Crippling our Children the Heelys Way – And now in Adult models too! by Winston Ng, Phenogy Health Advisors

“Heelys – The only shoe with a removable wheel in the heel”. – http://www.heelys.com

I figured that Heelys had the best description of their own product, so I decided not to re-invent the wheel and copied it verbatim.

Fortunately, or maybe not, Heelys’ positioning in the market has made them the “Scotch Tape” of the wheel in the heel industry. Customers interchangeably use the term “Scotch Tape” for adhesive tape and Heelys for every shoe with a wheel in the heel.

Prior to our discussion proper, I must point out that I am impartial to genuine Heelys or third world knock-outs. Hence, we shall use the term Heelys generically.

The widespread sales of Heelys have spanned from South Africa to China. In every large city, we see children whizzing by in the trademark “Crocodile Mouth” stance. It looks something like this > ; a toppled over “V” on one tip. The other reason I call it the “Crocodile Mouth” stance is when an incoming kid cannot stop in time! I assure you – your abdomen feels exactly like it has been gorged by a crocodile!

Unfortunately, the real high risk victims are our little children. They can look forward to the following problems after prolonged use:

1) Neck & Upper Back Injury

2) Lower Back Injury

3) Hip Injury

Neck & Upper Back Injury

The natural skating position of the Heelys forces the neck to push the head outwards to balance a body that is now poised to fall backwards. The neck and shoulder muscles are strained to push the head forward to counteract gravity. However, our neck muscles were not made to hold our head out on a horizontal plane. This is a stop gap measure by our body to prevent us from toppling. Sadly, the damage is not going to be stop gap nor temporary.

Back Injury

The skating position of the Heelys compels the lumbar curve of our backs to flex AGAINST its natural curve, creating a flat lower back instead of a concave one.

To be fair - the skating can be done with a natural curve but it takes great effort; and I certainly do not see children doing it!

Fortunately, in the walking mode, genuine Heelys allow you to take out the wheel but parallel brands usually do not. Remember to always get your child to take out the wheel. Do not allow them to be lazy!

Constant walking on shoes that pivot on rollers (now that wheels have taken the place of the heels) conditions our gait muscles to walk in a manner contrary to natural stride patterns. This leads to knee, shin and foot injuries later in life.

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BIO:

The author, Winston Ng, is an avid peak performance coach and CEO of Phenogy Health Advisors Pte Ltd, based in Singapore. His Health Consultancy programmes are renowned worldwide for their efficiency, simplicity and independent unbiased advice. The Phenogy Health Concierge™ is unparalleled internationally in providing cutting edge Natural Health Alternatives to the busy individual. Email Winston Ng and his Coaches at enquiries@phenogy.com.

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