IT’S hard to believe there was once a time when we female humanoids simply wrapped our paws in woven weeds and went about our day. These days, designers are daring women to climb to breathtaking new heights in order to totter on the cutting edge of stylish footwear.
Even if you’d never wear Alexander McQueen’s infamous ten-inch “Armadillo” shoe, the crazy styles seen in fashion shows have a trickle-down effect.
“What designers show on the runway definitely influences what’s reaching the masses,” says Hillary Brenner, a podiatric surgeon in New York City.
In the past few years alone, the average height of a high-heeled shoe has gone from three to five inches, notes Phyllis Rein, senior vice-president of the Fashion Footwear Association of New York. Meanwhile, flip-flops are showing up at the office and thin-soled casual flats and sandals can be had for less than US$20 a pair.
The outcome for trend-seeking consumers: skyscraping stilettos fight for closet space with ballet flats so flimsy they can be folded into your wallet. And the result is not so pretty.
“I used to see about five women a week with foot problems due to poor shoes – now it’s about three a day,” says Jacqueline Sutera, another podiatric surgeon in New York City.
In fact, women’s visits to the doctor for foot and toe complaints shot up 75 per cent between 2005 and 2009, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). Experts caution that bad footwear choices can wreak havoc all the way up the legs and into the spine.
Maybe even as far as our heads: presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann made headlines in July when a news site reported that she blamed high heels for her migraines.
Yet we still follow tastemakers like Kelly Ripa, who straps on six-inchers nearly every day – even while on crutches. Not only do we stuff our feet into potentially harmful shoes, but we go to crazy lengths to do so. A treatment known as the Stiletto Prescription or “Pillows for Feet” involves injecting facial fillers into the balls of the feet.
“It’s an effort to temporarily replace the fat pad that has worn away due to excessive use of bad shoes over time,” Sutera explains.
Worse yet are surgical procedures to help shoes fit more comfortably, such as foot narrowing and “toe tucks”, in which the little toe is trimmed down. Last year the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) issued a strongly worded statement warning against such surgeries.
The real price of your footwear
High heels are hell. We all know that. Teetering around on them can cause ankle sprains and breaks; bunions, hammertoes, and stress fractures; as well as tendinitis, plantar fasciitis and ligament damage.
While statistics linking injuries to a specific shoe don’t exist, the AAOS reports that more than seven out of ten women have developed a bunion or other painful foot deformity; nine out of ten women’s foot deformities can be tied to bad shoes.
And the problems don’t end at your ankles. A study last year found that women who regularly wore high heels had shorter calf muscles and stiffer, thicker achilles tendons.
Another study found that prolonged wearing of high heels can contribute to joint degeneration and knee osteoarthritis, which may help explain why osteoarthritis is twice as common in women as in men.
Heels also throw your body’s alignment out of whack.
“When you wear heels, you change your centre of balance, leading to increased curvature of your back,” says Judy F. Baumhauer, an orthopaedic surgeon and president of the AOFAS.
This can lead to the discs in your spine breaking down, as well as muscle spasms and pain throughout the body, and yes, maybe even chronic headache or migraines.
Many women think it’s a safer bet to go with flats. But shoes that are totally flat, with no cushioning or arch support, can pose problems as well. Not only do superthin soles fail to absorb the shock of your feet hitting the ground, but a lack of arch support can lead to your feet rolling inward, stretching ligaments and tendons up to the knee.
“If you start to sag through your arch, your ankle is next, and with continued stress it drives your knee out and your hip then has to respond,” Baumhauer says. “The problems go right up your body.” (AP)