High
heels and stilettos are very popular and fashionable among women
especially in today’s modern society. Not only does it made you look
taller but also sexier and prettier when match with your favorite dress
or gown. So what are the harmful effects of wearing high heels?
Are
you aware that high heels not only cause chronic foot problems, but it
also leads to common complaint like leg and back pain? If you have
existing foot problems like plantar fasciitis, hallux valgus, bunions, hammer toe or ingrown toenails, the problem can be further exacerbated.
Statistics show that more than 20000 women
visited the hospital or podiatrist due to falls or sprained ankles.
Many studies have also highlight that these sexy and lovely high-heeled
shoes of yours can take a toll on your spine, ankles, hips, knees and
feet, while altering your posture and gait.
Negative Effects Of High Heels On The Body
The
body’s center of gravity shifted forward when standing on high heels.
This affects the appropriate standing posture as the body attempt to
make a series of adjustments. A 1-inch heel is enough to tilt the body forward by about 10 degree. So what does it mean if your body is rigid and does not adjust to the change? Yes!
You will have toppled and fall forward. As such, in order to gain
balance, your body will make postural adjustments from the toes all the
way up to the spine.
Well, the true fact is that 3-inches
high heels are more appealing than lower ones, right? When you are
wearing 3-inches high heels, it actually curled your toes at your foot
while raising and straining the arch. Generally, higher arches are
preferred than lower arches as the latter looks more attractive.
In
the leg, the calf muscles protrude more in higher heels giving the
impression that the legs are strong and slender with beautiful muscle
tone. At the knee, it is bent when the heel is lifted up. To maintain a
straight posture, tension is created in the thigh muscle which looks
firm and strong as well. Usually, with a 3-inches heel, the pelvis is
tilted forward 10 to 15 degree which leads to a “sexy” curvature in the spine. This makes the buttocks appear protrude 25% and lifted up the breasts.
That
is how a sexy and wavy body posture is obtained and explains why
3-inches high heel is apparently more popular and loved by most women.
However, it is also due to these minor postural adjustments that can
have negative effects on the body after a long period of time.
Harmful Effects Of High Heels On The Foot
Do
you know that the foot suffered the most when resting high heels? When
standing without any footwear, both the heel and toes rested flatly on
the floor. At this state, the body weight is supported by the arch of
the foot and is distributed equally between the forefoot and hindfoot.
With
3-inch heel, the arch becomes flexed with the ankle almost extended
fully. The toes are also being “locked” into a hyper-extended position
and curled up in an attempt to flex and grasp the floor to balance.
The
arch which is being strained and lifted up, weakens the ligaments and
causes it to fall as time goes by. Basically, the arch acts as a shock
absorber and spring that virtually obliterated. This is because on high
heels, the arch will never land or support the entire body weight during
walking or movement.
Besides, high heels shifted the body weight away from the heel to the balls of the foot. This causes a 90 %
redistribution of the body weight to be supported by the metatarsal
heads at the forefoot. Over time, this can cause chronic overuse
injuries such as thickening around the nerves, leading to pain.
Otherwise, bony outgrowths such as bunions will develop.
In
addition, the impact of high heels on the forefoot is compounded by the
cramped toe-box (general design of high heels). With the cramped
forefoot bearing most of the body’s weight, it can results in
deformities of the toes such as bunions, hallux valgus, hammer toes and
falls prone to Morton’s neuroma as well as bone spurs.
Not only that, with elevated heels, it leads to a shortening of the calf muscle and the Achilles tendon. Typically, the higher heel you wear, the shorter the tendon will become. In less than 6 months, this can cause measurable changes to the length of the tendon and muscles. This explains the primary cause of “flip-flop-it is”,
the pain felt by many women when they switch from winter shoes to
flip-flops in the springtime. This happens as the shortened tendon and
calf muscle become stretched and painful when walking barefoot or
low-heel shoes.
Harmful Effects Of High Heels On The Knee
One study conducted at Harvard University in 1998
concluded that the heels of the shoe can have a dramatic effect on the
knee joint. As in the foot, the body’s weight is evenly distributed
between the front and back portions of the knee when standing barefoot.
In 2-inch heels, the body’s weight is shifted forward and the load on the front of the knee is increased by 23%. Another study conducted in 2006 also found that shoes increase the average load on the front of the knee by around 12%
as compared to walking barefooted. However, in this study, the heels of
the shoes were not clearly studied as the participants involved in the
study were asked to wear their own daily shoe wear for walking.
Till
today, it is finally accepted that shoe heels plays a major factor
which contributes to degenerative arthritis in the knee for both men and
women. This means that the higher the heel, the greater the impact is
on the knee and other joints. Taking into consideration that high heels
alter the weight distribution on the knee joint, it explains why a
disproportionate number of women suffer from arthritis in the knee
especially osteoarthritis as compared to men.
Of the 20 million Americans, 60% osteoarthritis patients are women. One of the studies actually indicates that the incidence of knee osteoarthritis
in elderly women was almost twice as high as in elderly men. Though
there are many studies conducted with an attempt to understand the
differences that focused on the effects of estrogen and the larger
cartilage volumes of men, it seems that high-heeled shoes are a likely
factor to the observed discrepancies.
Harmful Effects Of High Heels On The Spine
Our human spine possesses four curves known as the cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacral curves.
One of the main functions of the curves is to act as a shock absorber
during walking or running and reduces the stress on the vertebrae.
When
wearing high heels, there is an impact on these curvatures especially
the lumbar curve. This is due to the fact that the body is tilted
forward at around 15 degree which diminishes the spine’s
ability to absorb shock. In addition, the amount of shock at the spine
has already been increased due to the less shock absorption by the foot.
In
fact, it is a common complaint for some women that they experienced
lower back pain after long hours of walking or standing on high heels.
Many doctors and therapists actually evaluate that high-heeled shoes
cause an increase of the lordotic curve of the lumbar spine, and that the increased lumbar lordosis is the main cause of the pain.
Therefore,
with the negative changes of the curvatures and increased shock or
stress on the spine, having lower back pain, spine or nerves problems is
fairly common. One of the common problems is foraminal stenosis which is a spinal nerve condition that occurs when anatomical abnormalities block or reduce space in one or more foramina. Sciatica
is also another problem that is associated with compression of the
sciatic nerves which radiates through the buttocks and down to the legs.
How High Heels Affect The Way You Walk
Many
women actually does not realize how high heels have affected the way
they walk and how it can have an impact on their legs or feet. So the
next moment when you are out on the streets, try to observe a woman
wearing high heels and pay attention to her feet and ankles. Otherwise,
if you think that it feels awkward by observing how other women walk,
you can always get your best friend or colleague to be your model.
Once
you are on your high heels, your ankle is literally strapped into a
permanent state of extension with the arch trapped in a high flexed
position. At the same time, your toes are also fixed in hyperextension.
With
your ankle and foot being locked in this position, it causes dramatic
changes of the gait. Since the ankle cannot be flexed as in normal
shoes, the stride length is therefore reduced and the heels landed flat
(not the foot).
During walking, every
step that you take actually lands primarily on the head of the
metatarsal bones with your forefoot being the main load-bearing point.
At such, this causes the function of the arch (to support the body
weight) to be eradicated.
As you can
see though high-heeled shoes can make you look great, gorgeous,
fashionable or sexier, it can eventually leads to chronic pain in your
foot, lower back, legs, knees or spine. However, that does not mean you
have to give up your favorite high heels at all. The key recommendation
is try not to wear them frequently or only wear them on special
occasions.
If wearing high heels is unavoidable due to your work, then you might consider the following tips which can help to lessen the harmful effects of wearing high heels.
- Before and after you put on your high heels, do simple stretching of your leg muscles.
- Remember the higher the heels you are on, the more negative impact it will be on your body. As a general rule of thumb, keep to 2-inch high-heeled shoes.
- Always buy your high heels in the afternoon when your feet are at the largest. So that when your legs expand, the shoe size is just nice and over-cramping of your toes can be avoided.
- As much as possible, do not go for high heels with the pointed-toe design. This lowers the risk of developing bunions.
- Get shoes which come with leather insole to prevent the foot from slipping.
- You will definitely love this last tip, buy a variety choices of shoes so that you can vary your footwear on daily basis.
- Credit:Jointessentials
No comments:
Post a Comment