Everyone knows that wearing high heels can cause foot problems, but not everyone knows that very simple steps can help reduce the chances of damaging feet and legs due to prolonged use of these types of shoes. I thought I’d put together a short and concise list of the most common problems associated with wearing high heels and simple things you can do to help prevent damage from prolonged high heel wear and relieve some of the pain as well. to wear those shoes.
Tips:
1. Most women after wearing high heels all day just want to go home and take them off because their toes hurt. To alleviate this, some have turned to a Botox treatment which is geared towards injecting Botox into the balls of the feet to create a filler. This padding will help cushion your foot when you walk or stand. Although this helps, there is another way to do the same thing. Instead of the Botox treatment, we recommend using an invisible gel pad offered by Dr. Scholl’s. This simple gel-filled pad does the same thing as the Botox treatment but costs much less.
2. Wear shoes that fit well! Believe it or not, most women don’t do this. Although high heels have a snug fit, they shouldn’t be too tight. If you know you’re going to be on your feet all day or dancing a lot, we recommend wearing a sandal or round-toe shoes, as they tend to leave more room for your toes. Real pointy heels may look sexy, but they also tend to squeeze your toes and cause pain. This pain increases throughout the day as the shoes stretch and the foot slides deeper into the shoe.
Note:
The sandals themselves have their own problem, as most women do not buy a sandal that fits them well. Most women when they wear sandals tend to have a strap that crosses right in front of the baby’s toe. This is also commonly seen in shoes that are open toed with a solid vamp that covers the top of the foot. Sandals, if fitted correctly, should expose all toes and the straps or instep should be just behind the baby’s toenail.
3. Don’t wear heels that are too high for you! Wearing heels that are too high can cause back strain. It can also make him walk in an unorthodox way, which makes it much easier for him to fall. There is a simple method that we use to determine a person’s maximum heel height, which is as follows. Stand facing a wall. Now rise up on your toes as high as you can while keeping your knees straight. Use the wall to help you balance. Now have a friend measure the distance from the bottom of your heel to the ground. This is what we call the maximum heel height. By staying within this height, we have found that people can walk much more easily with better posture and overall comfort. If you want to wear heels higher than your maximum heel height, we recommend a platform to achieve this.
4. Calf muscle stretching is very important, but more than 90% of people who wear high heels don’t do it on a daily basis. When a high-heeled shoe is worn, the calf muscle shortens. Over time, this muscle will weaken and relax. Many people have claimed that wearing high heels everyday, wearing flats or tennis shoes is not comfortable and hurts the back of the legs and sometimes causes foot and leg cramps. Now most of you reading this may remember or have seen babies and have seen how flexible they are. Some of you may remember being able to touch your head to your knee, but find it impossible to do so now as your leg muscles are no longer stretched and have grown to the position they are in due to your daily habits. This is the same with high heels. If you don’t keep your calf muscle stretched, it will shorten over time and make wearing flat shoes or even walking barefoot uncomfortable. A simple way around this is to find a board or something solid and prop it up on something like a thick phone book creating a small ramp. The angle can be from a 30 degree angle to a 45 degree angle. If you rest something on a book, make sure the book or object cannot slide or move. We recommend putting it against a wall. Now once you have a small ramp, stand in front of it putting your foot on the ramp while keeping your heel on the floor outside the ramp. Now slowly lean forward until you feel your calf muscle pull. Doing this simple exercise will help keep your calf muscle stretched and will also help prevent any long-term damage to your calf muscle.
5. As always, we recommend a heel that has some sort of ankle support, especially if you’re going to be doing a lot of walking or dancing. This is also more important when it comes to a higher heel versus a lower heel. Higher heels tend to be more unstable and a person can twist their ankle or fall very easily if the heel slides to the side of the shoe. An ankle strap or some form of ankle support can greatly reduce this.
We hope you’ll take the time to read these simple tips and maybe put some of them to work. By doing so, you can help make wearing high heels as painless as possible and also help avoid twisting your ankle or hurting your back.
