High heels and fashion go hand in hand. Unfortunately, so do high heels and leg pain. Everyone knows that they are uncomfortable, and many women believe that painful shoes are a necessary trade-off for having shapelier, longer-looking legs, but the damage these shoes inflict can be severe and permanent.
Muscle Shortening
A British study published in the "Journal of Experimental Biology" found that women who wear high heels regularly have significantly shorter muscle fibers in their calves than women who wear flat shoes. In addition, their Achilles tendons tend to be considerably stiffer and bulkier. These women's legs were altered so dramatically by wearing high heels that they could not stand flat-footed on the floor without discomfort.
Atrophy
Habitually wearing high-heeled shoes causes a degree of muscle atrophy in the calves. The muscles themselves remain the same size, but each individual muscle fiber shrinks, making the muscle much less flexible. Over time, you will have trouble standing barefoot without feeling like your calves are being strained, and forget about trying to bend over and touch your toes.
Ankles
Wearing high heels while walking requires more balance than walking in flat shoes or no shoes. This puts a great deal of stress on the smaller muscles in your feet and ankles. If you take a faulty step off of the curb and your foot turns inward or outward, you put yourself at a much greater risk of spraining an ankle.
Knee Osteoarthritis
A team of researchers from Harvard has found a link between high heels and osteoarthritis of the knee. They suspect that wearing high heels on a regular basis can cause the cartilage that surrounds you knee to gradually break down, leaving the joint unsupported. Wide, chunky heels, which are slightly better for your feet, are just as bad for your knees as narrow, stiletto-style heels.
How To Cope
If you insist on wearing high-heeled shoes, try to combat the damage they've caused by stretching regularly. You can do yoga each night or just sit on a mat with your legs straight in front of you and slowly reach your fingers toward your toes. Exhale as you gently stretch, trying to reach a little farther each day. Then bend your toes toward you to stretch your calf muscles and Achilles tendons.
