Any wearer that finds true joy in their high heels will also know that their favorite formal footwear can end up causing them quite a bit of pain by the end of the night. Over the years, this has led to various questions posited by people all over America: how do high heels impact the rest of the body? Is this pain a sign that high heels are damaging the foot? Well, the answer might upset any high heel fanatic, but all is not lost! When you understand how to look after your feet properly, you can stop pain and prevent future damage.
What Damage do High Heels Cause?
Long-term use of high heels can cause damage because your weight is shifted from the mid-point of the body (or one degree forward) to the ball of your foot. This makes your knees and hips move forward and forces your back to hyperextend backwards. Although the look that this gives can make many feel more confident, research has found that high heels can cause serious conditions, like plantar fasciitis, pinched nerves, damaged toenails, stress fractures, and even inflammations like tendonitis and strain injuries. They can also make other conditions worse, like bunions and hammertoes.
What is Plantar Fasciitis?
Plantar fasciitis is perhaps the most common cause of pain in your heels. It happens when the tissue that connects your heel bone to your toes (something called the plantar fascia) gets inflamed. As this is a thick tissue, the pain can be long-lasting and severe. It’s normally a stabbing pain that happens when you step out of bed in the morning. With regular everyday movement, the pain gets better, but it can come back when you haven’t been active for a while (e.g., after you’ve been watching a movie). Ignoring the pain can give you chronic heel pain that can impact your ability to perform regular activities. It can also force you to change the way you walk to avoid the pain, which can lead to problems in the rest of the foot, as well as your knees, hips, and back! Fortunately, there are insoles for plantar fasciitis that can relieve the pain and help you get back to your normal activity level.
How to Deal with Plantar Fasciitis?
If you ignore plantar fasciitis, it can start to have a big effect on your life. Luckily there are simple solutions for that pain that do not involve surgery. The best solution is, in-fact, non-invasive and easy: wearing compression socks for pain. Compression socks were created to help alleviate pain. They can help pain in a variety of different ways:
- Increase blood flow – just like with compression leggings; compression socks help your blood vessels to function properly by applying pressure that keeps that blood flowing to the rest of your foot. They ensure that your arteries (the vessels that deliver high-oxygen blood) can properly oxygenate your muscles.
- Reduce swelling – compression socks reduce swelling when sitting or standing for long periods of time, making you feel less achy and tired.
- Muscle support – you can wear compression socks when you’re working out (which is when pain is most likely) – doing so helps you avoid injury because when you overcompensate due to foot pain, it can strain other areas of your body.
Keep Heel Heights Low
Compression socks work wonders for all kinds of foot pain, but if you want to make sure your shoes aren’t worsening your issues, you should only wear heel heights of two inches or lower and only for short periods while you’re active (like standing and walking).
