The Health Problem of High Heels
By Sara Butler
You probably don’t look to your chiropractor at The Joint for fashion advice, but maybe you should! What you wear can have an impact on your spinal health and overall wellness -- especially when it comes to shoes. If you’re a fan of high heels, then you may want to rethink your fashion choices, because there are several health problems these types of shoes can cause!
Foot Pain
Wearing high heels puts a large amount of pressure on the ball of your foot. Your body is used to balance your weight over your entire foot, from heel to toe. When you wear high heels, the weight gets shifted to the ball and puts a lot more pressure on it than it was designed to take. After a while, this can cause pain and discomfort.
You can also develop pain in your heel. That’s because your Achilles tendon is shortened when you wear high heels, unable to move through its normal range of motion. Shortening this tendon will put more pressure on the band of tissue that runs from your heel to the front of your foot, the plantar fascia, and cause pain in your heel that is most often identified as a condition called plantar fasciitis.
Pain in Your Knees
High heels place more pressure on your knees, too. That’s because as the pressure is shifted to the ball of your foot, your body’s center of gravity is shifted too. Your knees inevitably will take the brunt of this shift in order to keep your body balanced and upright.
Back Pain
As your body tries to balance due to the shift in its center or gravity from wearing heels, your upper body will be forced backward to try to act as a counterbalance to the position of your lower body. This pushes your chest out and disrupts the normal curve of your spine. Over time, this can cause increased pain in the lower back and even contribute to arthritis later in life.
High heels can be great for a special occasion, but they’re not a great idea for everyday wear. That’s because, over time, they can damage your body -- resulting in pain and discomfort. That’s something no fashion trend can make up for! If you’re experiencing pain that you think may be related to your shoes, you should discuss it with a chiropractor at The Joint.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Roswell, Ga.