The perfect heels always make any outfit gorgeous, any woman will tell you so, but with this style comes much suffering. Just like many women know high heels are bad for health and comfort, this barely stops women from adorning heels occasionally and often daily. Women often make sacrifices for foot fashion, but at what price?
Studies have shown that these towering shoes can be costly in more ways than one, taking their toll on your spine, hips, knees, ankles and feet, while altering your posture and gait. We’ve done our research to help educate and convince women to take it down a notch, for their own good.
JOINT PAIN
Unlike other types of shoes, heels lack any significant shock absorption. What’s more, wearing heels also stops your foot from naturally rotating as you walk, since they’re forced into a straight and unbending position. This causes the knee to absorb the brunt of every step, which can lead to severe joint pain and an exacerbation of arthritis symptoms.
CALLOUSES
When you push your feet into too-tight shoes or shoes that force your feet into unnatural shapes (such as pointy-toe shoes), you create pressure on the sides of your feet and toes. Over time, the rubbing and pushing from your favorite heels can lead to a hardening of the skin. It may not be a big deal at the moment but soon you might be too embarrassed to don your strappy sandals with your feet are riddled with callouses.
SHORTENED ACHILLES TENDON
This might be one of the more worrying side effects of wearing heels: According to Live Science, women who wear heels over a long period of their lives actually shorten their Achilles tendon. With the heel in the lifted position, heels can actually create a physiologically change in the muscles and tendons around the ankles. That means, when barefoot or wearing flats and shoes that cause the heel to reach the ground, the wearer can feel immense pain and stretching.
Lower Back Pain
Heels actually cause your pelvis to push forward when you walk or stand, placing tremendous pressure on the lower back and causing lingering pain.
LACK OF CUSHION
When you wear heels, your entire body’s weight is placed on the ball of your foot and your heel is used for balance only. Surprisingly, this can cause a wearing away or pushing away of the natural padding you have on the ball of your foot. Heels with time can become immensely uncomfortable, and even painful.
FALLING AND SPRAINED ANKLES
When you wear flats, your weight is spread evenly between the ball of your foot and the heel, with little pressure on your ankle. Unfortunately, heels cause such an imbalance between the heel and the ball that the ankle is forced to become the fulcrum for your entire body. And, since ankles aren’t built to take that kind of pressure, falls and twisted or sprained ankles can be pretty common. It’s nearly impossible to perfectly balance, especially in very high heels, so any bump in the pavement can feel like a 10-foot wall when you’re trying to scale it in your favorite pumps.
INGROWN TOENAILS
Most heels have a pointy or almond-shaped toe, despite the fact that the end of your foot is actually squarer. And it’s the biggest and littlest toes that take a lot of the pressure as they press against the sides and the end of the shoe.
High heels cause your feet to slide down and crush your toes, leading to ingrown toenails. Ingrown toenails occur when the side of your toenail starts growing into your flesh, and it can be seriously painful.