The Downside of Wearing High Heel Shoes

Women feel happy or rather proud when they put on a pair of beautiful high heel shoes. This is a feminine joy to look taller! Again, a pair of gorgeous high heel shoes can rightly supplement a beautiful party gown! A pair of shoes defines one's persona and since a pair of high heel shoes has style factors attached to it, women cannot separate it out from their total grooming! But there are growing concerns over the harmful effects of high heels these days. The ill effects are felt in the following areas:

• Posture: Wearing a high heel shoe positions the foot in a downward position, thereby putting more pressure on the forefoot. This needs an adjustment for the rest of the body. Since the lower part of the body droops in the forward position, so the upper part has to lean backward to maintain balance. This affects the normal posture. Many women, who wear high heel shoes, have complained about back pain.
• Gait: High heel shoes affect the way of walking. Whenever the body exerts pressure on the forefoot, the legs are not able to put adequate force on the ground while walking. This in turn, puts pressure on the hip flexor muscles in the legs. These muscles work harder to move the body in the forward direction. The knees too remain in a bent position and this affects the knee muscles as well.
• Balance: It needs a lot of balancing skills while walking in a pair of high heel shoes. The foot and the ankle tend to move in an outward position and this becomes a threat for loss of balance.
• Back: The stress on the vertebral column is reduced by the s-shaped back which performs the role of a shock absorber. Wearing high heels can lead to the flattening of the lumbar vertebra (area of the vertebral column located in the lower back, which receive the most stress) along with the displacement of the thoracic spine (area of the vertebral column located in the mid and upper back area, at the same level as the ribcage) in the backward direction. Since the upper part of the body leans forward, the body tries to maintain balance by decreasing the forward curve of the lower back. This alignment is unhealthy and it leads to lower back pain.
• Hips: When the feet remain in a downward position, they lose some power to make forward movements. This brings the hip flexor muscles present in the upper part of the thighs into action to facilitate movement of the body. But overuse can lead to a shortening or a contracture of the muscles. This further leads to the flattening of the lumbar spine.
• Knees: Women stand at a greater risk to suffer from knee osteoarthritis. The reason can be attributed to the use of high heel shoes to certain extent. Wearing high heels keeps the knees in a bent position while the tibia or the shin bone leans inward. The inside of the knee, which is a site for osteoarthritis, faces considerable stress. High heels increase the gap between the knee and the floor and thereby put greater pressure on the knees. This can act as a reason behind osteoarthritis.
• Ankles: The ankle joints lose power to facilitate movements due to the use of high heel shoes. The heel height shortens the calf muscles. These shortened muscles cannot work properly while pushing the foot to move forward.
• Feet: The feet suffer the maximum damages due to the high heels. The bottom of the forefoot experiences significant pressure while remaining in a downward position. The pressure on the bottom of the forefoot increases by around 76 percent with the use of a high heel shoe having a height of 3.5 inches. The extra pressure on the feet can lead to deformities like hammer toes, bunions, neuromas and bunionettes.
• Skin: The narrow pointed toe box in the high heel shoes tightly accommodates the feet. This causes corns, callouses and blisters.

Keeping these harmful effects of high heels in mind, still it cannot be said that women should totally give up the idea of wearing high heel shoes! But they can restrict their uses to special occasions. Repeated use of high heel shoes can give birth to chronic ailments. A heel with a height of 1.5 inches is healthy and women can use shoes of this height for daily purposes.