The harmful effects of wearing high heels regularly

You should limit wearing high heels for many consecutive days. Photo: Chau Anh

According to Dr. Ngo Van Toan: "In foreign countries, people monitor and make statistics about this disease, but in Vietnam there are no statistics yet."

Doctor Ngo Van Toan, former head of the orthopedic trauma department at Viet Duc Hospital, said that in Europe, the US and developed countries, because women wear high heels for many years, in medical literature there is a disease called "big toe misalignment".

"In Vietnam, there are also patients with big toe misalignment or heel spurs related to high heels, mostly women over 40 years old, and some of these patients have to have surgery to treat them," said Mr. Toan.

Hallux Valgus Syndrome

There are women who, after many years of wearing high heels, gradually have their big toes deviated toward the next toe. If they continue to wear shoes that pinch their toes, the deviation will become more severe and the bone spur on the inside edge of the foot, the position of the big toe, will protrude more and more. For some people, that position will gradually form a large, unsightly callus, while for others, the bone will protrude into a large spur. Feet with the big toe tilted, even tending to overlap the next toe, will also become unsightly.

This disease is considered to be a dislocation of the big toe and one of the causes of the disease is determined to be prolonged wearing of high heels, besides it can be due to bone, joint or diabetes causes.

Dr. Toan said that when wearing high heels with pointed toes, the shoes tend to hug the toes, the big toes pointing towards the toes next to them. If wearing pointed shoes that hug the toes for a long time, the big toes pointing towards the inner toes will not be temporary, taking off the shoes will fix it, but will cause misalignment and permanent joint deformation if not intervened.

In addition, crooked toes also cause the foot to lose stability, affecting standing or walking positions...

After many years of wearing high heels, the big toe gradually shifts towards the next toe. Illustration photo

Choose high heelshow?

According to Dr. Toan, almost every woman has high heels, some pointed heels, some square heels, some round toe shoes that are comfortable on the feet, but there are also shoes with extremely sharp heels over 10cm high, the pointed toe shoes squeeze the toes; in the case of shoes that are both high and pointed, and the material used to make the shoes is also hard, the shoes are not convenient for women to walk for long periods of time.

Women should not wear shoes that are too high or have too pointed toes. If possible, on days when they have to wear high heels for long periods of time, they should occasionally let their feet rest on low-heeled, comfortable sandals.

In case of big toe misalignment or deformed joint surface of the foot, examination is needed to prescribe treatment, but there are also cases that require surgery to treat. At that time, doctors will open the deformed part to adjust the bone and ligament, may have to screw to fix the bone in the misaligned position and after orthopedic surgery, the patient will have to do rehabilitation exercises. In cases of pain in the plantar fascia or temporary pain due to wearing high heels, massage can be restored.

Harmful effects of wearing high heels with pointed heels and pointed toes

According to Dr. Truong Cong Dung, CKII, of the Ho Chi Minh City Musculoskeletal Endoscopy Association, one of the most obvious effects of wearing high heels with heels that are too high, too pointed, and the toe of the shoe is narrow is causing loss of balance, leading to easy slipping, falling, and spraining of the ankle.

In the long run, wearing this type of shoe too many times a week, for a long time will negatively affect the muscle system in the legs such as the balance between the front and back muscles.The most common site of pain is in the heel.

When the pressure points of the foot change, the pressure sequence also changes over a long period of time, the natural load-bearing ability of the foot is no longer normal.

These negative effects will not stop at the feet but also affect the knees and back, causing pain due to shortened leg muscles, prone to spurs, spinal curvature, abnormal gait, and accelerating the process of varicose veins.