FOOT FIXER
Dr. Liza Egbogah’s signature all-day pumps have been worn by the likes of Kate Winslet, Edie Falco, Emma Thompson and Brandy
Getting ready for a fancy work event one evening, I realized I was going to have to wear my black-tie gown with either Uggs or sneakers.
My closet, full of achingly beautiful sky-high shoes from seasons past, were collecting dust.
My feet were gnarled and chewed up by an industry-mandated stiletto habit over a twodecade career as a fashion editor, and the Ugg crisis was the last straw.
The next morning I called Dr. Liza Egbogah, who has a reputation among the fashion set as a miracle worker for feet battered in the line of duty.
The osteopath, chiropractor and myofascial release expert is also a favourite healer for Bay Street honchos, Hollywood stars and major-league sports heroes. She goes by Dr. Liza.
Her office is in Toronto’s financial district.
Dr. Liza also appears as a body and posture expert on TV (The Social, Cityline, eTalk), sets up treatment booths at events (Oscars, Golden Globes, ESPYs, TIFF, Junos) and was on the PanAm medical team.
She is flown to film sets for private consults with boldfaced names.
The Calgary-raised dynamo started out studying pharmacology, but soon realized natural, hands-on solutions were her passion.
She trained as a chiropractor
and osteopath, but it is her myofascial release work that gains her the most attention.
Fascia is the connective tissue, opaque and made up mostly of collagen, that covers all muscles. Myofascial release is the process of unsticking the fascia by manual manipulation.
Dr. Liza describes her process this way:
“To stretch the fascia and muscle, we gently pull then move the legs, arms, spine and neck in a smooth motion at various angles to remove pressure between joints, release joint-lubricating synovial fluid, and improve flexibility of muscles.”
Her office has a swank, boutique feel, with posh coffees and candies, aromatherapy and a big screen flashing photos of Dr. Liza posing with her celebrity patients.
Particularly eye-catching are hunky name drops such as Jamie Foxx, David Oyelowo, Jeremy Renner, Liev Shrieber and Emmanuel Chriqui. And those are just the names she can talk about.
Her signature all-day
Dr. Liza pumps are sold online at DrLizaShoes.com, though she often customizes and stretches them for clients at her office. They have been worn by stars ranging from Kate Winslet to Edie Falco and Emma Thompson to Brandy.
She calls the shoes, which she designed, “therapeutic fashion.” The 3.75-inch heel is decked out with hidden foot-health promoting features — shock-absorption, deep heel cup, rocker soles and orthotic inserts.
Getting into a pair of these became my goal.
Dr. Liza herself is a dedicated follower of fashion and big-label designer gear. She always wears her own heels, not just for selfies with her celebrity clientele but all day in the office and even to demonstrate posture-correction and belly-flattening moves on her morning show gigs.
She is known best as a posture preacher, but actually, says Dr. Liza, everything starts with the feet.
“Our feet are the base of support for the body, so any dysfunction in our feet can lead to
knee, hip, back, shoulder and even neck pain.
“Any disorder that stems from misalignment or dysfunction in the muscles, fascia and/or joint can by fixed or improved with the manual therapy techniques I use. Permanent structural changes like bunions, hammer toes and fractures may not be fixed by treatment, but symptoms can definitely be improved.”
The foot fixation grew out of her own issues: She wasn’t going to let her own foot pain stop her from looking good.
“I have been genetically cursed in the foot department and have suffered from bunions and plantar fasciitis on both feet. I also work in a profession where I am on my feet all day and run after a three-year-old when I’m not working.”
All of which made me feel better, sharing the damage I had done to my own feet with a lifetime heel habit.
It is worth noting that I have size 11 feet, and it is only recently that retailers began carrying anything beyond a size 10, especially in fancy designer labels.
Foolishly, I tried for too many years to ugly-stepsister my way into those size 10s.
Dr. Liza seemed certain she could make a difference in reversing some of that damage. It wasn’t cheap:
A series of four weekly hourlong sessions for a combination orthopedic manipulation and myofascial release ($275 each or $1,000 for four), plus a pair of custom orthotics ($500).
Dr. Lisa said that if I wear the orthotics and strictly adhere to the followup homework exercises (see below), I would only need an occasional tune up.
Well, my foot pain, and resultant knee and hip and neck pain, basically disappeared.
The treatment was a lot less expensive and less painful when compared to foot surgery and the major recovery time.
And I did indeed get into a pair of her pumps.
The sessions were painful in the moment, but the tough stuff was over fast, and the effects were both immediate and cumulative.
Myofascial technique essentially feels like a form of deep tissue massage.
Dr. Liza has impossibly strong hands, which she used to find and release trigger points on my ankles, toes, knees and one so deep in the hip flexor that she warned, “This is going to be intense. Please don’t kick me!”
It is, intense that is, but it also completely worked. Whatever she unstuck deep in my hip loosened up the works — right down to my toes.
Being overweight can also cause pronation as the extra weight disrupts the normal motion of the ankle and foot.
Footwear choices, inactivity and trauma can also contribute to over-pronation.
For Dr. Liza, good health starts from the ground up. And you still get to wear pretty shoes.