My High Heels Are Hurting Me!
by Karla Beatty
High heels may seem beautiful and fashionable. You may be willing to suffer, but please be aware of the long-term risks.
Too often I see people who awaken to life and finally take care of themselves only when they are told they have a life-threatening illness. So don’t spend your life dying. Live! 
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10 Harmful Effects of High Heels
Finding that perfect pair of 4-inch high heels may seem like a worthy quest at the mall. After all, high-heeled shoes are elegant and glamorous, right? And that helps the wearer feel feminine and beautiful. History has shown that women will often sacrifice comfort for fashion, but at what cost? High heels impact the body and women pay the price in strain on their feet, knees, hips, back, and spine. Here’s how high-heeled shoes affect different parts of your body.
10. Forces a Staccato Walk
Wearing high heels truly changes the way you move. As you walk, your heel-to-toe transition is short and abrupt. This disrupts your natural stride to give you a “staccato walk.” Walking on the toes repeatedly changes both your stride and your posture. This can lead to bone and nerve damage. These structural problems become more severe as you age. 9. Shifts Weight to Balls of Feet
The balls of your feet (the broad fleshy part near the toes) is not meant to carry all the weight of your body. Calculate the pounds of pressure! Your entire foot is supposed to distribute the weight and act like a shock absorber to protect the body from the stress. Body weight is too much for the toes alone. 8. Causes Foot Damage
As you walk in a high heel shoe, the foot slides forward, jamming into the toe. This creates friction and causes a burning sensation and blisters. Over time, this leads to hard skin and corns. Pressure on the toes forces the big toe in towards the second toe. Ingrown toenails may be the result, but long-term damage may occur in the form of bunions, a disrupted twisting of the big-toe joint. 7. Extends Ankles Forward
As you stand upright and walk in heels, the ankle joint becomes extended forward. This is not a stable position. Wearing high heels regularly can actually change the normal movement of your ankle joint. As your muscles work harder to balance the unstable ankle, they become fatigued. There’s a greater risk of ankle sprains. Also, as your ankle bends forward, this movement restricts circulation in your lower limbs. This can eventually cause blue spider veins. 6. Stiffens Your Achilles Tendons
Your Achilles tendons anchor your calf muscles to your heels. The high heels cause the calf muscle to become shorter and the Achilles tendon becomes broader and stiffer. When the calf muscles bunch up and stiffen, you will feel it when you’ve finally kicked your shoes off—you might have trouble walking naturally. Over time, this could make all walking painful, even in flats. 5. Stresses and Overloads the Knee
Biomechanically, the knee is a great shock absorber for the whole body. Regular high heel use puts strain on the inner sides of the knee. That may cause wear and tear of the knee ligaments and tendons. That overuse and abuse may lead to osteoarthritis, joint degeneration, and arthritis. 4. Thrusts Hips Forward
High heels force an adjustment in the body’s balance. Heels raised high tend to tip the body forward. To balance, you must arch your back and thrust your hips (and breasts) forward. Men may like the way this looks in women, but this position stresses the outer hip muscles and tendons leading to strain and pain. 3. Tilts the Pelvis
The upward thrust from high heels tilts the pelvis forward. This movement exaggerates the curvature of the lower spine in back. Excessive curvature may cause long-term lower back problems. 2. Strains the Spine
The staccato movement of tottering on heels causes the spine to sway unnaturally. This creates faulty biomechanics and puts excess stress on your lumbar muscles. The result of this is a sore back, especially low back pain. 1. Stresses Neck and Head Muscles
The stress of wearing high heels affects the spine all the way up to the neck and head. High heels, especially stiletto heels, affect even the small muscles in the neck. These muscles can become stiff and sore, putting pressure on nerves. The end result may be chronic headaches. |
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Each step you take, your feet feel the force of one and a half times your body weight. Think of all that weight on your tippy toes alone. Many women believe high-heeled shoes are necessary to elegant and formal dress. The higher the heel, the more it throws off the alignment of the feet, legs, and spine. You might want to save your height for special nights out and never walk around in high heels for more than a few hours. Plus, find out what more you can do to reduce the pain and damage of high-heeled shoes.
If you enjoyed this Simple10s article about health and high heels, you might also want to read more about health or about Skin Care the Natural Way. |
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