ARe we looked at differently when weThe wear heeled shoes?
By Amy
@artemis432 (7474)
Abernathy, Texas
January 8, 2008 9:06pm CST
Let's face it, most of us have a vision of high heels. Many men find it sexy or beautiful. In the business place and out on the town it can be elegant, sophisticated. Your legs can look more beautiful and slim.
What is the cost of this? Everything from the heels up can be affected. First, lets look at aesthetics, sure there are so many gorgeous shoes to choose from, but what of the cracked heels, and hard skin? Your feet being resized/reshaped to fit only high heels. These are only the minor side effects. Women tend to have four times the problems with their feet then men and heels are primarily to blame for this. Maybe you only notice a little back pain and the occassional sprained ankle if your younger, but as you age you can add athritis, chronic pain in the knees(even the develpment of osteoathritis due to loss of cartilege), more sprained ankles, back problems - even degenerative joint disease. Orthepedists will most often point to high heels as the main causative factor for these and other conditions.
Is it worth the pain you can and most likely will experience starting from mid foot and going up to heel, ankle,knee, hip, lower back and even - headache pain? The chance of deep vein thrombosis or a clot in your legs?
If you choose to wear them, ttry these tips:
Try not wear them all day - and when you go shoe shopping
And when you go shopping for your shoes -
Don't buy on impulse - some women want the last choo shoes regardless of size or the most adorable heels are on sale and they're are only a few left - and not in your size - leave them - your feet, legs, back and head will thank you later.
Try them on on both feet not just one side as feet can differ in size and shape on both sides and make sure you're standing up when you try them on.
If possible, have a shoe professional measure your feet - like at Nordstroms - proper fit is so important!
Try on low heels - which has been shown to be optimal for feet and leg health.
Make sure they're not too narrow in either the heel or toe.
And this piece of advice will sound the most strange - warm up your feet before wearing high heels. Stretch your calf muscles through out the day. At the end of the day do a set of toe touch excercises. And remember, if you ever feel pain in your feet from wearing your high heels - forget how 'cute' they look - take them off!
So to make this a discussion - what do you wear and why? Does hearing any of this change your opinion? In Massage Thearpy school we learned all this and we had to go to the mall and watch people walk and it was interesting to see the changes in gait and postre (the achilles heel can actually beshortened), forward head and neck for instance.
1 person likes this
6 responses
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
13 Jan 08
I can so relate to what you have said here and find it my duty almost to tell my tale. I'm tall and I was always healthy and agile. My husband was 6'4" so I wore high heels. They made my fabulous legs look even better. I think we all followed trends back then and so when it was deemed better to wear lower heels and this was the fashion, of course I followed suit. What I began to find was that when I wore higher heels at any time, my feet would ache...I took no notice. I was only in my 30's when I realised it was more comfortable for me to wear lower heels and I eventually began to wear flats all the time. I've always worked hard and been on my feet all day doing heavy lifting a lot of the time. I noticed problems with my knees in my early twenties. I'm in my fifties now and not nimble at all. I have trouble sitting down and standing up again. My back aches in the lower regions and across the middle. My hips burn and I get sharp pains in my feet and ankles. Walking is sometimes difficult, stairs are a pain in the everything. I'm overweight.
I treadmill everyday and my muscles are improving but my knees are shot even though I've been taking glucosamine for about 3 years now. They don't help a lot but if I forget to take them I can barely move without pain, stiffness and tears.
If you must wear heels, keep them for special occasions only and just wear them a few hours at a time. If you change shoes half way through an occasion just show how sensible you are and tell people you're looking after yourself.
@artemis432 (7474)
• Abernathy, Texas
19 Jan 08
Possibly. I know we were taught how to work on it but we had to work on the muscles within the gluts so you'd have to be comfortable with that. I'm a fan of chiropractors.
1 person likes this
@artemis432 (7474)
• Abernathy, Texas
14 Jan 08
Wow. I really liked the advice you give at the end. Have you tried going for therapy - massage therapy? To save stress on your wallet and thus on your knees, back etc, I suggest going to a therapy clinic located within a reputable school. They can help alleviate a lot of your symtoms and retrain your muscles possbily. And or a chiropractor. Do some reserch and see if this may be for you.
Not sure if I mention this in my thread starter but we learned all of this as part of our classes. People think massage therapy school must be a breeze but the curriculum and requirents get more strict every year. And there is a regulating body which gives out a tough test - I still need to take nationals, without which you can't be certified.
1 person likes this
@Perspectives (7131)
• Canada
19 Jan 08
Oh boy...I am so over my passion for high heels and am sooooo grateful to be self-employed and not have to be all caught up in the 'image-management' I once was when I worked in the fashion industry and hosting and producing television shows. Oh man how my puppies and calves ached at the end of a long day of pounding around in stiletto heels.
I rarely have to stick my feet into them any more...and I am at a place of inner confidence where I don't care how long high heels make my short 5 1/2 inch frame look...don't need it...don't want it!
Thankfully I see myself as a country gal now...and I wear my wide variety of hats as my fashion statement because I love them. I am more of a jeans and boots gal...and when I have to move into professional mode I wear comfy blazers...turtlenecks in the winter and a round neck T-shirt in the summer with a stacked shoe that gives me a little height...and my feet a LOT of support.
I gave up being a slave to the fashion police many years ago...and to me style is a personal choice and when a woman is comfortable with who she is that is the best fashion statement she can make. Only my perspective of course. Happy heel hunting to the rest of you out there who still enjoy them!
Cheers,
Raia
@artemis432 (7474)
• Abernathy, Texas
29 Jul 08
I've been MIA as well. We should be moving fairly soon - not sure where the transfer will be, Pensecola or Meridian, MS.
@Perspectives (7131)
• Canada
25 Jul 08
Thanks for your best response on this one...I appreciate it! Hope all is well with you. I have been M.I.A for awhile. Life is great and so is the weather so I am out and about doing a lot of other things rather than sitting at my computer other than when I am keeping my free lance writing business going....and it is going well.
All the best,
Raia
@lkbooi (16070)
• Malaysia
21 Jan 08
Hi artemis432, thanks for your informative discussion which gives me a lot of knowledge about wearing high heels. I come to understand there is much disadvantage of wearing such shoes in the incorrect manners. We can’t deny that there might be a risk for certain favorite practice. Sometimes we are forced by certain situation to wear high heels so as to show the required personality in certain occasions. After reading your lengthy description we could avoid much risk related and take necessary remedial precaution. Most of the time, I do not wear high heels other than going to work.
@artemis432 (7474)
• Abernathy, Texas
26 Jun 08
I'm in my thirties - old enough where even were I to go back to office work I'd wear flat shows or chunky low heels.
@artemis432 (7474)
• Abernathy, Texas
9 Jan 08
I appreciate your empathy. I've often wondered if it was a man who invented the high heel shoe - or if its mostly men nowadays who are designers of the shoe. I wonder if men would feel differently if they had to walk a day in woman's shoes?
I think if your lady wore high heels to go out to dinner - or for dinner in with you for just an hour or so she would be fine - although I would suggest her going by the tips I write about.
@drknlvly6781 (6246)
• United States
9 Jan 08
This is actually enlightening. Usually I don't wear heels at all, I'm a gym shoe kinda girl, and those rare occasions when I do wear heels, they are always three inches or shorter. I have weak ankles, so my heels always have to be low and wide based, or else I will fall lol.
But I saw a couple of things that I did not know about wearing heels. I didn't know that high heels could cause deep vein thrombosis. And that tip about warming up and cooling down the calves before and after wearing the heels I will take to heart, even though I don't wear the high ones. I still have pain sometimes in my ankles and calves because I don't wear them that often.
Oh, and you will never EVER have to worry about me taking them off! Once I am in the house I am strictly socks!!! The shoes (and stockings maybe) MUST be taken off within minutes of coming in the door, and socks must be put on to keep the tootsies warm. Its an absolute necessity for comfort!
@artemis432 (7474)
• Abernathy, Texas
9 Jan 08
I'm the same, my ankles turn with little provacation. And I love being barefoot as much as possible. I generally like to weawr footed tights so thoose can stay on in the house. Sometimes I like those form fitting chinese slippers for inside, just like wearing socks in away, as they're not all bulky.
:)
@cynicalandoutspoken (4725)
• United States
9 Jan 08
I usually wear pumps to work but if I am going to a formal event or to a job interview or some place special I wear high heels. I also have a whole section of my closet dedicated to shoes I never wear out of the bedroom.
I learned something from your discussion but considering I don't wear heels for long periods of time or every day I doubt this will change my shoe shopping habits but thanks so much for taking the time to write the lesson.
@artemis432 (7474)
• Abernathy, Texas
9 Jan 08
Aren't pumps lower, flatter heels? I have shoes I only wear in. ARe some of those shoes for the bedrooms high heels? I think wearing them for a little bit here and there isn't going to cause long term damage. Sounds like you have a nice balance.
