The Good Feet Store. Location: Visalia, California. Mooney Blvd. Next to Staples and Taco Bell. Across the street from Costco.
Perhaps you've seen the infomercials on tv. You know...the ones saying that you need to put these plastic arch support devices into your shoes to relieve your foot pain, back pains, etc. I'm flat footed and years ago I had my podiatrist make me some orthodics to relieve the pain in my feet. I've had these orthodics for years and the pain never really went away. I've heard a Fresno talk-show host (Ray Appleton) tout the wonders of this product on his radio show. Curious, I decided to walk into their Visalia store and take a look. The saleswoman gave us the rundown on the product and explained that there is no fitting or molding done. The only thing required is to take a measurement of one's foot. You basically step on a pad that takes a carbon-copy of your footprint, then your feet is measured with that metal device that one finds at all shoes stores. The lady goes in the back office and pulls out the arch support that closely matches your measurements.
The clincher for me was the simple physical exam. Take your shoes off and simple stand up. Hold up one hand with your palm up about belly button level. Take your other hand, palm up, and put it underneath your first hand. Now have someone stand in front of you, make a fist, place their fist into the palm of your upturned hand, and apply downward pressure. Meanwhile, you try to resist the downward pressure by moving your hands upward. If you have bad foot support, your heels should lift off of the floor and your body will start to topple forward. The salesperson would then place your correctly sized arch supports on the floor, make you stand on them, and repeat the entire process all over again. This time you can simply stand there and resist the downward pressure without falling forward. In my case, we did the same procedure a third time. This time with my professionally made orthodics crafted from a mold of my foot. My upper body moved forward like a toppling stack of phonebooks. The theory does make sense. My foot was never perfect to begin with (flat foot). So why make a mold of my foot (a bad structure) and then make an orthodic from that mold (a copy of a bad structure). I'm no physical therapy expert, so if this is a scam or a simple physical trick to deceive the consumer, please let me know.
One more thing, before installing the arch support, remove the thin foam cushioning from inside of your shoe. Otherwise, the support will sit in your shoe at an uneven angle, negating the postive effects of the device.
So the arch supports are inserted into the shoes and a thin liner is placed on top of the arch support. This keeps your foot from shifting on the device, a problem I had with my old orthodics. How does it feel with the new support: like a golfball underneath your feet. It's not painful, it's certainly not uncomfortable (for me, at least). Interestingly enough, I put on my shoes without sitting down. I stood on one leg and got on one shoe and repeated the procedure for the other shoe. And I did it with no problems at all. Usually, I would have to lean against something, or I would wobble around to gain my balance. That's one plus mark for these arch supports.
So let's get to it. How much for these things? $249.95 for a pair of the Classic model. $17.50 for the liners. $20.00 in sales tax. You do the addition. However, these things are hundreds of dollars less than what I paid for at the food doctor's office. My motto is you don't know how well a product works until you try it for yourself.
On a totally different subject, the following info was given to me at the Lemoore Sportsman's Club. If you need any transmission work done, there is a guy by the name of Mel Maderas who has a shop on Seventh Street. As you drive down Seventh Street toward the Monday sale (a local swap meet that takes place each Monday on the outskirts of town), there are several motels located in that area. When you reach the first motel on the street, the transmission shop should be right across the street from the motel in a metal building. My source tells me that he is the best guy in town to go to for transmission work. I need a second or third confirmation from another party to verify the validity of this claim.
Enjoy your weekend.
Perhaps you've seen the infomercials on tv. You know...the ones saying that you need to put these plastic arch support devices into your shoes to relieve your foot pain, back pains, etc. I'm flat footed and years ago I had my podiatrist make me some orthodics to relieve the pain in my feet. I've had these orthodics for years and the pain never really went away. I've heard a Fresno talk-show host (Ray Appleton) tout the wonders of this product on his radio show. Curious, I decided to walk into their Visalia store and take a look. The saleswoman gave us the rundown on the product and explained that there is no fitting or molding done. The only thing required is to take a measurement of one's foot. You basically step on a pad that takes a carbon-copy of your footprint, then your feet is measured with that metal device that one finds at all shoes stores. The lady goes in the back office and pulls out the arch support that closely matches your measurements.
The clincher for me was the simple physical exam. Take your shoes off and simple stand up. Hold up one hand with your palm up about belly button level. Take your other hand, palm up, and put it underneath your first hand. Now have someone stand in front of you, make a fist, place their fist into the palm of your upturned hand, and apply downward pressure. Meanwhile, you try to resist the downward pressure by moving your hands upward. If you have bad foot support, your heels should lift off of the floor and your body will start to topple forward. The salesperson would then place your correctly sized arch supports on the floor, make you stand on them, and repeat the entire process all over again. This time you can simply stand there and resist the downward pressure without falling forward. In my case, we did the same procedure a third time. This time with my professionally made orthodics crafted from a mold of my foot. My upper body moved forward like a toppling stack of phonebooks. The theory does make sense. My foot was never perfect to begin with (flat foot). So why make a mold of my foot (a bad structure) and then make an orthodic from that mold (a copy of a bad structure). I'm no physical therapy expert, so if this is a scam or a simple physical trick to deceive the consumer, please let me know.
One more thing, before installing the arch support, remove the thin foam cushioning from inside of your shoe. Otherwise, the support will sit in your shoe at an uneven angle, negating the postive effects of the device.
So the arch supports are inserted into the shoes and a thin liner is placed on top of the arch support. This keeps your foot from shifting on the device, a problem I had with my old orthodics. How does it feel with the new support: like a golfball underneath your feet. It's not painful, it's certainly not uncomfortable (for me, at least). Interestingly enough, I put on my shoes without sitting down. I stood on one leg and got on one shoe and repeated the procedure for the other shoe. And I did it with no problems at all. Usually, I would have to lean against something, or I would wobble around to gain my balance. That's one plus mark for these arch supports.
So let's get to it. How much for these things? $249.95 for a pair of the Classic model. $17.50 for the liners. $20.00 in sales tax. You do the addition. However, these things are hundreds of dollars less than what I paid for at the food doctor's office. My motto is you don't know how well a product works until you try it for yourself.
On a totally different subject, the following info was given to me at the Lemoore Sportsman's Club. If you need any transmission work done, there is a guy by the name of Mel Maderas who has a shop on Seventh Street. As you drive down Seventh Street toward the Monday sale (a local swap meet that takes place each Monday on the outskirts of town), there are several motels located in that area. When you reach the first motel on the street, the transmission shop should be right across the street from the motel in a metal building. My source tells me that he is the best guy in town to go to for transmission work. I need a second or third confirmation from another party to verify the validity of this claim.
Enjoy your weekend.
posted by Read All Books @ 9:30 PM
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