High heels & health: Are stilettos a woman’s best friend or worst enemy?

Stop! Don’t step into those stilettos – science says high heels aren’t good for your health.

Research has shown that the detrimental effects of high heels on a woman’s health can be seen even by the time they turn 25 years old. High heels affect how women walk even barefoot – and it’s not natural.

Wearing high heels can cause deformities like hammertoes and bunions that are painful and may need surgery to fix, or cause unsightly and problematic issues like corns. Among the risks of ankle injuries and damage to your knees, you can also get “pump bump” or suffer nerve pain and numbness in your toes.

So why do women love high heels?

Personally, I love high heels because they make me feel hot.

Heels slim you because they alter your posture  – you stand more upright with your hips pushed forward, which flattens your abdomen  and pushes out your derrière and chest, giving you a very womanly figure. They also give the illusion that your thighs and calves are longer and more toned than they may truly be.

Calf muscles and Achilles tendon be damned, I feel confident in high heels.

I started wearing heels regularly when I worked at a shoe store. One of the store rules was that any female employee on the sales floor had to wear a pair of the brand’s heels during their shift. I worked at the shoe store for two and a half years.

I’ve had hundreds of hours of practise walking in heels at work, and probably a couple hundred more wearing them to events and parties. I’ve worn heels on concrete, cobblestone, linoleum, wood floors, soft grass and in a corn field. I can’t even estimate the number of miles I must have walked in high-heeled shoes.

I’ve also amassed quite the collection of shoes – most of which are high heels. I have kitten heels (a pair that came in very handy when I broke my ankle and had to wear a walking cast that was a couple of inches taller than regular shoes), pumps, and of course, the stiletto heel.

Sex and the City really popularized the stiletto in the 2000s. And although I’ve been out of the shoe-shilling scene for a while, I still see women at bars and restaurants and events wearing the classic shaped shoe.

Stilettos are a sex symbol.

I know high heels aren’t good for my knees, back, hips, or feet. I know the risks and I’ve felt the pain of blisters and swollen toes from a night out in sky-high heels.

I’ve cut down the amount of time I spend wearing heels drastically since I left the shoe store – now, I only wear heels out for special occasions. It’s probably for the best.

I think my feet will thank me later.

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You can see an infographic from the Washington Post of how high heels effect your health here.

You can sign Amy Tuckett’s petition against mandatory heel height policies in restaurants in Manitoba here.

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How do you feel about high heels? Are stilettos a girl’s best friend? Leave me a comment.