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."

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 it," said Mr. Toan.

Hallux Valgus Syndrome

There are women who, after many years of wearing high heels, gradually have their big toes deviated towards the next toe. If they continue to wear shoes that are tight on the toes, the deviation will become more severe and the bone spur on the inner edge of the foot, the position of the big toe, will protrude. For some people, that position will gradually form a large, unsightly callus, while for others, the bone will protrude into a large callus. 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 identified as 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 its stability, affecting standing or walking postures...

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

Choose high heelshow?

According to Dr. Toan, almost all women have high heels, some are pointed, some are square, some are round-toed and comfortable, but there are also shoes with extremely sharp heels over 10cm high, with pointed toes that 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 pointed toes. If possible, on days when they have to wear high heels for long periods of time, they should occasionally rest their feet on low-heeled, comfortable sandals.

In cases where the big toe is misaligned or the joint surface of the foot is deformed, a medical examination is needed to prescribe treatment, but there are also cases where surgery is required. In that case, the doctor will open the deformed part to adjust the bones and ligaments, and may have to insert screws 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 used to restore.

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

According to Dr. Truong Cong Dung, CKII - 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 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 capacity of the foot is no longer normal.

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