Wish you could wear high heels without the pain? Me too! So why do they hurt so much? High heels completely change the mechanics of our feet, putting the majority of the weight on the forefoot and causing constant contraction of the calves. While this makes us feel like our legs are longer and leaner, it can also cause painful calluses, corns, and plantar fasciitis. High heels can also aggravate bunions and cause Achilles tendinitis.
Try to keep heel height to less than 2 inches, only wear heels for about 4 hours and make sure you won’t be doing much walking or standing in them. If you have foot pain that doesn’t go away after getting out of your heels, seek the advise of a podiatrist.
Dr. Erin Kalla is a foot & ankle specialist in Long Beach, CA. She specializes in foot & ankle surgery, sports medicine, and diabetic foot care.
Do silicone cushions help when wearing high heels?
Hi, Kelly, thanks for your question and forgive my slow response. While cushion will help with giving some protection to the ball of your foot, high heels will still alter the mechanics of your feet, ankles, and legs. For example, the Achilles tendon will still be held in a very shortened position which can lead to more foot problems down the road. While it’s probably unreasonable to expect women to give up heels completely, I definitely recommend wearing them as little as possible and minimizing the amount of walking you do while wearing them.
Take care, happy walking!
Dr. Kalla