From Red Carpet to Supermarket - Cannes or Can't High Heels Be Worn Safely?
Glasgow, UK (PRWEB UK) 29 May 2015 -- The recent ban by the Cannes Film Festival 2015 organisers on women wearing flat shoes on the red carpet garnered headlines around the world and fuelled a hashtagged Twitter debate.
Michelle Champlin, foot expert and Chief Podiatrist of Dubai Podiatry Centre (http://www.dubaipodiatry.com) says that the overuse of high heels has led to an increase in footwear related health issues.
Mrs Champlin reports that "We see a lot of patients in our podiatry clinic with foot related issues related to high heels, as Dubai is a very fashion forward city with a high percentage of women in the workforce wearing smart heels for work. Dubai has it’s own annual Film Festival and every week there seems to be a new film premiere, club or restaurant opening with high fashion footwear a must."
High heels alter the position of all the joints in the feet, ankles, knees, hip, pelvis and spine compared to being barefoot. The height of the heel correlates to how much the joints are moved. High heels throw the entire skeleton out of alignment, resulting in shorter strides and hip rotation.
The body can cope with these varying range of motions but standing or walking for a long time in this altered position can cause a range of health problems, including stress fractures in the bones, especially the metatarsals, tendonitis, lower back pain, stress to the front of the knee joints, increased risk of ankle sprain, Morton’s Neuroma and increased risk of bunions.
Flat shoes may not be the automatic healthier option either. Thin soled, flat shoes such as ballet pumps or flip flops provide little cushioning or shock absorption and can alter walking style. These can contribute to stress fractures of the metatarsal bones in the forefoot if worn for periods of extended activity. If the shoe is a slip on style, the toes have to grip to keep the shoe on - leading to chaffing on the top of the toes, corns or bursas or splaying of the forefoot. The heel can also become tender if the flat shoe has no cushioning, causing painful conditions such as plantar fasciitis.
Mrs Champlin advises women who wish to wear heels "To reduce the risk of injury, find the most comfortable heel height for you - we're all different and a pair of heels that you can dance all night in may leave your friend in agony."
A smart court style shoe for work can be 35mm in heel height and for a higher heel height for work can be 55 mm. Dress shoes can be higher at a maximum of 85mm. This depends on each person's unique comfort levels and ‘
biomechanics. Heel heights going above this to an extreme height of 90 - 120mm will grossly affect the way that a person walks and stands. This is when the foot and other joint / soft tissue and skin injuries are more likely. In extremely high stilettoes, almost 100% of body weight is being forced forward onto the forefoot, when barefoot the natural weight distribution is almost 50-50 between the front and heel.
Mrs Champlin suggests that "If you like wearing ballet pumps - look for ones that have elastic around the edging so that they can grip onto your foot better, reducing the risk of toe clawing. Alternate with a more spacious ballerina pump with a slight heel 1cm added and this will help your toes from clawing to keep the shoe on as much and will provide a little shock absorption to the heel."
If the flat shoe is laced, strapped or buckled to the foot this is a much healthier option (e.g. a ‘mary-jane’ style). Damage from the wrong style or fit of shoe range from blisters in the immediate short term to corns and callous and toenail damage over time, on to bunions and collapsed arches in the longer term.
Mrs Champlin sums up that "My key message is that the best shoe to wear for foot health is one that you think: If I had to run for my life would the shoe stay on and help me move very fast without slipping, getting an ankle sprain or falling out of my shoes?”
When selecting any shoes, the key message is to wear the appropriate shoes for the activity. Mrs Champlin advises "If you know you’ll be doing a lot of walking, wear a cushioned shoe with low heel that fastens to your foot (or better still a sports shoe). For a high fashion event, such as walking the red carpet, a high heel would be non harmful for a couple of hours – you could even switch into more comfortable shoes inside the event and for dancing."
Each shoe maker has an individual ‘last’ that makes the brand's particular shoe templates. With the many different ethnic origins of feet come different foot shapes – no two feet are the same. Mrs Champlin states that "Once you find your favourite brand try to stay within that range and make sure you get your feet measured regularly – you may well be different sizes in different brands and try to find shoes that come in different width fittings."
"Don’t feel shy to try on lots of shoes and styles - once you find your favourite brands that fit your foot correctly then you will be a customer for life. I have favourite different brands each for sandals, ballerina pumps, car shoes, court shoes, business pumps, dress shoes, sports shoes, and hiking boots. Shop around – and shop later in the day once your feet are at their largest" is one tip that Mrs Champlin recommends when shoe shopping.
There are also lots of accessories for feet and shoes to customise shoe fit - a heel grip can be placed at the back of the heel of the smaller foot (rather than buying smaller shoes and making the larger foot pinch and blister and corns developing). Buy for the bigger foot.
Pads that can be stuck to the ball of the foot to mimic the fatty padding can help when standing for long periods, alleviating the burning pain in the forefoot that commonly comes with stress to the transverse arch, particularly helpful when wearing flat shoes.
Maureen Duffy, Panthera Communications, http://www.dubaipodiatry.com, +44 7597179667, [email protected]
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