High Heels Might Hurt The Back And Legs, But One Woman May Have A Solution

High heels might make the muscles of the calves and glutes pop up attractively; however, those same high heels could end up hurting the wearer’s legs and back over time. According to the Express Tribune with the International New York Times, donning a pair of high heels can make ankles stronger when they are first worn, but over time, it could ironically weaken muscles.

Therefore, a woman who loves to wear high heels on a daily basis like the Carrie Bradshaw character in Sex and the City might find herself with shorter muscles in the back of her legs. But all that running around in high heels can adversely cause longer muscles in the front of the legs. That’s the condition that can cause muscle strength changes due to the varying muscle lengths, says Tricia Turner, who works as an associate professor of kinesiology at University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

According to NBC Charlotte, however, some of the pain associated with high heels may have been solved by Julie Lopez, who created Julie Lopez Shoes after attending a wedding wherein her feet hurt so much that she spent the reception in bare feet.

“We widen the forefoot of the shoe just a little bit.”

Lopez, an orthopedic nurse, explains that a wider front of the shoes means less cramped toes and more comfort. Smaller areas in the front of the foot put undue pressure on nerves — especially after wearing high heels for hours, day after day. Extra padding and changes in design brings extra comfort for those high heels, but these are pairs of high heels that don’t come cheap for such added benefits. The price of lessening the pain tends to run about $215 per pair, for either high heels or flats.

Whether these styles of high heels would help the kinds of women studied by researchers — such as female flight attendants who tended to wear high heels often — remains to be seen.

High heels can create issues due to the way they force feet into weird positions, unlike when a woman wears flats. Normally, the ankle bones reside right below the lower leg bones, a condition experienced when wearing flats that tends to reduce the chances of the wearer getting hurt. On the contrary, high heel shoes change the positioning of those bones as well as the way the wearer normally walks.

Women who wear high heels often know that the gait changes to adjust for the high heels, which can sometimes mean walking with longer strides. Ankle changes might mean damage to ligament and nerves can occur. Strengthening those ankle muscles through exercise could counteract such issues.

As reported by the Inquisitr, waist training is another controversial beauty practice.

[Photo via Uncommons]