Heels problems and 5 effective tips

We love how heels can accentuate you look, helps to increase the height, and there are many women they feel more confident while wearing heels. But there are many heels problems that can affect the hips, spine, knees, and muscles.

Forcing the body to adapt to walking on an unnaturally long point is going to undoubtedly change the way you move. In short, heels problems are very much focused on the posture and heels can cause you to be off balance and in order to compensate and stay upright, you need to bend your hips and spine forward. 

How does wearing heels affect your body?

The calves, back, and hip muscles all tense up to keep balance. After wearing heels for a hours, you will feel ache, that you might be used to if you wear heels regularly. The happens because your foot and leg muscles becoming fatigued after being out of balance because the heels. Regular wearing of heels for long hours can causes the calf muscles to get fatigued and bulge.

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Towering stilettos put stress on the back and knees, as the rest of your body is forced forwards to retain balance. Frighteningly, the slippage of one vertebra forward also occurs in the lumbar region of the spine.  

It is clear that repeated wearing of high heels may cause a host of problems like poor spinal alignment, which can result in back and muscle pain.

Causes of high heels problems:

High heels change the walking pattern of their wearer. Someone who regularly wears heels usually take shorter and more forceful steps while walking, than those people who usually wear flats. Walking like this for a long period of time, can put extra pressure on the knee joints, which can lead to osteoarthritis.

When wearing heels, your body must adjust its overall weight according to the centre of gravity. The higher the heel, the more the risk of lower back pain and hip, and knee problems.

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Regular wearing of high heels, can make changes in the shape. The heels pushes up the human heel as a result they affect the Achilles tendon and calf muscles causing increased pressure. The tendon can shorten, and the muscles may stiffen and reshape.

After years of high heel wear and body readjustment due to the shoes, you might also experience discomfort when wearing flat shoes or walking barefoot as the body may get adapted to the shape of the heels.

Some of the common high heels problems are:

1. Misaligned posture

Your foot remains in downward extended position which increases the pressure on the forefoot, and compels you to adjust your posture by leaning back so as to align with the alteration in balance. This causes the body to stay in an unnatural posture for long periods of time causing back problems.

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2. Ankle and foot injuries

Heels also restrict the motion and power of the ankle joint causing inflammation. This also increases the risk of bunions, musculoskeletal pain, and may even lead to ankle fractures in some serious cases.

3. Toenail damage

A pedicure session is not enough to care for your toenails. Wearing heels could compress the toes together. This leads to the toenails growing into the skin, and can also make the area susceptible to nail or fungal infections.

4. Knee ailments

Wearing heels increases the distance between the ground and the knees and can lead to osteoarthritis. The increased distance between the ground and the knees causes increase knee torque and compression which can leads to complications like osteoarthritis.

5. Hip pain and injury

The extended engagement with the hip muscles can cause them to shorten and contract. Contraction of the hip flexor muscles might lead to the development of both hip pain and injury.

Thus, you need to be mindful of these health consequences while wearing heels, and always try to limit their usage to avoid complications.

Tips to avoid heels problems:

1) Ensure that you regularly stretch your calf muscles for 60 seconds each and do 2-3 repetitions every day. It could be done at any time of the day or preferably when you remove the heels.

2) Gently massage your calf and foot area. You can use a foam roller 2-3 times a week to release the tension and trigger points from the calf muscle. The foam roller may be used on the hamstrings, iliotibial band and low back muscles too.

3) Do some ankle range of motion exercises such as taking the foot up, down, sideways and rotations clockwise and anti-clockwise. Also, add some ankle stability exercises like standing and balancing on one leg. You can do it with eyes open and then eyes close to improve the proprioception of the ankle joint. Talk to Gytree’s lifestyle experts or explore yoga and fitness packages to get the expert’s guidance.

4) While walking in high heels do your best to walk as normal as possible, that means heel to toe walking. In heels women tend to do toe to heel walk which is improper biomechanics. Consciously practise first putting the heel to the ground and then rolling over to the toe during gait. If practised consistently women may have the correct gait with heels too.

5) Improve your posture while wearing heels, because wearing heels shifts the centre of gravity of your body forward which negatively affects the joints. The head should be in line with your spine, chin and shoulder should be parallel with the floor.

Avoid looking down and let your shoulders be held back, arms relaxed and do not let the knees be locked. You may slightly suck in your belly to avoid excessive arching at the low back. This might be practised a few times before walking in heels and it would become a natural part of your actual posture.

If you feel any discomfort or back pain issues it’s important to talk to a health expert.