“Heelys – The only shoe with a removable wheel in
heel”. – http://www.heelys.comI figured that Heelys had best description of their own product, so I decided not to re-invent wheel and copied it verbatim.
Fortunately, or maybe not, Heelys’ positioning in market has made them “Scotch Tape” of wheel in heel industry. Customers interchangeably use term “Scotch Tape” for adhesive tape and Heelys for every shoe with a wheel in 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 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 trademark “Crocodile Mouth” stance. It looks something like this > ; a toppled over “V” on one tip. The other reason I call it “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, real high risk victims are our little children. They can look forward to 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 Heelys forces neck to push head outwards to balance a body that is now poised to fall backwards. The neck and shoulder muscles are strained to push 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, damage is not going to be stop gap nor temporary.
Back Injury
The skating position of Heelys compels lumbar curve of our backs to flex AGAINST its natural curve, creating a flat lower back instead of a concave one.
To be fair - skating can be done with a natural curve but it takes great effort; and I certainly do not see children doing it!
Fortunately, in walking mode, genuine Heelys allow you to take out wheel but parallel brands usually do not. Remember to always get your child to take out wheel. Do not allow them to be lazy!
Constant walking on shoes that pivot on rollers (now that wheels have taken place of 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.
Hip Injury
Balancing in a forward motion on one back wheel is no easy task! Hence, our children’s natural sense of balance intervenes by skating with one foot in front of other. The centre of gravity effectively expands along diagonal axis, creating a more stable base to balance on.
In other circumstances, this would be a beautiful celebration of human body’s ability to adapt. Unfortunately, in this case, it is a predisposition to a life of agony.
Modern children spend most of their time seated behind desks and computer. The rare minutes of movement they have in a day will be constrained by muscular requirements for precarious Heelys balancing act. Their hips will be locked in an awkward skewed fashion, having to constantly compensate for imbalance.
