Your killer heels may be killing much more than obvious. Studies reveal that one in every ten women wears high heels at least three times a week and more than a third of them have fallen wearing it.
Statistics show that wearing high heels causes serious and permanent damage to the knees, hips and tendons.
Studies have shown these changes appear in women as young as 25 years of age.
The perfect heels also create the perfect setting for permanent health problems. Wearing high heels extensively and thereby pushing your toes into unnatural positions can cause a whole spectrum of problems from ingrown toenails to damaged tendons. Cramming your feet into uncomfortable and restrictive shoes make you suffer from corns, bunions and nerve damages. Heels are also linked to overworked and injured leg muscles, plantar fascitis, osteoarthritis of knees and low backache.
What happens when you wear high heels? When you wear high heels i.e. heels of 2 inches or more, you are putting your toes in forward and elevating your heels. This causes uneven distribution of body weight with most of the weight on your toes. This causes your body to tilt forwards. To compensate for this, you lean back and overarch the back which can create a posture that will strain the knees, hip and lower back. The change in the position of the spine also puts pressure on the nerves. This may lead to the development of sciatica, a shooting pain along the leg that occurs due to the compression of the sciatic nerve.
Wearing high-heeled shoes for several years can cause shortening of the muscles of calves and back leading to shooting pains and muscle spasms.
The Achilles tendon is the worst affected. The tendon is designed for flexibility so that you can easily flex your foot. Continued wear of high heels makes the flexibility action of this tendon redundant. This causes the tendon to shorten. So when you switch to flats or walk without the regular size of heels, you feel a sharp pulling pain in the back of your feet as the tendon now refuses to relax from its ever-contracted state! If severe enough, you may end up developing plantar fascitis too!
Does this mean you have to give up on high-heels forever?
Moderation is the key for high heeled shoe lovers. Do not wear them everyday. Keep them reserved for the occasions.
No. You don’t have to quit wearing heels completely. To avoid the long-term risks, try these simple measures:
- Wear heels of less than 2 inches. Preferably the heel should have a wide base. Pointed heels are most hazardous.
- Use soft insoles to reduce the impact on your knees.
- Pick shoes that have a wide toe area so your toes can move freely.
- Choose the exact size so that your toes don’t have to slide even more forwards.
- Keep alternating between your shoe styles. Do not wear only heels everyday. Wear flats as well.
- Remove your shoes through the day when possible, there will be times when you are just sitting and there is no real need to wear heels.
- Stretch your calf muscles everyday. Stand on the edge of a step without your shoe and drop your weight down to your heels. Alternatively, you may pick up a pencil on the floor with your toes.
The feet are the base of our happiness. If they are unhappy, nothing above them will be happy either.
Choose your shoes wisely. Your sense of style should not be a compromise for your health.
