The cost of high heels may be measured in pain

Beauty is pain, as the saying goes. Now there's evidence to back it up: Wearing high-heeled shoes now may mean suffering foot pain later, according to a new study.

Study subjects were asked whether they felt pain, aching or stiffness in one or both feet on most days, and if so, what part of their foot hurt (nails, forefoot, hindfoot, heel, arch and ball of the foot). The 3,372 participants were from the Framingham Foot Study, made up of people from the Framingham Study Original Cohort and the Framingham Offspring Cohort who were evaluated from 2002 to 2008. Numbers of men and women were about equal.

Their most common footwear worn currently and previously was divided into several categories and among age groups. The shoe categories were: poor (high-risk shoes that lacked support and structure, such as high heels, sandals and slippers), average (mid-risk shoes with hard or rubber soles such as work boots) and good (low-risk shoes offering good support and safety, such as sneakers).

One-fourth of all participants said they had generalized foot pain on most days. The researchers also said that in women they found an increased risk between having pain in the hindfoot and wearing poor shoes in the past, even after adjusting for weight and age. Fewer men reported pain than women (19% versus 29%), but only 1.6% of men said they wore shoes in the poor category.

In the study, the researchers said that wearing good shoes makes sense for protecting the hindfoot from pain. They wrote: "It is also possible that the single association seen at the hindfoot is due to the tightness of the heelcords that might result from sustained use of high heels." If this is the case, they add, stretching exercises might offset problems caused by poor shoes.

The study appears in the October issue of the journal Arthritis Care & Research.

-- Jeannine Stein

 Photo credit: Peter Foley / EPA

Comments

[Walking Queen]

I even bought some of those aerosole walking type high heels so that I could protect myself against the pain caused by high heels. Go figure-they were supposed to help, but ever since I have worn them it has been months that I have been working on trying to feel in my toes again in my right foot. I only wore them for about a week and now I have no feeling in my toes. Slowly but surely the feeling is coming back. Ridiculous

[Josiah Cracraft]

This is just stupid. First of all, why is the government paying for a study to tell us our feet hurt. Are you kidding. Duh if you wear heals you are going to have foot pain. This article is completely ridiculous and I cant even believe someone got paid to write it.

[kim]

duh

[Mark]

Josiah:

First of all, the US government probably didn't pay for the study. Have you ever heard of Framingham? The study was probably based in Australia.

Secondly, studies like this usually result in a little more knowledge that feet hurt and can shed some light of arthritis and other foot issues.

That anti-government bias is not productive, either.

[Xenu]

Foot pain is an investment for a gold digger.

[Baffled Observer]

They needed a *study* to figure out that high heels ruin your feet? Who in the world paid for *that*?

[reasonable man]

Did I miss the part that said the government paid for this?

It seems to me that this was a summary of an article in a peer reviewed medical journal that focuses on arthritis. A study like that could be funded indirectly or even directly from a government grant, but not necessarily.

It might not matter much to you, but arthritis is a worthwhile ailment to study and if more info comes out on how to prevent/treat it, then good. That's what these studies and journals are for.

I will mourn the demise of high heels, but it's better than being debilitated in old age.

[sore feet]

Duh!!! Tell me something I don't know.

[Jean]

This is not news to women. What a waste of taxpayer money.

[ObiWan]

But they make a lady twice as good looking.
Sorry, but thats the brutal truth.
Remember Pretty Woman and imagin her in flats.

[Juan]

Hey guys .... as if we didn't know.... but anyway this is just another opportunity for us to massage their feet! Tell them it is therapeutic! JA Ja Ja

[NEGROTIATOR]

agree with Josiah. pretty retarded article. whats next on LA times? Smoking is bad for your health? Fast Food is not healthy? waste of an article.

[Anonymous]

Feet problems extend beyond arthritis. I have plantar fasciitis (inflammation of the plantar fascia in your feet) and a heel spur and it is VERY painful. I don't wish it upon anyone. Your risk of gettting this painful condition is raised by wearing non-supportive shoes NOT just high heels. (Yes, this includes FLIP FLOPS, slippers, and other shoes without proper arch or heel support, such as those with flat/tiny heels [ballerina flats] etc.,) BUYER BEWARE! And your risk is raised if you are on your feet a lot, at your job for instance, think nurses, residents, servers, teachers, bartenders, etc., Oh and runners too. I wish I had known more about proper foot health, and had not worn flip flops, slippers, and yes high heels. Good shoes are Merrills, sneakers, Crocs (to be used as slippers), Naturalizers, Rockports, etc.,! (That's from my podiatrist.) And as the doctor says throw out old shoes too! They lose their heel and "torsional rigidity" and "flexion stability" over time. Runners know this, as they replace their running shoes after a certain # of miles of useage.

[Lee Chenier]

Framingham, Massachusetts. The study is one of the most successful and largest ongoing, longitudinal studies about health and aging. The study is trying to identify various risk factors that are associated with good and poor health in old age.

Guess what: mobility declines with age, most often from pain. If foot pain that prevents walking can be related to shoes, then the part of the risk is personal choice, like smoking and drinking. It may also lead to better designed shoes.

The study has merit--the article presented here could have explained that point more clearly or linked to the Framingham study.

Do you actually think this is less poignant than news about the D&G runway show?

[panda]

What's the hindfoot? Is it like the heel?

[cochon]

let's think this through, shall we, since you are incapable. who would have any incentive to prove that high heels hurt women's feet? nike? reebok? corporations that make footwear for women that don't hurt them?

anyone who sees, in this article the words "government sponsored" or "american tax dollars" or anything similar, let me know.

thanks!

[Wayne]

I'd like to see a study about the intelligence (or lack thereof) of women who do wear such high heels

[Forradalom]

Great! Let's toss the pornstar footwear out of the stores and wear healthy shoes again.

[Cabrilla]

Framingham is in Massachusetts (USA). The podiatry study is part of the Framingham Heart Study, a long-term, ongoing study that has been conducted over decades.

http://www.framinghamheartstudy.org/participants/original.html