Thorlo Foot Health Education
Because Thorlo invests heavily in research to help make their products better, they've learned a lot about some of the more common foot problems that plague the population and they've designed many products to help prevent them and/or help people recover from them. Thorlo wants to help you recognize if you have a foot malady. Just as important, however, is understanding how you can prevent foot problems from happening to you in the future.
What are the benefits of Thorlo Socks? . . . this information will help you understand and adopt a philosophy of Preventive·Foot·HealthTM for the rest of your life. If you were able to walk barefooted on grass or gentle terrain all the time, you would not need Thorlo Socks. But since most of us walk on man-made surfaces -- concrete, asphalt, hard floors [and let's not forget that man-made surface called the shoe or boot] -- we need protection from those surfaces. Inside the shoe or boot, the foot must move dynamically within a limited range in order for you to walk or run effectively. During all moving activities the foot is subjected to three main forces: Pressure, impact and shearing force. These three forces are responsible for virtually all the damage your foot incurs during standing, walking, running, and other sports and activities that involve bodily movement. In addition, the movement of the feet in moderate and strenuous activities generates perspiration. In fact, during strenuous activities, the feet can produce about 2 pints of sweat in a day . Too much moisture inside the shoe is not healthy for the feet. Moisture that is not evacuated from the shoe provides an environment in which bacteria and fungus can grow, and compounds the effect of the three damaging forces on the feet - pressure, impact and shearing force. Thus, it is critical to control moisture inside the shoe.
Pressure is simply direct force applied to the surface of the feet when you place your weight on them. When standing still, this pressure is static, with about ½ your body weight placed on each foot.
Impact is the sudden and forceful contact between the foot and the surface during walking, running and other sports and activities. It is, in effect, 'dynamic pressure,' and it increases the potential for damage to your feet: When you walk, each foot absorbs an impact of approximately 1-1/2 times your body weight. When you run, each foot absorbs approximately 3 to 4 times your body weight. This means that a person weighing 150 pounds would put an impact force of 225 pounds on his or her feet with each walking step, and 450 to 600 pounds on his or her feet with each running step. You can imagine the toll that takes on your feet over the course of a lifetime!
Shearing Force is the movement of different layers of tissue in opposite directions. It occurs when your foot moves inside the shoe or boot, and it causes blistering and breakdown of the tissues in the foot if not controlled or diminished in some way.
The Thorlo Socks anatomically designed, patented terry padding protects your feet from these forces. The padding reduces static pressure and impact, and diminishes shearing forces through what we call the 'Control·Slide®' phenomenon . This means that instead of the tissues on your feet moving in opposite directions, the terry padding moves under your feet, transferring the movement from the tissues of the foot to the terry padding itself. And to ensure that your feet are protected from the adverse effects of accumulated perspiration inside the shoe, s urface moisture and water vapor are effectively channeled to the outside of the foot where they can be evacuated through the shoes. This is accomplished with the Thorlo Socks proprietary yarn combinations that include THOR·LON® Acrylic, CoolMax® and other high tech fibers that 'wick' moisture away from the foot.
This combination of moisture management and the reduction of pressure, impact and shearing forces reduces fatigue, and helps you to enjoy your sport or activity longer, with the confidence that your feet are protected by the best foot gear available today.
ONLY Thorlo Socks have peer-reviewed, published medical studies that confirm these benefits of pressure, impact and shearing reduction , as well as a study that shows the benefit of enhanced circulation in the lower extremities from wearing Thorlo Socks.
The knowledge gained from these and other medical studies , as well as anecdotal evidence collected over more than 20 years , has been combined in THOR·LO Comfort·Science®. Our experiences have led us to identify 7 elements of comfort: Moisture, Pressure, Shear, Circulation, Temperature, Posture and Stimulus. The understanding of how these 7 elements combine and interact is incorporated into our design and development processes, and it allows us to produce the ultimate in foot protection and comfort for you.