Wearing High Heels Cause Long Term Foot Damage
Allow me to play a counter intuitive role here and offer that in our modern world, while many styles of shoes aren’t all that good for us, the shoes are not the problem. There have been a number of studies recently on the negatives of high heels and assorted footwear and while this resonates with me to a certain degree, I feel more strongly that shoes are not the problem. The way we stand and walk in the shoes is a more important factor.
Flip flops are bad for you—very bad for you—but my kids wear them. We have rules around their use—only at the beach or within a two block radius of our house. And my kids go barefoot way more than they wear flip flops so it more than evens out.
High heels aren’t good for you but I know a lot of people who really like wearing them and who am I to say no. I have also worked with a number of models who get paid a lot of money to wear five inch heels and there is no reasonable way I could tell them to stop.
So what is a person to do? There are a number of options I can offer.
- Learn how to stand and walk correctly when barefoot and try to be barefoot as often as possible.
- Where your bad shoes for short controlled periods of time.
- Make your feet stronger so that you can withstand the punishment your favorite shoes will mete out.
- Develop foot care techniques such as ball rolling, massage, soaking or whatever strikes your fancy.
We are here on this wonderful planet to be healthy, live long lives, and enjoy ourselves to the fullest. Why some people get enjoyment from tottering along on tall spikes I’ll never understand but there are a whole mess of you out there. I think you should go for it but make sure to take care of yourself as well. So, flips flops are awful, high heels are not much better but trust me when I tell you that shoes are not the problem. If you have good posture and walking patterns you can get away with anything for short periods of time.
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