Abs of steel are fine. But tight calf muscles will subject you to all manner of foot pain.
Patrick DeHeer, DPM, a podiatrist from Westfield, Indiana, learned this the hard way as he suffered from posterior tibial tendonitis after taking up running.
His pain was related to a condition called, Equinus, or tightness of the calf muscle.
He tried every nonsurgical thing he could think of to relieve his pain, including getting a prescription for night splints. After realizing the splints weren’t doing anything for him, he healed himself by developing a better brace.
The Equinus Brace
“You need to wear [night splints] all night and they’re not super comfortable to sleep with. Patients are always complaining about waking up with them,” said DeHeer. “I consistently woke up in the middle of the night while sleeping on my side with my knee bent. I realized the night splint wasn’t doing anything, because to effectively stretch your calf muscle, you must have the knee fully extended. That’s where I came up with the idea for ‘The Equinus Brace.'”
DeHeer says the braces solves the problem of compliance by only having to be used one hour a day. He adds that it’s also a much better way to stretch the two calf muscles—the gastrocnemius and soleus—which is critical for proper treatment and long-term results for plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendonitis and other disorders.
His brace extends above the knee to lock it into full extension, which is critical to stretching the calf muscle. An adjustable ankle hinge give precise control of the amount of ankle joint dorsiflexion and is the only brace to engage the Windlass Mechanism.
The physician adjusts the brace during three monthly visits over 12 weeks.
Click here to watch a YouTube video of the boot.
IQ Medical
It took DeHeer nearly five years to create his boot. Then along with Carmel, Indiana, residents John Moorin (owner of another medical distribution business) and Ricky Heath (a long-time executive in medical devices), they formed IQ Medical LLC to market the invention.
It’s a good market. Moorin says tight calf muscles result in about seven million foot and ankle injuries a year. He adds that $1 billion dollars a year is spent surgically and non-surgically just to fix plantar fasciitis alone.
Medicare and nearly all insurance carriers cover the brace. A shorter version, “The Equinus Brace” 2.0, became available in June for children and smaller adults.
By the end of the year, the company plans to have a consumer brace that it can sell to athletes and others without them having to go through a doctor. The consumer brace will be a simplified version of “The Equinus Brace™” because a physician will not be guiding the user through the process.
Hi Walter, this post is absolutely helpful, thus giving hope to those who are suffering from foot pain. My uncle is one of those people who can’t even walk properly, not unless he’s being assisted or use a crutch. I believe he wouldn’t mind wearing it night and day as long as he can move alone. I will show this article to him and his wife once we visit him again. Thanks and more power!
I love what you said about The Equinus Brace. I would say that seeing a podiatrist is a smart move for those who have constant foot pain. If I were to experience such pain, I would contact a reliable podiatrist.
Interesting story! It’s amazing that DeHeer was able to make a bot in five years, tailor fitting his braces for his own needs. Thanks for the insights!