Pros And Cons of Wearing High Heels

High heels are important part of fashion industry. All like to be fashionable wearing trendy heels for their feet. Even though they are making women stylish, it’s the poor feet which are suffering.

Studies show that women have 4 times as many problems than men. High heels can make them even worse.

On an average day, the foot takes 9000 steps and absorbs hundreds of tons of stress. There is little to be surprised, when the foot is prone to injury than any other parts of the body.

Podiatrists (feet specialists), suggest that, the major cause of foot ailments is due to constrictive footwear. This occurs, when women wears shoes which are not of their correct size, mostly when it is of smaller size.

High heels to stay in place should fit tightly to the feet. These turn to be one of the major culprits.

How heels improve the looks:

1. High heels are considered to improve one’s sex appeal by the fashion industry.
2. High heels seem to make the women look taller
3. They improve the shape of the legs by defining the calf muscles.
4. The lower back is made into an arch
5. The chest is thrusted out

But the looks cannot be attained at a lower cost. They are to be paid generously.

Health effects on the feet:

1. When the toes are squeezed into a narrow toe box, they can overlap, causing the feet to lose its normal shape.
2. Point shoes can create bunions (bony projections at the base of the toe)and hammertoes (toes bend to form the shape of a claw)
3. It also leads to a condition called, Morton’s neuroma (growth of nerve and fibrous tissue in between the third and fourth toes)
4. This can cause pain, burning, tingling, or numbness.
5. Tight shoes create friction, resulting in painful blisters, hardened skin, lumps and ingrown toenails.
6. Most of the cases are treatable, whereas, some can be corrected only by surgery.

Other risk factors:

• The strain increases with the height of the heel
• High heels shift the weight to the ball of the foot.
• This forces the ligaments on the rear end of the leg to contract.
• This creates a shortening of the calf muscles.
• Causes hyperextension of the back and neck, leads to throwing off the balance of the body.

Stretching:

Flat shoes can reduce the problem. But if heels are unavoidable, then certain stretching exercises can be done to save the back and calf muscles.

1. Lower back:

1. Lie on the back and bring both knees to the chest.
2. Press the back against the floor.
3. Hold for a minute.
4. Keeping the left shoulder on the floor, gently move the knees to right and hold again.
5. Repeat to the other side also.

2. Calves:

1. Place the palms against a wall.
2. Bring one foot forward and bend that leg.
3. Keep the back leg straight.
4. Slowly lean forward, keeping the heel of the back foot on the floor, and hold.
5. Repeat on the other side.

Prevention:

• Wear flats
• Opt shoes with wide heels
• Go for soft leather
• Avoid heels above 5 centimeters
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