By Dennis Janisse, C.Ped.

Therapeutic materials seem to have come full circle. Silver and copper—precious metals once highly valued by ancient Egyptians and Romans for their therapeutic properties—are now being incorporated into orthotic sheet stock, socks and other garments. Bamboo, another ancient resource, is also being used in therapeutic socks and fabric. These three time-tested materials are being rediscovered because of their anti-
microbial, odor-eliminating and wound-healing properties.

Silver
Thousands of years ago, the Romans held silver in high esteem for its “magical” healing powers. Today, silver is recognized as a powerful and effective anti-microbial agent. It is widely used in bandages, burn treatments, diabetic stockings, and compression hose.

Its anti-microbial properties make it useful in pedorthic materials, too. For instance, foot odor is caused by sweat, bacteria and fungus. Pedorthic suppliers with silver-impregnated products claim that it can kill 99.9 percent of bacteria on the skin within one hour of exposure. The silver in the products also binds with the ammonia and denatured proteins that contribute to foul body odor. Added together, these qualities result in a quick and significant reduction in foot odor.

Silver’s thermal conductivity also helps regulate the foot’s temperature better, helping feet keep warm in winter and cool in summer.

Copper
Like silver, copper is a natural anti-fungal and anti-bacterial agent. In fact, thousands of years ago, the Egyptians used copper pipes to transport water because it safely destroyed parasites and other water-borne pathogens.

Although copper has been used as a biocide for thousands of years, no microorganism has developed a resistance to copper. Consequently, copper has been shown to play an important role in many of the complicated processes that comprise the wound-healing process.

In addition to promoting wound healing, copper can help effectively treat many foot problems. Socks impregnated with copper have been studied to test their ability to improve or resolve several conditions, such as athlete’s foot, odor, erythema, burning, itching and vesicular eruptions. Compared to historical controls, the patients wearing copper-impregnated socks had significant improvement in all of these conditions.

Finally, neither silver nor copper have any allergic properties, which means they are safe for anyone to use without concern for skin irritation. And since the metals are permanently bound to the textile fibers, the benefits last as long as the fabrics themselves.  
 
A new material: bamboo
A third development in pedorthic materials is the use of bamboo. Bamboo is one of the earth’s fastest-growing, most prolific plants, making it one of the most easily renewable resources. While often thought of as a tree, bamboo is actually a type of tropical grass. As such, it reaches maturity in approximately four years, compared to 25-75 years for most commercial tree species. There are more than 1,000 documented uses for bamboo.

Like silver and copper, bamboo fiber is antimicrobial. Bamboo contains an agent known as “bamboo kun” that prevents bacteria from cultivating in it, thereby keeping the wearer odor-free. As far as comfort goes, pedorthic suppliers claim that bamboo fibers are softer than even the softest cotton.

Where they’re used
There are many companies incorporating silver, copper and bamboo in products. The following companies are only some of the ones presently using these materials in pedorthic products.  

For instance, Acor uses silver in its X-Static® products. Acor employs a process that irreversibly binds pure silver to a polymer so that it may be used in fabric for hosiery and as an orthotic covering for pre-made as well as custom foot orthoses.

Cupron produces a wide range of copper-impregnated pedorthic and orthotic materials, including cotton, rayon, nylon, polyester, and polypropylene. Cupron also makes Copper Sole™ socks, which are available from Aetrex. Aetrex also plans on offering orthotic material sheet stock with a copper-impregnated topcover.

Finally, Bamboosa produces a wide variety of textile products made from bamboo, including socks.

While both copper- and silver-impregnated fabrics are available in sheet stock for use as orthotic topcovers, they are also available pre-laminated with ethylene vinyl acetates (EVA) of varying durometers and thicknesses. These EVA prelaminates can then be heated and vacuum-molded around a plaster model of a patient’s foot to fabricate a deep, total-contact foot orthosis. Acor also offers a line of pre-made foot orthoses with the X-Static® silver topcover.

The possibilities
The number of potential applications for silver, copper and bamboo is limitless. Possible products could include anything from healthcare textiles such as curtains, gowns, towels, and gloves to free-flow filters for blood, plasma, serum or milk or even airplane air filters.

Helping your patients by incorporating copper, silver and bamboo products into their treatment plan means improved wound healing as well as reducing and eliminating foul foot odor. These products kill bacteria in the shoe, fight off fungi and help keep feet dry and cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

The best part is that the anti-microbial efficacy of silver, copper and bamboo does not decrease with time and use; it lasts for the lifetime of the material. Pedorthics is just now discovering that when looking for new materials, sometimes it’s helpful to go back to old sources.  

Dennis Janisse is president and CEO of National Pedorthic Services Inc.