High Heels: Hazardous for Your Health
Kelly Taylor, BDO Contributing Writer


Those five-inch stilettos look so beautiful on their plain white pedestal in the store window. You know exactly what dress they’d be perfect for, but what you don’t know might hurt you.

Sprains, foot aches, blisters, ankle injuries, hammertoes and other long term damage can be caused by wearing shoes with heels that are too high. Podiatrists say wearing high-heeled shoes puts too much pressure on the balls of your feet and your lower back. Calluses and corns are the least of a stiletto-wearing fashionista’s problems.  Constant pressure on the feet can result in the thickening of tissue around the nerves in toes and cause pain, stinging and numbness in the toes. The taller the heel is the greater the risk of injury.

Elizabeth Semmelhack, author of Heights of Fashion: A History of the Elevated Shoe, said heels tend to get higher during times of economic recession. During the Great Depression of the 1930s and the oil crisis in the 1970s, heel heights grew significantly. Semmelhack believes the extra inches offer a form of escapism.

High heels make women feel taller, skinnier and sexier. Beyonce popping and bouncing across stage in six-inch heels that look more like weapons is enough to make any woman believe she can survive a few nights on the town in stilettos. Even though Beyonce has admitted she is killing her feet by dancing in stilettos, she never gets on stage without them. The high heel shoe will simply never go out of style, but there are ways to minimize fashion’s damage to your feet.

Go for a wedge or platform style.  The wedge style distributes your weight evenly across a greater surface putting less pressure on the balls of your feet. Platforms minimize the relative distance of the sole of the foot to the ground. The height of the platform decreases the relative height of the heel.

Have a pair of standby shoes.  Instead of walking long distances in high heels wear a pair of flats or tennis shoes and change into your high heels when you arrive. If your feet start to hurt halfway through the night don’t be ashamed to slip back into those flats.

Minimize wear. Give your feet a break during the day by wearing kitten heels or pretty ballet flats to work. Save high heels for later that night, but try not to bust a move too hard as doctors warn fast dancing in high heels makes you more susceptible to injuries.

Use proper posture.  Don’t be tempted to shove your feet to the front of the high heels and glide along. Allow your heels to touch the back of the shoe, straighten your back and place pressure evenly across the soles of your feet.
 
Choose shoes that fit properly.  Shop for shoes at the end of the day when your feet are at their largest to ensure you get a fit that will be comfortable even on swollen feet. Have a sales associate measure the length and the width of your feet if you’re experienced any recent changes in weight. If you plan to wear the shoes with stockings or tights you need to try them on with stockings or tights. Also, to get a good feel for the fit and your ability to walk in the heels, venture off the shoe store carpet and onto some hardwood or another smooth surface.

Take care of your feet!  Your feet work hard in those high heels so give them a nice massage. To help strengthen the muscles in the feet, roll each one over a golf ball for a few minutes and hold your feet in the air using a towel a few times a day. Soak feet in warm water sprinkled with a half cup of sea salt to soothe tired feet.  The weight of your entire body is on your feet everyday and they need all the pampering they can get.

Courtesy of: Black Doctor