Orthopedics Meets Fashion at NCSU!

GUEST BLOG: Mary Fenske

Good posture is associated with confidence, elegance and good health. For hundreds of years women and men wore corsets for support. Poor posture has many negative health effects - from pain, loss of movement, nerve problems and diminished respiration. Bad posture typically causes back, neck and shoulder pain brought on by lifestyle, occupation, injury, illness, aging or genetic disposition. Posture Wings^tm was founded by Mary Fenske. Ms. Fenske created Posture Wings^tm (PW) out of her own need to resolve debilitating spinal and cervical issues caused by poor posture. After years of assorted therapies and researching every type of posture and cervical remedy including: wearing braces, having her skin taped, exercises and Chiropractic, massage and Physical Therapy. It was clear that there was no effective or comfortable solution to improve posture. She also discovered that she was not alone in her pain! US statistics rank back pain as the #1 cause for absenteeism and Labor & Industry claims, and ranked the 2^nd reason why Americans seek medical care (upper respiratory #1).

Physical Therapists tape skin in effort to “cue” the body into proper alignment but does not support the body. None of the commercial braces achieved both functions necessary to improve posture - supporting the thoracic/upper spine and hold the shoulders posterior. Additionally, the braces that hold the shoulder are designed to encircle the arms, and that approach reduces freedom of movement and constricts blood flow making the garment very uncomfortable. All the braces are made out of elastic and Velcro or overall compression and not engineered for comfort or fashion.

The PW goal was to create a solution that would support both the spine and shoulders while allowing for freedom of movement. The solution would then be incorporated in comfortable garments for men, women and children that could be worn all day to assist in long term beneficial posture positioning. PW was awarded a Utility Patent and an Entrepreneur Grant with the University of Washington (Orthopedic Dept.) to conduct a 3 month bio-mechanic study on a prototype garment. The study results concluded that the garment had a strengthening effect on the muscles of the back and neck improving posture and relieving associated pain and increasing range of movement!  PW created the first proven beneficial posture garment that supports the spine and allows for freedom of movement.

The next step is to create assorted garments for men and woman that meet today’s lifestyles that will be for both prevention and rehabilitation purposes. That is what brings Posture Wings^tm to North Carolina! Mrs. Fenske wanted the garments Made in the USA and to work with the best innovative designers. Attending the IFAI show in Boston, MA, where Dr. Godfrey the Dean of the NCSU College of Textile gave the keynote speech and described the schools vast capabilities and their purpose to educate and drive innovation. Three professors Dr. Michielsen (Technical Textiles and Health), Dr. Istook (Technical Design, Sizing & Mass Customization) and Dr. Carroll (Health, Safety and Technical design) along with PW founder created a special project class to help evolve the PW garments.