Gasp! High heels are bad for our feet? Well, of course, all of us women know that high heels aren’t the best shoes for optimum foot health, but have we overlooked just how bad they really are for us?
A recent article in The Washington Post, titled, “High heels can be a pain in the feet” reported on the potential foot problems women can develop from extended high heel wear. Not only does the article report that high heels affect the feet, they can also negatively affect posture and calves. Yet, for women in today’s day and age, high heel wear is a cultural norm. Whether heels are worn for weddings, work, fancy dinners, clubbing, church or everyday use, high heels have become a staple in the modern woman’s wardrobe. Many of the problems listed in the article are problems that you’d relate to a sports injury or an accident, but high heel wear can be just as detrimental. You wonder why legs are sore, feet are blistered, and the muscles in your calf are more tender than usual? You can thank high heels.
The article covers the potential issues that heels can cause, such as bunions, Achilles tendon issues, hammertoes, Morton’s neuroma, ankle problems and poor posture. Heels push the center of body mass forward causing the hips and spine to fall out of alignment. High heels also cause pressure on the knee and ankle joints potentially leading to bone problems and greater risk of spraining an ankle. You can see this handy infographic for further details on the health effects of heels:
Infographic via Washington Post
For women who have foot problems, doctors recommend to stray away from heel wearing because it can lead to more severe problems in the future. According to this article, people who don’t have foot problems can develop problematic issues. Something that began as a fashion statement can be extremely detrimental to a woman’s health. The real question is, will women stop wearing heels even if they know how bad they are?
Personally, I’ve gotten used to wearing high heels around more than the average female because I’m five-feet-tall. Most of the time, I wear heels, or some sort of wedge, to not stand out in a crowd because I’m so short. In the recent years I’ve increased my heel wearing, I have noticed that my feet are more calloused, my ankle and knee joints crack more often and are more prone to injury when working out, and my toes always seem like they could use a pedicure. I’ve witnessed my mom undergo surgery for her terrible bunions, potentially from starting to wear heels in high school up until current day.
After reading this article, high heels could be to blame. Although that makes me nervous for my future, I can’t properly conclude that prohibiting myself from wearing heels in the future will deter any of these problems. I must keep in mind that I sit at a desk seven hours a day, train for marathons in my free time, don’t practice the best posture, and don’t stretch properly after workouts. Even though heels may not be the best shoe choice for women’s feet in general, there are plenty of other aspects of my life that I could improve before making a drastic wardrobe and lifestyle change.
No body is the same. The general consensus that heels is bad probably is true, but each body reacts to external factors differently and making a general conclusion without sufficient evidence seems to be a little rash. With that being said, the moment your feet start shearing with pain, or your nights are ruined because your feet hurt so bad is probably a red flag that you should shelf the heels and find an alternative.
What do you think of the effects of high heels on your body? Will you still wear them?
photo credit: electricnerve via photopin cc
Ha Ha! Cute title to this post 😉 I don’t wear heels very often, if at all!! I used to wear them so much back in the day that I could literally run a marathon in them, but nope… They’re over rated and I am okay with being short – most of the time 😉