Risks of Wearing High Heels: Will You Choose Style or Health?

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Wearing high heels may seem attractive and make you feel taller and sexier, but at what cost? High-heeled shoes can create a variety of foot problems, reduce stability, and increase the chance of injury. Leg, back, and foot discomfort are among the most prevalent complaints. Long-term use can potentially create structural abnormalities in the foot, resulting in bunions, hammertoe, neuroma, equinus, and other disorders that may necessitate surgical intervention(1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
High-heeled shoes and musculoskeletal injuries: a narrative systematic review

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In addition to causing damage, high heels put too much strain on the back and lower extremities, which can have a significant impact on posture, locomotion, and balance(2^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Evaluation of Anti-Secretory and Anti-Ulcerogenic Activities of Avipattikar Churna on The Peptic Ulcers in Experimental Rats

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How High Heels Affect Your Posture

A high heel puts your foot in a plantarflexed (downward stretched) position, which increases pressure on the forefoot. This causes you to modify the rest of your body to compensate for the imbalance.

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To maintain a center of balance, the lower body must lean forward, and the upper body must lean back to compensate. As a result, your body's alignment is thrown off, resulting in a stiff, unnatural posture rather than a comfortable, neutral one.

The effect on your posture is compounded as the heels get higher. Each inch of heel height increases the pressure on the forefoot by 25%. As a result, a three-inch heel exerts 75% more pressure than usual. Even among seasoned stiletto wearers, extra-high stilettos cause the body's center of gravity to shift to the hips, resulting in an abnormal curvature of the lower back.

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High Heels Can Affect Your Gait

Normal strides entail rolling the foot from heel to ball while pushing off with the toes. When walking in high heels, the plantarflexed position of the foot hinders you from pushing off the ground effectively.

This unnatural alteration in foot position makes the hip flexor muscles work harder to move the body forward. Your knees will also need to remain more flexed, requiring your knee muscles to work more than usual.

Again, the higher your heels, the worse things get. Women who wear extra-high stilettos frequently walk with a lumbering, giraffe-like gait, especially if their backs, knees, and calves lack the strength to compensate for the imbalance.

It is Difficult to Balance the Body in High Heels

Walking in high heels can be similar to walking on a balance beam. Navigating different surfaces, heights, and inclines requires a high level of balance and precision. To maintain stability while moving swiftly, you would need to place more weight on the balls of your feet. Walking on your tiptoes risks damaging the underlying bones and connective tissues(3^✔ ✔Trusted Source
On high heels and short muscles: A multiscale model for sarcomere loss in the gastrocnemius muscle

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Stilettos are especially hard since the stick-like heels provide little support or stability. They press your foot and ankle into a supinated (outward splaying) position, increasing the likelihood of falls and twisted ankles(4^✔ ✔Trusted Source
The influence of heel height on frontal plane ankle biomechanics: implications for lateral ankle sprains

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About 123,355 high-heel-related injuries were treated in emergency rooms in the United States between 2002 and 2012, with the majority of them being foot or ankle sprains and strains, according to a study conducted by the University of Alabama(5^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Epidemiology of High-Heel Shoe Injuries in U.S. Women: 2002 to 2012

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High Heels Affect the Natural Curvature of the Spine

The regular C-curve shape of the back is intended to act as a shock absorber, relieving weight-bearing stress on the vertebrae and pelvis. High heels flatten the lumbar spine of the lower back, driving the thoracic spine of the mid-back into a hyper-curved position.

To compensate for this (especially if you have been wearing heels all day and are feeling fatigued), bend forward to relieve pressure on your back. Poor alignment will invariably result in overuse of the back muscles, increasing the likelihood of persistent back discomfort(6^✔ ✔Trusted Source
The effect of high-heeled shoes on lumbar lordosis: a narrative review and discussion of the disconnect between Internet content and peer-reviewed literature

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Prolonged Use of High Heels Causes Low Back and Hip Pain

The hip flexors are placed in the top front of your thighs. Wearing heels keeps them in a constant flexed position. While you may think of this as "exercising" your hip flexors and accompanying calf muscles, prolonged use can lead them to shorten and contract.

Hip flexor contraction can cause the lumbar spine to flatten gradually, resulting in both low back and hip pain(6^✔ ✔Trusted Source
The effect of high-heeled shoes on lumbar lordosis: a narrative review and discussion of the disconnect between Internet content and peer-reviewed literature

Go to source).

Knee Osteoarthritis is Common Among Women Who Wear High Heels

Women are more likely than men to experience knee osteoarthritis (also known as "wear-and-tear arthritis")(7^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Knee osteoarthritis in women

Go to source). Most of the blame can be attributed to the wearing of high heels. High heels increase the distance between the floor and the knee, resulting in increased knee torque (force of rotation) and compression.

In high heels, the knee's persistent flexed position causes the tibia (shin bone) to bend inward, which helps with balance. This altered position compresses the medial (inner) knee, which is a common site for osteoarthritis.

If you have osteoarthritis, you should avoid wearing high heels since they might accelerate joint deterioration and deformity.

High Heels Can Result in Insertional Achilles Tendinitis

High heels might impede ankle motion and force. When wearing high heels, the calf muscles (gastrocnemius and soleus) shrink due to the increased height, leading them to lose power when attempting to propel the foot forward.

The Achilles tendon, which joins to the heel bone (calcaneus), can also contract as a result of the altered ankle position. Over time, this can lead to an inflammatory condition called insertional Achilles tendinitis(8^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Achilles tendinitis

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Increased Pressure on the Foot Due to Hig Heels Can Cause Bunions, Neuromas or Plantar Fasciitis

Placing the foot in a downward posture puts tremendous pressure on the plantar (bottom) region of the forefoot. As the heel height increases, so will the pressure. Increased pressure can also lead to foot pain or abnormalities like bunions and neuromas. Supination of the foot can also affect the position of the Achilles tendon, resulting in Haglund's deformity (a bony enlargement of the heel)(9^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Haglund's Syndrome: A Commonly Seen Mysterious Condition

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High heels can also cause the tendons and ligaments that support the arch to tighten. This can cause arch pain, often known as plantar fasciitis.

Corns, Calluses, and Blisters Common Due to High Heels

Wearing high heels forces your toes into the shoe's toe box due to gravity. If the toe box is too small, your toes will be forced together, causing the inner and outer toes to lock in an awkward posture known as hammertoe. Even though the toe box is larger, the pressure against the toes and skin can result in ugly corns, calluses, and blisters.

As long as high heels remain a fashion statement, it's unlikely that ladies will abandon their Christian Louboutins or Jimmy Choos. As a result, if you decide to wear heels, you should take precautions to limit the injury.

How To Wear High Heels Safely?

• Save high heels for exceptional events.
• If you want to wear heels to work, keep them in your bag and put them on when you arrive.
• If you are to wear heels throughout the day, take them off periodically to stretch and relax your feet.
• It is best to wear flats with insoles or heels no higher than 1½ inches.