High heels are good for the feet?

[BobHH]

This topic may have been covered before, but I didn't find it. I used to walk many miles a day in my job, wearing ordinary men's shoes (not walkers or trainers). After some years, I started getting pains in my arches, so walking was quite uncomfortable. About then is when I broached the subject with my wife, and started wearing heels at home. The high arch shape of the platform spike heels was really comfortable, and resulted in very little, if any, pain walking at work during the day. I came home late last night after hours of walking in flat shoes and dancing in my Supradance shoes (thin, flat, no arch support) with sore feet. I slipped on a pair of 6.5" platform slides - ah, what comfort! They felt so good and the soreness was gone in just a few minutes. I'm sure more arch support would help in the regular shoes, but many don't have room in them for added support. I have worn my heels for as long as 12 hours (not all on the feet), and though the feet are hurting some after all that time, it goes away a few minutes after taking them off. Maybe change is what they need.

[Firefox]

I think changing the height of heels, wearing heels in moderation, exercising different muscles etc is good for the feet, but anybody who tries to argue 4-5" heels 24/7 or even 3" heels 24/7 is good for the feet is plain wrong.

[Francis]

always vary your heel height and even go back to flat shoes occasionally (yuck) just to keep your feet flexible or you will cause other problems that will not be pleasurable you have a similar problem to me, Bob, I don't like to be in flat shoes for more than 6 hours before they start to play up

[TallSwede]

As an aside to what Firefox wrote, HH's are beneficiary for some groups with back/spine disorders, which (in these cases) offsets any (relatively minor) foot problems. I have posted about how HH's made a world of difference for me in this forum, so I'll not repeat myself on that subject... (Just to give you an example: -Which do you prefer? A: Try to roll out of the bed onto the floor in the morning without getting nasty bruises. Then crawl to the shower and put it on *HOT*. Lie there for 1-2 hours, then try to stand on your feet and towel up and begin your day... B: Wear HH's (the higher, you can manage, the better) and wake up with a more or less painful and stiff back while getting on with the usual (for the rest of the world) morning duties... (Some people with disorders like mine get Amphetamines proscribed as they seem to help... -What do *YOU* think? -Drugs or HH's???) ) TallSwede

[Dr. Shoe]

My foot anatomy lessons included a study on the effects of prolonged heel wearing and as Firefox said above prolonged wearing of heels can lead to damage such as shortened/stretched tendons, calcification of the metatarsals, malformation and inflamation of the joints (a condition often mistaken for bunions) and corns. You can also get hardening of the skin on the soles of the feet lading to painful splits but this is more to do with foot care than heel wearing. Moreover, many high heel styles have pointed or semi pointed toes which can aggravate ingrowing toe-nails. However, to vary heel heights throughout the day can bring beneficial results in that you're exercising the muscle groups in different ways and promoting foot health and suppleness.

[Laurieheels]

This is why I like being able to go from 0 to 5.5 inches in a few seconds, and then back down in just as much time. We all live our lives a certain way, but I have discovered something that kind of sums up what is being said here. Whatever works, take advantage of it. A parallel example to the heels here... In the hospital, they preferred to give everyone morphine. Now, some people did not have a good reaction to morphine. It just was not their thing. Me, I think morphine is wonderful, and it was my best friend for quite a few days. My body reacts well with it. So, some people may have conditions that do not react well to wearing heels, and others may benefit from wearing heels because, well, it just goes along with what the body is doing. So if it works, take advantage of it. Pain is an evil thing.

[TXT-1]

As someone with flat feet wearing my "6 inch plats, (see "TXT-1's favorite sandals") are good after coming back for the local shopping centre (mall for the americans an canadians) i put on my plats for awhile and the discomfort goes away on the other hand I DON'T want to be stuck in them for life so I try an limit the amount I wear them to 8 hours a day. but I have been known to put them on at 9:00 in the morning and take them off as late as midnight, yes they are addictive! and what everyone else said I agree on. Anyway, gotta go. later, TXT-1

[azraelle]

I used to get ocasional bouts (every 1-2 months) of excruciating agony in one or the other ankle, or rarely both ankles, when ANY weight was put upon it. Wearing orthotics did nothing to alleviate the problem. Since I started wearing moderately high heels at least some of the time, I haven't had a return bout at all. Now if I could just locate a source for steel toe high heels...

I have mentioned elsewhere (and provided what seems to be a plausible anatomical explanation for it) that I can't drive for more than 10-15 minutes without debilitating knee pain in my "gas pedal leg" unless I am either a) wearing a high heeled shoe on that foot, or putting my other foot underneath the heel of my gas pedal foot. Wearing a high heeled shoe or boot is easier, and doesn't produce knee pain in the other leg, as would occur after several hours of it being in the sidewise position it had to be in when propping up the heel of my gas pedal foot.

[Highluc]

Sounds like you could invest in a good cruise control for your car.

[azraelle]

cruise control does nothing for bumper to bumper traffic, as typically exists in any large metropolitan area (such as LA freeways), and drivers who never analyse the way they drive (about 99%); what you end up with is stop-start, stop-start, lurch, lurch, lurch! :x

[Dr. Shoe]

I used to get ocasional bouts (every 1-2 months) of excruciating agony in one or the other ankle, or rarely both ankles, when ANY weight was put upon it. Wearing orthotics did nothing to alleviate the problem. Since I started wearing moderately high heels at least some of the time, I haven't had a return bout at all. Now if I could just locate a source for steel toe high heels...

I have mentioned elsewhere (and provided what seems to be a plausible anatomical explanation for it) that I can't drive for more than 10-15 minutes without debilitating knee pain in my "gas pedal leg" unless I am either a) wearing a high heeled shoe on that foot, or putting my other foot underneath the heel of my gas pedal foot. Wearing a high heeled shoe or boot is easier, and doesn't produce knee pain in the other leg, as would occur after several hours of it being in the sidewise position it had to be in when propping up the heel of my gas pedal foot.

You could also get around the problem by installing a block of wood of the appropriate dimensions as a footrest.

[azraelle]

tried that too, except that I didn't bolt it to the floor, which meant that it never would stay put, and would ocaisionally block full travel of the brake or clutch. . .

[terayon]

how about drugs AND heels?

[jo]

Don't do drugs, kiddies. Drugs are bad. Okaaay?

[nicjasno]

M'kay

[azraelle]

Doing drugs and heels is like going to war wearing a red coat and the barrel of your rifle plugged with mud.

[luvs2wearthighboots]

no offence to firefox & the other brits but that WAS a senario seen more then a FEW times back in the late 1770s on the east coast of the USA known the world over SINCE those times I might add (the calvery didnt have to worry about high heels on THOSE boots btw) oh yes red coats indeed!!! (and just when you thought your musket was ready to fire too) :rofl: yours, Brad

[Arno]

This is a biology lesson mainly intended for Doctor Shoe. What you were taught in your foot anatomy lesson is void of biology and so biased that you should throw it out and make a fresh start. Begin by noting first-hand experiences of people who know something about wearing high heels and do not parrot what is accepted as truisms without any proof by the podiatric profession. First and foremost, good fit is essential for wearing of high heels. This should not come as a surprise since that is recommended for athletic shoes, hiking boots and military footwear as well. But the so-called “experts” on high heels that taught you have never even heard of it. The multitudinous complaints that they amass against high heels are results of poorly fitting shoes and are also guaranteed to happen when poorly fitting flats are worn. Susan (the original) has made the importance of good fit abundantly clear, and so has Laurie and a girl named Cheryl on the other board. They are heavy duty stiletto heel people. Two of them wear nothing but high stiletto heels and can’t even get into flats any more. This is not a disease and is only a handicap if for some reason you are forced to go back to wearing flats. The advice to wear alternately high heels and low heels is almost on the mark, but distorts what happens. No two pairs of shoes are exactly alike which means that the pressure points in any two pairs of shoes are different. Changing from one pair of shoes to another will change the pressure environment around the foot, regardless of the heel height, and will give relief if the shoe was uncomfortable. Proof is that Cheryl, who never wears flats, has observed and reported this. Next point is that shortened tendons do not qualify as damage. Damage to tendons means torn tendons, not change in their length. It is normal that both calf muscles and their associated tendons adjust themselves to the load they have to carry. In high heel configuration the outside muscles in the calf that connect to the heel bone through the Achilles tendon have to work in a more contracted position than wearing flats. Contraction beyond normal limits is a strain, does not yield much power, and may result in sore muscles. But over time the resting state from which the contraction starts adjusts itself to the new optimum length and the efficiency of the muscles is restored. Note that this is a self-regulating process, and it is possible to get used to both high heels and flats if the proportion of time spent in each mode is approximately consistent. Likewise, the bones and joints respond to stresses that they are subjected to. Bones in particular are not permanent structures but their mass is slowly being dissolved by one set of bone cells while another set of bone cells keeps adding to their mass.The result is that after a few years of this the bone has been completely replaced from within. But this is also a restructuring process and responds to stresses carried by the bone. As an example, ultrasonics shows that the walls of the long bones in the arm of a baseball pitcher are thicker in the pitching arm than they are in the other arm. The same process also comes into play in shaping the arch and adjusting the configuration of joints within the foot when high heels are worn. As a result, wearing high heels will gradually bend the arch of the foot. As the bones and joints adjust themselves to the existing stresses and the arch gradually bends itself the distance between the heel bone and the ball of the foot becomes shorter. The result is that in the medium time frame the effective shoe size begins to decrease and shoes that fit snugly before become loose. In the long term, if nothing but high heels are worn, the foot gets shaped so firmly into high heel configuration that it will not want to go flat any more. Combined with a shortened calf muscle-tendon combination, this is the optimum way to wear high heels. The muscles work at their peak efficiency and the shape of the foot gives good control over movement, leading to a natural and efficient gait. This is true of both Susan and Cheryl, and it is not a disease, nor is it an out-of-control fetish thing. They both find that staying in stiletto heels all the time is totally comfortable and does not cause any distress at all. But it is a lifestyle choice that goes agaist current fashion and podiatric advice (if that is what their muddled thinking can be called). It is dictated by strong motivation or even by physical addiction to wearing high heels that I have explained elsewhere. It helps too if your foot is of “medium" width because otherwise you will have great difficulties getting shoes to fit. And now a word about the benefits of high heel wear. The reverse of bending the arch is having fallen arches or “flat foot.” It happens to people who spend much of the day standing or walking around. It may become a problem in middle age or later, although it can happen at an earlier age too. Typically, when it starts to happen, people notice that their shoe size is getting bigger because straightening of the arch pushes the heel bone backward. This is the exact opposite of what happens when you start to wear high heels. Since this is the case, the obvious way to reverse fallen arches is to get into high heels. Several posts here note that wearing high heels is indeed helpful for painful feet. I attribute this to the arch-forming aspect of high heel wear. It is very probable that, for a cop on the beat, wearing three-inch cowboy boots would help him avoid an occupational hazard that goes with the job - flat feet. ARNO

[azraelle]

Nice to hear from you again Arno. Also nice to hear from someone who offers a breath of fresh air, so to speak. Tallswede and I were starting to feel very much in the minority--him with his improved back, me with my improved knee and ankles.

[Highluc]

Hi Arno, thanks a lot for your detailed viewpoints which I cannot fault at all. My extensive experience on heels tend to confirm what you have written and I therefore ask you the permission to publish your text, giving you the credit, on the thoughts page of my heels website. May I just add most podiatrics and other other "heel advisors" have much less experience wearing heels compared to us, and are only facing people having trouble with their feet. The thousends of happy comfortable heel wearers are the so called "silent majority" and never complain to anybody about their feet. We just enjoy our heels and never have to complain about flat feet or back problems.

[Lee]

Excellent Arno... Excellent. My knowledge is limited and my experience in heels in somewhat limit, but there are many truism in Arno's material as evidenced in own experience. A good fit is a must. My wife helped me by showing a good fit. What a difference it makes. A poor fitting shoes just hurts... Each is very different in the pressure points as stated. From my experience, I used to get horrible shin splints and extreme pain when I jogged or ran... After I started wearing high heels and getting used to them (4 and 5 inch heels), my shin splint pain stopped. Arno's explanation is much more scienitific... but the muscles were stretched and worked in different way from wearing flats and running shoes. So... high heels are here to stay for me and my wife! Very contary to what you read in most papers...

[Laurieheels]

Pretty god stuff, Arno, and I even got a mention. Wow. Thanks! However, one word of critical advice for your writing style... Paragraphs! It would be easier to read the text if you broke up the different ideas into different paragprahs, instead of one large mass of text. Creating flow when writing is very important, and not only does it keep the reader's attention, it helps the reader better absorb the idea. But the information was very good. Hey, it wouldn't be me if I couldn't find some fault, right? Heehee And I am glad to see you have signed up, way to go! 1 post! woohoo!

[Arno]

Laurie - There was no copy editor to help me. Do you want to be one? Highluc - Thanks, go ahead. And thanks to others.

[Highluc]

Thanks for the go Arno, your interesting views are now published on the "tips and thoughts" page on my website.

[Laurieheels]

Laurie - There was no copy editor to help me. Do you want to be one? Highluc - Thanks, go ahead. And thanks to others.

Always! I love editing! just let me know what you need, when you need, and I'll work my magic!

[Slim]

Arno is so right! The last paragraph in particular. My arches fell when I was 10 yrs old (equinus contracture?) and I gained 60 lbs. The only way I could fight it was by wearing heels (forbidden) or walking on the outside edges of my feet. You can only walk on the edges of your feet for so long, they gave out around age 40. A trip to a pedorthist put me in heels. This fellow actually kinked my feet into an extreme high heel position and told me its what I needed. I have now been wearing heels (3 1/2 to 5") for nearly 25 years and they work great. I might also add that I do a lot of walking, five or six miles a day, in good walking shoes with about 1 1/4" of lift, otherwise I wear heeled boots.

[Arno]

Congrats, Slim. You were lucky enough to find a doctor who was not brainwashed about high heels. From your experienvce I would judge that for fallen arches the optimum heel height is more like four inches than three that I mentioned in my post.

[Slim]

Yes Arno, I was lucky. And your right, 4" or so is very good. I also like the top of the heel to come back as nearly flat as possible making the instep closer to vertical and the heel to be under slung. I did get a second opinion about the matter (after all men don't wear heels). I was told I only "thought" I had flat feet, i.e. my arches are actually kind of high but were pulled flat. I was told again that heels were a good choice. If you check the foot web sights (heelspurs.com) you will see that a few have found relief from heels. However, they are always shouted down by the "experts", political correctness I guess. Or maybe its the profit motive.

[Highluc]

I think I showed this before but our new readers might be interested anyway

http://www.zfootdoc.com/flat_feet.htm

[Arno]

Highluc - I looked at that podiatric propaganda. They do acknowledge that "interestingly" some people claim to get relief by wearing high heels but then go on to push orthotics (very expensive and doubtfully effective) as the right treatment for flat feet.