How High Heels Can Damage the Feet
Even though high heels might will give you a beautiful look, it poses some disadvantages such as damaging the feet. Women indeed love to wear high-heeled shoes for its various colors, styles, design, and color. Considering women not endowed with much height, high-heeled shoes are the answer. Generally, increase confidence is attributed to high heels. Women look sexier and more feminine when wearing high heels; but behind those amazing look, damage on the foot can be seen or felt.
Some common foot problems are results from wearing high-heeled shoes that do not provide much comfort. One prominent injury associated with high-heeled shoes is the shortening of the Achilles tendon. Due to the unnatural position that the feet given to, the calf and Achilles tendon have less contact. This results to the aforementioned condition. With some calf and Achilles tendon exercises, injuries such as this can be avoided or minimized.
The forefoot is the area that is most affected because the weight is lunged towards the given area. This makes room for injuries such as bunions, callous and inflammation. Bunions are abnormal growth in the forefoot area, which is an enlargement of the joint. To be more specific, there is an additional bone formation in the given area. Discomfort can be felt with this kind of injury. When abnormal growth occurs in the small toe, the condition is called sailor’s bunion. When the toe box of the shoe is too restricted or tight, this injury occurs. It would be best to select shoes with round or wide toe boxes to avoid getting bunions.
With excessive tightness or friction the feet develops calluses and blisters. These are painful skin condition due to intense rubbing and pressure. The external area of the skin thickens to protect the feet from further friction. Hence, this is a normal reaction. Though this is a normal reaction to protect the feet, it is an unpleasant growth in the feet. Some would use over the counter callous removing cream to remove the growth. However, some over the counter cream burns too much skin, which might cause infections and the likes.
The abovementioned injuries will be considered light as compared to the following. Stress fractures, which are crack or breaks in the bones of the foot when wearing high heels especially with older women. Ankles can be strained or twisted when one loses balance over the shoes. Lastly, neuromas are tissue growth under the feet that causes utmost pain and discomfort.
Given these possible injuries, women should not wear shoes with heels exceeding two inches. In addition, one should not wear high-heeled shoes on a daily basis to give the feet time to heal and repair. Though flats may not be flattering as heels, they offer much more comfort and support. Hence, one should rotate the shoes to be worn to avoid injuries.