Progressive Health Innovations is all about customer-focused innovation. The company was founded in 2005 by three Canadians looking to create a product that would help people suffering with foot pain: Dr. Jordan Myers, Matthew Ferguson, and Rick Hall. Dr. Myers, a chiropractor who saw that many of his patients needed foot adjustments. Dr. Myers soon realized that simply adjusting the foot and relieving the pain was not the complete answer to this foot dilemma. Strengthening the foot so the problem would not recur was the ultimate solution.
Unfortunately, when Dr. Myers went looking for a product to serve this purpose, he could find nothing except rubber bands and products so great they could not only cure your foot pain but cure cancer too! He needed a product that would allow patients to arch their foot and engage instrinsic muscles. With a plan in mind, Dr. Myers called long-time friend Rick Hall (MSc in Kinesiology) and Matt Ferguson, my contact, who had been working as the Medical Device Technology Manager at Simon Fraser University. And magic happened! With the three minds working together they created a product that would serve their initial goal: help those suffering with foot pain (very Three Musketeer-ish to me! All for one. Three people with individual strengths coming together to make one ultimate company.) Their design principles was that it had to be a complete strengthening product through all ranges of motion, allow for stretching, and so easy you could do it while you were watching tv. The team wanted to create the best foot and ankle strengthening product on the market.
So what they came up with was the AFX, a device that does exactly what they set out to do. Matt sent me the AFX to try, and I can see how this would help dancers especially. In one of the last dance classes I had this past season, we tried several "products" designed to increase your arch, help your turnout, maintain balance, etc. What antiques they are! The product for turnout are bulky, heavy shoes you strap on to sneakers and then do the exercises. The device to increase your arch was painful even to look at! You put your foot in this tube of sorts and while someone held it down, you pushed with your foot.
The AFX is something you can throw in your dance bag and take with you everywhere. It is highly portable, light-weight, and relatively easy to put together. There are different levels of resistence you can chose to work from, depending on your level of strength. I would suggest this to dancers who are at the professional level, students in dance schools, or those just looking to build strength. I had an injury this past summer in my right foot, and I know the AFX will help me build the strength I lost all the time I was in a walking cast.
I'll be creating some videos next week with exercises for dancers with the AFX, and I hope you check them out! Check on our Facebook or Twitter pages for more updates on the videos! And of course, make sure you try out the AFX. Dancingly,
Jenn
jenn@centralctfootcare.com
Dr. Tina Boucher, Dance Podiatrist
