High Heels, Your Feet, and You!

 

Lots of women like to wear high heels, some because they have to for their line of work (pretty draconian), and some because its, “the fashion” and some actually feel better in heels!

Lets do a breakdown of the whys. First is fashion. Every dress shoe company announces a new style every season and some women follow fashion trends and want to look their best. That’s cool, great styles and colors to match or contrast with the latest apparel styles. Sandals, open toes, sling backs: they’re all good. Second, maybe a dress code at work mandates that heels must be worn. I’ve encountered this many times over the years. An old customer use to come into the office where I use to work and said her feet are killing her. She proceeds to tell me she has to wear them. I say, “Okay, have you asked your employer to wear high heels?” (especially if the employer is a male) Most guys would find out its not easy or very comfortable to walk in them. So I usually explain that most of us were not meant to wear high heels and that our feet are not shaped at all like the shoe.

You know, pointy toes. Ridiculously high arches. Balancing your heels on pencil thin steel rods.

And unfortunately, making matters worse, the shoes have to fit small so they stay on your feet. I do my best to remedy the situation. First I try to stretch out the toe area so that the toes are not scrunched together. The next complaint is pain on the balls of the feet. When the heel is elevated, more pressure is placed on the metatarsals. Also, the joint space is now opened and we’re walking on part of the foot we really were not meant to walk on, for extended periods of time. With more room for the toes after stretching the shoe, I add a cushion under the metatarsals, gel is my preference with a pad called a halter. The halter does not go all the way to the toes but ends just behind them. For the most part this helps alleviate some of the pain or discomfort!

Now for the women that actually feel better in heels. Usually its because she has tight calf muscles or a shortened Achilles tendon. This may be because she is anatomically  genetically predisposed, or because she has always worn high heels so the calf muscle and Achilles tendon have shortened over time. I have found that either a pes planus foot shape (flat feet) or the opposite- a pes cavus foot shape (high arch), may be an indicator. For everyone though I usually suggest alternating heel heights. This helps with keeping the calves and Achilles tendon stretched, and also doing calf stretches regularly. But whenever you can try to stay in a flat or moderate heel height, buy shoes that are more like the shape of your feet and flexible.