Has wearing heels ever caused you an injury?

[john741]

Has wearing heels ever caused you an injury? What heels were you wearing (boot/shoes etc, heel type, heel height)? What injury did they cause? What were you doing? Any other factors involved (ie. being drunk/tired, uneven ground)? Did the injury stop you from wearing heels, or change your heel wearing habits (ie. lower heels), for how long? Did you break the heels?

[Dr. Shoe]

Ingrowing toenail, used to be a martyr to them until I learnt preventative treatment.

[Elegant]

Ohh, the painful memories... Not because of heels, but because of cutting too much skin around the nails.

[lorriette]

I once fell about 1/2 way down the stairs at home. All I suffered were bruises and scratches. The stairs were polished hardwood open-flight, but the house was terraced and our neighbor heard the fall. As I was cross-dressed at the time, I told her I had dropped a box down the stairs, this said from the up-stairs window. The brown knee boots were undamaged, and I still have them, 30 years latter.

[micha]

Is it possible for a long lasting high heels carreer that there was no bad event?! One evening I was wearing my 5'' buffalo platform boots. I was sitting for a while on a chair with crossed over legs. I simply didn't realize that my lower leg has slept in. When standing up the misery happened: I sprained my foot completely unexpected. The next days I was only hobbling through the world because of my very hurtful strain But that was my only misfortune in the last years. Usually I'm walking on high heels as sure if they were sneakers. Meanwhile I'm convinced that stiletto heels are much easier rsp. safer to wear than platforms. Sounds silly but is my experience

[johnieheel]

Bought a pair of patent mary janes with a 4" blade heel and a string bowtie instead of strap from Hot Topics once and loved them. The arch was wrong like no other shoe i had ever worn but I didn't let that stop me. Don't know how long I wore them but had a very sharp pain in my arches for days. Gave em away.

[onyourtoes]

True experience from 1975. I was wearing a new pair of platform wedge clogs, maybe 5 inch heels and 2 inch soles. The new soles were slippery and smooth, there was no tactile feedback through the thick soles, and they were perfectly flat on the bottom -- nothing to dig in and stop a slide. I started walking down my carpeted stairs and suddenly found myself sliding down the stairs on the shoes, like I was skiing from the edge of one step to the next. The shoes weren't harmed. The only change was to sand the bottoms of similar shoes, and to carry them down those steps. Did I continue wearing heels? Yes, I resumed wearing them 6 weeks later when they removed the cast and my ankle was one piece again. Dr: How did you injure your ankle? Me: I stepped off a curb and landed wrong. Dr: (examining x-ray film again) That must have been a pretty high curb.

[johnieheel]

Guess that sounds better than something like, I broke a heel. LOL Or wors, the real story.

[SarahLou]

I was wearing red 6 inch heel pumps last week, and only walked from my sofa to the bedroom, and my heel caught in a gap between the floor tiles, and down I went....my knee was already bad from an accident, and needless to say that didnt help at all. Will be more careful next time!

[john741]

Thanks for your replies. It's interesting how some people believe that heel wearing is extremely dangerous. However, most people posted only minor injuries.

[Rockpup]

hrm, havnt injured myself while walking in heels yet. I've tried to be carefull. The worst I've done to my feet was the loss of the 2nd toenail on my left food from standing/walking in a pair of ballet boots for an hour or so. But.. most don't have to worry about that.

[CassieJ]

Haven't injured myself wearing heels but my heels help wit my injury. I shattered both my feet, heel and left leg. All is well not over 10 years later but my feet feel much better after a day in 4" heels than in flats. My ankle will be sore the morning after a whole day of walking around town in flats. In heels, I am totally fine the next day...no soreness or pain.

[bladerunner]

yep,first accident last week! wearing heels at work i forgot the wedge heeled boots i was wearing had a soft sole.Came down some stairs as the middle of the sole landed on the edge of the step and next i was flying as my ankle went from under me! wont be doing that again in a hurry! luckily only my pride was injured (and a sore ankle)

[jagman]

Phycological injury! Its amazing how 2" heels can lure you into a false sense of security. Wearing only 2" boots with plastic heels shopping in Tescos on a tiled floor. Did a quick turn, lost it totally and ended spreadeagled on the floor with shopping trolly speeding down the aile in the original direction. I was waiting for the usual comments from the assistant "How can you walk in those?" the answer would have been "I can't!""

[Simcity3]

I Did For Me... I was Walking On A small bridge made of wood in my 4" black pumps when one of the heels broke and i fell of the bridge down on a hard concrete parking lot.... ( The Bridge was only 50cm's over the ground ) i hurt my shoulder by falling but i went over in a couple of days.... but it don't stop me from wearing heels not even God Can do that....

[sevenup]

Heels have not actually caused the injury but are helping!! At work yesterday, i pulled,strained or ruptured my calf muscle i heard it pop! and it was a pop! The pain was excrutiating and walking was non existent ,it became a shuffle. Not been too the hospital /docs although i think maybe i ought too. But the disappointment came when i got home, my son had decided to go too see his mother this weekend so that meant a weekend of self indulgence, not now!! how can i walk in heels i can hardly walk in flats. My curiosity got the better of me however, i and tried on my 4" heels, i was amazed, i could actually walk in these better than flats with only a hint of the pain and discomfort , i think its because whilst elevated my calf is not pulling so tight all the time, walking barefoot is agony , hooray for heels!! Don't think i'll get away with it outside though !!

[JNR]

Don't think i'll get away with it outside though !!

Why not try?

[ScoobyHH]

I was answering a call of nature,and got distracted reading a particulary good magazine and my right leg went to sleep. I'd not long bought my first pair of heels and thought I'd be OK to stand up,but when I put my weight on that leg my ankle suddenly gave way and I fell to the right straight out of the door and fortunately fell against my bed.I couldn't quite believe how suddenly I'd fallen,luckily I didn't hurt myself,but I did have to put up with a bad case of pins and needles LOL. Another time I was out for a walk when a man with a dog appeared out of nowhere,and because I still don't have the bottle to let anybody see me, I ran back to my car and didn't see a low curb which I kicked with enough force for my toe nails to make a hole in my pantyhose OUCH

[sevenup]

HI JNR, can't see my mates accepting me in 4" Stilleto's stood at the bar and as for work , not an environment for heels but the same would apply.

[wongetje]

The first time I wore platforms I sprained my ankle going down the stairs. Sat there for about 10 minutes thinking: why did I love these shoes? But I'm Ok with platforms now, you need to think while you're making each step.

[Shoeiee]

I've only broken one bone in my life...My 5th Metatarsil...And it was wearing a pair of 1.5" wedge, slip-on shoes from Payless...August 2000. I was helping a friend move her apartment and we were about to be locked out of the storage facility. I had taken a load to the unit and then tried running back to the car to get another load. As my right foot landed the heel completely collapsed and my foot rolled outward. Since I had lots of forward momentum already the toes rolled under the foot in a rearward/inward manner placing all my weight on the outside of my pinky toe joint. I felt the "crack!!" and kept on moving. The next morning I was a hurting puppy and went to the ER. The swelling was so bad they couldn't X-Ray for a week. Nor could they cast it up or anything. During this time I found that the only way I could walk on both feet was with a 3.5" lift chunky heel. The weight distribution took the stress off the bone and I was mobile with nearly 0 pain. I spent 4 horrible months in a cast from this. When they removed that cast I had one regular leg and one chicken leg. To say the least, those shoes were tossed...AFTER a close inspection... The problem was the way the shoes were constructed. The lift under the heel was supported by NOTHING...Literally. The internals were soft to medium hardness rubber in a 1/2" checkerboard pattern. I found that if I placed my weight on the back of the heels they immediately collapsed to about .5" I did call Payless and report the injury but didn't pursue it because I was over the weight the shoes were probably designed for, was a guy wearing women's shoes and in the military at the time. Also, the Payless rep was not too keen about hearing a man saying he was wearing one of their women's styles...Could tell by the voice inflection. "Ok...I'll note that...Whatever..." Nowdays I feel the break once in a great while. 99% of the time this happens after a long day standing in flats and usually as the weather changes. I still wear my heels, more now than ever!! But I do take notice of the construction of the shoes before I wear them!!

[BobHH]

Yes, I have two pairs of soft wedges that tend to roll/collapse easily to the side. The hard ones are more stable.

[Jarl Ayari]

Nothing has happened to me yet but its only a matter of time.....