Ahh! Ok I thought you'de never ask.
At the stand occupied by Alex wassis name, thingy, you know the guy with the orthoses that cure everything from gout to stress to prolapsed uterouseseseses
- CATTO! yeah Catto that's him.
Sells those proprioceptive insoles (ooh yeah this also fits in nicely with your statistical gold thread Robert)
Anyway I stood at his stall at the SCP conference and watched his 'presentation' as you might call it. I might call it a market stall pitch at best.
To cut a long pitch short as it were, he showed lots of photos before and after fitting of his proprioceptive insoles.
Before round shouldered knees flexed droopy jaw, after standing tall and straight and a right a ninepence. (well according to Alex)
This wasn't always so obvious but a bit of rigourous cajolling got many to agree with him. Anyway he had scientific photos with yellow lines drawn on to show the difference in posture, before, after, before, after, before, after, SEE!.
He readily explained the principles of proprioceptive insoles and how a 3.5mm wedge (not 3 0r 4 but 3.5mm) under the 1st MPJ will proprioceptively instruct the brain to change the posture.
We also do 6 and 9mm ( these are the magic numbers apparently) for when 3.5 doesn't work. Just measure the gap under the first ray when standing in RCSP (RCSP is my terminology) and that what you need. (so the gap is alway 3.5, 6 or 9mm eh? is there always a gap?)
What about research asked several, "ooh don't worry about research I work in the real world and I've seen them work and you can see by the pictures. Don't get fooled by research" was his confident reply (pesky scientists eh!).
Apparently tho you can safetly sell these to anybody because they can never do any harm - only good. (I see so they have a proprioceptive effect that instructs the brain to change the posture but the change in posture is always good or is it that the brain only changes the posture when it needs to regardles of the insole fitted? I dunno its all very vague
))
Anyway not to be outdone he proceeded to his proof, his coup de gras as one might say.
This entailed selecting a member of the audience (one who thought they may have the type of foot previously desribed by Catto, not a patsy or plant I might add
)
Now stand with your hand out front (well you know the drill as you've done it already Bel - yeah only Bel by the way, I've made a note in my little black book
)
So the upshot is that when this is done and as you push down on the hands the patsy, sorry the subject takes a small step forward. This, Catto explains is due to poor posture and core stability so therefore the patsy, SORRY subject can not keep his balance and must step forward.
NEXT, take a pair of proprioceptive insole -
Catto "now I now these look just like a pair of flat rubber insoles but they are scientifically designed by reasearch so that they give just the right amount of proprioceptiuon for the patient"
Eh! research! science! I thought we wern't supposed to concern ourselves with such nonsense, this is the real worls after all.
Anyway fit the insoles and get the subject to do 6 little shallow knee bends. This, apparently, mimics walking and sends a signal to the brain to tell it about the new surface topography underfoot. (Topography is my term again it means, err welll I expect you know as your educated folk, shame Alex isn't)
Now the brain has its new instructions the subject is standing with better posture, apparently, and low and behold when pushing down on the hand in a SIMMILAR way the Patsy oooh no soory - Subject does not step forward. There's your proof 100% gold you've seen it with your own eyes, how can your experience be wrong. It works for him It'll work for you and everyone else.
Now they're just £25 per pair and we reccomend you sell them at £49. I know it just a thin bit of plastic but its the years of research that's gone into them and you have to measure the cost against the benifit and they will fit into any shoe. The gormless and useless pods look at each other with nodding smiles "ooh well if they fit in the shoes that's usefool" (DoH!)
They're not to be confused with ordinary orthoses, which have not been proved to work and don't fit n the shoes and cause all sorts of pathology after fitting etc etc etc continue to slag off all types of orthostic regularly thru out the presentation. (Kirby Root, Dananberg et al they're all talking out their RRsses! as we all know to well DuuuH!
Whats more these things really work no really they really work. (oh well if REALLY work I ought to have some Alex -- NOT!)
Oh yeah why only the other day a lady came in with a prolapsed uterous and after wearing them for several months she reported that she no longer needs to push the flappy livery bits back in with her toothbruch each evening ( no I added that last bit for a effect, poetic licence they call) but anyway her prolapse was cured. And this happens all the time you name it Alex and his proprioceptive insoles will cure it.
So I thought I would try a bit of real world research and start testing people in the prescribed manner. To date despite testing many types of people from old ladies to athletes I havn't found one that steps forward when pressing down on the hands, even the ones that can barely stand on their own an take about half and hour to make it down the corridor and out the door still manage to keep their balance. Alex you weren't adding a little horizontal pull on the before test were you? no that would be unethical at best, wouldn't it eh! eh! speak up I can't hear you for the stuttering.
So using my new gait lab kit I did some posture testing. Hey doy you know what people don't stand still, amazing, they don't stand in the same posture for more than a second, they sway around all over the place, who'd have thought eh!? One minute, well one second really, they are slouchy the next they are more straight then back to slouchy again. Hang on breath in straight - breath out slouch, breath in straigh, breath out slouch (figget a bit). I didn't do anymore than that but I suspect if a told them to put an insole under foot and previously told them how it would change their posture it may well do that.
My Next experiment was to get a pair of gray poron and a pair of pink poron 3mm insoles and get people to stand on each after first telling them how they will change their posture and photgraph them to see how or if they change.
Even if Alex's insoles did work for some people, the way he sells them is in my opinion questionable for a proffesional and I really don't understand why professional pods would get roped in by him without question as some apparently were while I watched.
One lady asked him to do a presentation at their branch to show everyone this wonderful product. Its sooo simple and effective and it would be great if you could come along. Now either she was daft as a brush or she was cunningly drawing in Alex to enable him to shoot himself in the foot. I hope it was the latter.
Get the jist, the Barnum effect, there's one born every minute
All the best Dave
) off on holiday now will carry out the exercise on my return and report back.
- CATTO! yeah Catto that's him.