With Memorial day weekend upon us, it’s time to start thinking about our summer wardrobe. And where better to start than with shoes? While we could blog about shoes all day, we’re reminded that this is Word on Health!
With that said…according to a recent study, 39% of women say they wear high heels every day, and 75% of those women have foot problems. Hardly a shocker! Just about any poll of our colleagues or friends could have told us that.
Most women accept shoe-related foot pain as a viable alternative to wearing flats. Bunions, arthritic and hammer toes, calluses, and plantar warts are just the price to be paid for great looking gams and killer heels.
“Many women wear shoes to work every day that look great but they are simply too small,” said Dr. Pedro Cosculluela, an orthopedic surgeon with The Methodist Hospital in Houston. “The biggest problems we encounter are related to the height of the heel and/or the narrowness of the toe box.”
Poor fit can lead to toe deformities such as bunions. “As the deformity worsens, the big toe loses its ability to properly carry the load, which can lead to increased pressure along two through five. This can, in turn, lead to pain and cause hammertoes and cross-over toe deformities,” Cosculluela said.
High heels also bend the toes up and can move padding under the knuckles of the foot further down, exposing more bone to the bottom of the shoes, causing a great deal of pain. Frequent use of high heels is also associated with the development of tight calf muscles which can lead to other painful foot problems such as plantar fasciitis, flat feet and Achilles tendonitis.
However, there is hope, even for the shamelessly shoe addicted. Apparently all women need to do is a simple test before they buy to find out if those “must have” shoes will fit:
Take a pen and draw around your bare foot, then put the shoe over the drawing. If your toes stick out of the shoe, they are too small. In which case, you might want to try a bigger pair that will cause you less discomfort.
To see if this works, I just took my very own “footprint” down to my shoe closet. Out of the, well let’s just say, several pairs hiding away in there, only two would have passed the test. And yes, you’ve guessed it- they’re the “sensible” ones that I never wear.
Do you sacrifice comfort for glamour? Or are you firmly in the flat camp? Let us know.
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