The temptation to wear gorgeous, stylish heels is powerful, no matter how much pain they cause. But while towering shoes may look great, they often wreak havoc on feet and knees. That damage prompts many heel-wearers to tread a well-worn path to the office of a podiatrist — the health professional who sees firsthand what a tall-shoe habit can do to the body.
“High heels are one of the most common culprits of chronic foot pain in women,” said podiatrist and foot and ankle surgeon Dr. Ebonie Vincent-Sleet. “I regularly treat patients with neuromas, bunions, hammertoes, stress fractures and even early-onset arthritis that were caused or worsened by prolonged high heel wear. Just yesterday, a patient came in asking about fat pad injections to make wearing heels more comfortable, which to me is a sign of how desperate some women are to maintain fashion while managing pain.”
Is all the trouble coming from that once-a-year moment you break out the towering heels? Probably not, said podiatrist Dr. Anne Sharkey: “Most often, the adverse outcome isn’t from a single time wearing heels, but a cumulative wear-and-tear effect from years of fashionable but ill-fitting and unsupportive shoes.”
These experts said the anguish is totally unnecessary. “Pain is not a price you should have to pay for beauty,” Vincent-Sleet said. “If you find yourself avoiding outings or limping after events, your heels are not worth it. Listen to your feet, because they’re trying to tell you something.”
