Compare your foot to a young child’s - what do you see? A young foot is agile and toes are evenly spread. As we grow, years of cramming feet in to unsuitable, narrow shoes begins to take its toll. Feet lose their young, agile shape and flexibility and when we walk the bones of our feet jam together. As a result, our natural balance and body alignment is lost. Without mobility in the bones of our feet several foot dis-orders such as Osteo-Arthritis, hammer toes, bunions and poor circulation can occur.
Beech work to alleviate these potential problems by spreading the toes and retraining the feet. As the foot bones regain mobility, balance and body alignment are restored and over all wellness is increased.
Expert opinion and customer testimonials show that Beech help offer the following benefits:
- Increase foot strength
- Relieve stress within the foot
- Align toes
- Correct postural alignment
- Stretch leg muscles
- Stretch Achilles tendon
- Improve circulation and help prevent DVT
- Improve and strengthen arches of the feet
- Prevent hammertoe, bunions, plantar fasciitis and joint pain
- Improve flexibility of the foot
Beech are a stylish, durable and comfortable sandal. Their exclusive design ensures the sandal will not slide around on the foot or be accidentally kicked off with sudden movements. The support of the heel protects the arch while the slope in the foot bed provides stability. These features make the benefits of Beech transferable for a number of activities and wearers.
Health and Wellness: Beech can be worn as everyday footwear and just 10 minutes wear a day is a proactive way to increase feelings of health and wellness. They provide a stable support for the foot unlike regular thong flip-flops and give your toes much needed relief from closed, often narrow shoes or heels.
Beauty: The popularity of Beech as a Pedicure tool has been endorsed by many top therapists and salons in London and across the UK and USA. Its versatility means it can be used at home as a DIY pedicure tool or by professionals as part of an upscale pedicure package.
Yoga and Pilates: Centering the mind and spirit, while
grounding and balancing the body are central keys in yoga
practice. Yoga students are taught to spread the toes, thus grounding the
feet. Beech help to gently train the toes to spread naturally and encourage
an active engagement of all parts of the foot.
Rehabilitation: By spreading the toes and re-aligning the bones in the feet, wearers find that Beech lend themselves particularly well to anyone experiencing foot difficulties. If you’re unsure about their suitability for any problems you’re suffering with, then ask your local GP.
Fashion: With a bold colour palate and eye catching design, Beech can be used as a healthy fashion accessory during summer months or as an alternative house slipper – either way, you’re certain to turn heads and jealous tootsies everywhere you walk!
Emma Supple is one of the UK’s most respected Podiatrist and Podiatric Surgeons. She has a revolutionary vision of how Podiatry clinics and services should be delivered and is a strong advocate of Beech Sandals.
“Beech Sandals are uniquely designed to enable all toes to perform optimally; as good as barefoot. Because each toe is anchored into the sandal, the foot is well supported and our posture is also complemented by the contoured instep, which can help improve the stability of the body. The sandals relieve pressure on the instep and gently splay the toes thus easing pressure on the metatarsals.
I swear by Beech as therapy for your feet. By threading through each toe space they hold the foot in a most natural way and are excellent for straightening out toes, easing crunched metatarsals and allowing the foot to wriggle. I have three pairs and wear them as slippers and out and about. They undo the damage that my high heels do and after a long day in heels my feet need them. In fact I have stopped being barefoot at home and wear these instead as they mimic barefoot action but are much more comfortable.
The science bit: Our feet are made up of 26 bones with lots of muscles, tendons and ligaments. Each toe is suspended in a hammock type system with tiny slips of muscle that allow us to wiggle and splay our toes. They need exercise and space to move and the Beech sandals allow them to move. Love your shoes but do not hate your feet!"
|
 |
Dr. Claudio Carvalho, is an Osteopathic Physician based in the US. He specialises in physical medicine and rehabilitation and largely cares for patients with musculoskeletal and joint pains from injuries or degenerative diseases such as arthritis.
“I have used the Beech Sandal with patients who have painful feet and have had very good results. The patients reported that the sandals allowed them to walk and stand with less pain. I observed the walking behavior of persons while wearing Beech Sandals and I noticed that the toe spacers assist the toes to spread with weight bearing during static standing and during rolling-over phase while walking. This “Toe Spreading’ is a normal and necessary part of the foot mechanics, which is lost when one wears closed-toe-box shoes. Thus, the toe spacers may assist the distribution of the force loads over the metatarsophalangeal joints, and it may re-educate the neuromuscular system to better stabilize those joints. This, in time, helps to decrease pain in those joints, and it can also decrease pain in the other joints of the feet. However, most importantly is the correct selection of the patients that may benefit from these sandals if they have painful feet and the gradual wearing time of the sandal -30 mins – 1 hour in the first couple of days, then increasing by 1 hour every 2-3 days) if one has pain” - Dr. Claudio Carvalho, DO, MS
Q. I have just started wearing my Beech Sandals and they are a little uncomfortable is this right?
A. Yes it is. The toe separators are aligning the bones in your feet and correcting all those years of cramming! This will feel slightly strange and uncomfortable to begin with, but as the bones begin to re-train, the new, straight alignment will provide a host of benefits. Please persevere as just 10 minutes a day will transform your feet, the way you walk and the way you feel. As the saying goes – everything that is good for you always hurts a little!
Q. I am waiting to have a Bunion operation next year, are Beech Sandals suitable?
A. Yes they are!! In fact, Beech Sandals could have prevented the development of the bunion through as little as 10 minutes of stretching every day since they hold the feet as per a night splint. As bunions are caused by misalignment of the bones in the big toe, in a similar way to the splints, the Beech Sandal helps to re-train the foot by lengthening and spreading the toes and encouraging space, which improves foot alignment. Please see our feedback section to hear wearer’s experiences.
Q. I have just had my Bunion surgically removed – are Beech Sandals suitable?
A. Yes providing it’s a good few weeks after surgery. Please always consult your Podiatrist before wearing Stretch Technology.
Q. I regularly play football and my feet really hurt after wearing my football boots – are Beech Sandals suitable for Men?
A. Yes they are suitable for everyone!! Men’s Black Beech Quattro style is available in sizes UK9 – 13 and will correct all those years of cramming your feet in to those beloved football boots.
Q. I am an avid Yogi, would Beech Sandals be suitable for me?
A. The Beech Sandal is wonderful to help yoga students to maintain good grounding and stability within their practice. With the unique toe dividers the foot continues to follow the in-print of lengthening and spreading the toes taught throughout the standing postures. The sandal helps to continuously train the foot to lengthen and broaden through gentle movement and walking, throughout the day. This gentle spacing of the toes aligns the feet with the ankle, the knee, the hip and overall posture.
Take a look at a yoga inspired case study here:
|
A Beech Sandals Case Study |
Q. I run a Beauty Salon and they look like fantastic pedicure toe separators; are they suitable for this type of use?
A. The Beech Sandal has become increasingly popular with Spa’s and Beauty Salons across the UK, Europe and US. The sandal has a unique design, with built in toe separators to keep the toes apart; perfect to slip on before your pedicure and no more waiting for polish to dry, leaving your Clients free to get on with their day.