbling around with the use of a cane.

Indeed, the second toe in King Tut's right foot lacked the middle bone, making it shorter, while the left foot was clubbed, rotating internally at the ankle.

The foot condition might have required appropriate shoes with a tight strap in order to avoid them being dragged over the floor.

Related Links:

• King Tut Felled by Malaria, Bone Disease
• All the Latest King Tut News
• TreeHugger.com: Can Walking Barefoot Make You Healthier?
• Planet Green: Egypt Today - Creating Urban Park Space
• HowStuffWorks.com: Was there really a curse on King Tutankhamen's tomb?

Indeed three pairs of shoes found in King Tut's tomb have horizontal straps just below the toes. One of the pairs also features semi-circular panels at the shoe's sides.

"These features are not known in any other footwear, sandal or shoe alike," book author Andre Veldmeijer, a Dutch archaeologist who specializes in ancient Egyptian leatherwork, footwear and cordage, told Discovery News in an exclusive interview.

Over 80 pieces of footwear of different sizes were buried with the boy king. Some are much deteriorated, with just fragments or isolated straps remaining. Others, however, have survived in decent condition.

Veldmeijer studied 81 specimens, including simple sewn sandals as well as other elaborately decorated, gold ornamented, brightly colored open shoes.

"They were very colorful, shiny shoes. Some are really unique as they combine shape, special materials and new manufacturing techniques," Veldmeijer said.

Veldmeijer believes it is unlikely that the most elaborate shoes, complete with gemstone inlays and gold sheets, ever touched the ground.

"King Tut might have been carried around wearing them. Some shoes, such as the elaborate marquetry veneer sandals, might have been carried by a servant," Veldmeijer said.

On the contrary, the seemingly simple sewn sandals, made of palm leaf, grass and papyrus, were the most important items.

"They were a status symbol, only used by those elite who were rewarded by the king and royalty. These sandals were so important that they were even imitated in gold," Veldmeijer said.

According to the archaeologist, the group of smallest size footwear might have fit King Tut when he was 10, the approximate age when he became king in 1333 B.C, while the largest could have been worn just before his death at age 19.

"This suggest that only the shoes he wore as a king were buried with him. Indeed, many sandals show wear, including the print of King Tut's foot on the sole," Veldmeijer said.

Two pair of open shoes were made to be extra comfortable, with the middle part of the sole stuffed to be more soft on the plantar.

Together with a German specialist in reproduction of ancient footwear, Veldmeijer is now testing the "orthopedic" shoe hypothesis by remaking King Tut's leather open shoes.

"We are collaborating with a professor in anatomy to see how deformed the foot was and how the shoes would have helped," Veldmeijer said.

According to Salima Ikram, professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo, the speculation is interesting.

"It is entirely feasible that tighter straps on Tut's shoes were due to a possible club foot, as these would hold them in place and enable easy maneuvering," Ikram told Discovery News.

via news.discovery.com

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King Tut suffered from cleft palate, club foot, malaria - and he wasn't murdered: new DNA report

King Tut suffered from cleft palate, club foot, malaria - and he wasn't murdered: new DNA report

BY Helen Kennedy
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, February 16th 2010, 3:22 PM

Nabil/AP

The golden mask of Egypt's famous King Tutankhamun is displayed at the Egyptian museum in Cairo, Egypt. A new DNA analysis found the teenage ruler suffered from a rare bone disorder.

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King Tut was a frail teen with a cleft palate who walked with a cane and died of malaria - not murder, according to scientists who studied the famous Pharaoh's DNA.

The Egyptian boy king who died at age 19 in 1324 B.C., the 10th year of his reign, had a rare bone disorder in one foot, a club foot in the other and was infected with the mosquito-born parasite.

"This finding constitutes the oldest genetic proof of malaria in precisely dated mummies," the scientists wrote in Tuesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.

Since Tutankhamun's mummy and his perfectly preserved, gold-filled tomb were discovered in 1922, the ethereal young king has captured the world's imagination. Conspiracy theories have posited that he was murdered, variously by poison or bludgeoning.

A ground-breaking study of the mummy in 2005 - including the first CT scan of the body by a team of radiologists - concluded he died of gangrene after breaking his leg.

But now a team of genetists say Tut's DNA reveals he had malaria and likely died of complications of the disease brought on by the broken limb.

The team looked at 16 royal mummies, tracing Tut's lineage back five generations and linking him for the first time to several older mummies, including one that appears to be his grandmother and another that is likely his father, Akhenaten.

They found a host of congenital diseases - unsurprising in a line that encouraged siblings to marry.

"An accumulation of malformations in Tutankhamun's family was evident," the researchers wrote. "None alone would have caused death."

But he was so weakened by disorders and disease - including malaria - that an accidental fracture could have done him in, they speculate.

"He might be envisioned as a young but frail king who needed canes to walk because of the bone-necrotic and sometimes painful Koehler disease II, plus oligodactyly (hypophalangism) in the right foot and clubfoot on the left," the authors said.

There were staffs in Tut's tomb that could be walking sticks and what the scientists called "an afterlife pharmacy."

The study took pains to put to rest some other theories about Tut's physiognamy, including that he had various medical syndromes that made him look female, as he is often depicted in ancient art.

"It is unlikely that either Tutankhamun or Akhenaten actually displayed a significantly bizarre or feminine physique," the study said.

Indeed, the scientists noted that "the penis of Tutankhamen, which is no longer attached to the body, is well developed."

The science team, led by the flamboyant archeologist Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, will unveil their findings in a Discovery Channel special called King Tut Unwrapped starting Sunday night.

via nydailynews.com

Too bad they didn't have a Chiropodist in 1324 BC!

Posted via email from Northumberland Physiotherapy and Foot Care Centre's posterous