Foot Injury By Wearing Heels Over A Long Period Of Time?

[hhaddicted]

Hi all, I'm wearing heels for quite a while now, i guess i was 14 years old. In the last years it became standard for me to wear nothing lower than 4inch - i now don't even have any lower ones, except gym shoes. Last week we walked far and so i put my gym shoes on. But after a while, i felt uncomfortable and there was pain in my arches. I already walked long distances in heels and never had that kind of pain, so now i am a bit worried that my feet are kind of stuck in that heels position, and there may be injuries over a period of time. Has anyone of you also had this experience? Or has somebody been wearing heels for many years, who may have some tips? I'd be thankful for any advice. Greets, Sandra

[Shafted]

I'm in the same boat myself, noticeable upper arch discomfort in flats. An inch or two of heel and no problem in my case. The funny thing is I can walk barefoot all over the place. It's just flat shoes that are the problem.

[Mike Hinch]

If I recal properly this sort of thing has been covered in other subjects and we no longer have that little list of similar topics at the bottom of the page. So anyway a week or so back I became concerned about a little sore spot at the corner of the bog toe and decided to go with the heavyduty sandals and not only did I get just a bit mo muscel stretching which was not too serrious but that discomfort in the ankle joint so I am staying with flats for most of the day until I get my ankle joints reconditioned.

[Heel-Lover]

Hi, My advice would be to alter your shoes daily. It is extremely important to maintain your natural flexibility in you foot - in particular from you toes to your heel, and then from the heel up to the back of the knee. These fatia's are very important in supporting your arch. Ironically wearing heels arches your foot, but simultaneously unloads the fatias and tendons that you need to support your arches. 3-4 years ago I tore my plantar fatia after wearing very high heels all day, stepping out of my pumps instantly did the damage. This was directly related to my evolution in high heels. I had spent at least 5 years previously wearing heels and getting better and more confident, my heels became higher and skinnier over those years. I was quite used to very high heels and had the confidence and desire to wear stilettos every day. Once at that point I kept on going, and literally wore my sexiest shoes every day and really enjoyed it...until I busted my foot... To fix it I had to do regular achilles stretches, increase the blood flow to these connective tissues (tendons etc) to support healing was best done by exercising so a good excercise routine is one of the best things for foot health. Note that exercise alone will make tendons tighter so you also need to stretch to prevent injuries from high heels. That said - it took 18 months to heal that injury, now I am focused on flexibility in my feet, I can wear all my heels again, all day no worries but I deliberately mix my heel heights. I would recommend dedication to exercise and stretching. I am as committed to exercise/flexibility and mixing shoes as I am to high heels - and I'm really committed to high heels. I don't ever again want to be in a sposition where I can't wear heels if I feel I want to... if that means a little extra effort on the way through then I'm cool with that. I hope my experiences/ advice there might be useful. Cheers Heel-Lover

[hhaddicted]

Thank you for your answers, especially to Heel-Lover! Your story is very thrilling, i really didn't know it could happen that way. You wrote that your heels became higher over the years. Which height where you at when your "accident" happened? I've always been altering my shoes mostly on a daily basis, so that shouldn't be the problem - except that all of them are higher than 4 inches. But exercises and stretching is a thing i haven't thought about yet - i'll sure pay attention to it in the future, do you have any special tips for it, as you're a heel-lover?

[Dr. Shoe]

I have to wear riding boots to work and I always find that it's my heels that hurt more at the end of the day than my arches.

[Heel-Lover]

Your story is very thrilling, i really didn't know it could happen that way. You wrote that your heels became higher over the years. Which height where you at when your "accident" happened?

5.5 to 6 inch stilettos all day. To get good at these heights takes years, every extra half inch takes ages to truely get used to.

I wear heels all day and in all situations, however I will remove my heels in order to protect them from damage, other than that they don't come off until I'm home.

Often it means I take a different route than others, or our group takes a detour to allow for heel wearers....

rgds

Heel-Lover

[Curt]

Flats hurt my feet too much. I only wear running shoes for running. Everywhere else I go, I wear heels. 3" - 4.5" heels. I have narrow high arched feet and took to wearing 4.5" heels like a fish in water. Clarissa.

[hoverfly]

Arch supports, either get them form the store or a specialty item through a podiatrist.

[hhaddicted]

Thanks to all of you for your advice, really helped me out

[Mike Hinch]

Arch supports, either get them form the store or a specialty item through a podiatrist.

That would be a very effective way to make a lot of money dissapear over something that could be synthicized from some scrap leather and glue.

[hoverfly]

That would be a very effective way to make a lot of money dissapear over something that could be synthicized from some scrap leather and glue.

Depends on how high the arch is. If you really got a high arch most likely you are going to need custom, like myself. The rest you can get at the store for 60 bucks or less. Making your own is another option; I modify the store brands for myself PITA. But if you don't get some kind of support you can incur stress fractures. My wirfe been there done that, from wearing heels as well.

[Mike Hinch]

Of course any supports made from material and glue would be custom made. One pair of shoes that I hace were just not useable as recieved but I really did love the look of them. Now the bottom was wood so there was no flexing so I put Bondo in the bottom and the result was a pair that was too comfortable to switch to anything else the rest of the day.

[roniheels]

I too have a very high arch and I avoid wearing "flats" if at all possible. I do wear running shoes when I am in a hurry to run errands. But they do have an elevated heel and a type of arch support.