Is beauty worth it?

As most women will tell you, wearing high heels can be very painful. However, there is new research that indicates that wearing high heels can be agonizing even after the shoes come off. This means that high heels bring about an increase in pain, even while standing barefoot. A British study discovered that if a woman wore high heels daily for years, she tended to have shortened calf muscles and stiffer, thicker achilles tendons than women who wore flats. The findings showed that there was a 13 percent shortening of calf muscles and a pronounced thickening of the achilles tendons. These effects made a physical change so considerable that many women could no longer stand flat on the floor comfortably.

Marco Narici, the study's author and physiologist, believes that the results are comparable to the muscle atrophy seen in patients that are forced to stay in bed for a long time. Atrophy occurs because bed rest forces one's muscles to stay in a fixed position, which in turn causes muscles fibers to become shorter. Narici explains that women who wear high heels excessively do the same by keeping their heels in an upraised position everyday. However, the overall size of the calf muscle did not change; only the length of the muscles fibers was affected.
This is not the only problem that many high heel wearers face. Donald Bohay, an orthopedic surgeon that is not associated with the study, observed that the most common injuries are ankle sprains caused by women who fall from their high-heeled shoes. Bunions, hammertoes, and nerve damage are also found in the feet of these women. However, Bohay does believe that it is possible for a woman to continue wearing high heels so long as she takes precautions. His advice is to avoid wearing shoes with heels longer than 2 inches and to start avoiding painful shoes.

Elizabeth Semmelhack, a senior curator for the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, believes that it will not matter how many studies come out stating that high heels are unhealthy for women. To her, these shoes signify sexuality, femininity, and status. "The high heel has gotten as far as it's gotten because it is such a highly impractical form of footwear," she said. "Its value in our society has nothing to do with its use as a shoe."

While high heels are always in fashion, it is important to remember that health comes first. The damages that high heels cause can severely alter your life in the future. For example, one of the causes of knee arthritis is the use of high-heeled shoes. A new emphasis on flat shoes must be placed in a woman's wardrobe if she is concerned with the future state of her knees, ankles, and muscles.