High Heels Can Spell Disaster for Your Feet

At Goldsmith Podiatry, we know this may be something many of our Manhattan patients will not want to hear, but high heels can hurt your feet more than you realize. You may have found that your feet are sore after a long night in heels, and that’s just the start of the issues.

Below are just some of the ways high-heel shoes can harm your feet:

Toe Pressure—high heels are usually styled with narrow, pointy toe boxes. Prolonged wearing of heels puts excessive pressure on your toes. Pushing up against the front of the shoe may cause one or more of your toes to bend downward and develop into a hammertoe. Another condition that can result from toes being squeezed together is an ingrown toenail. As toes stay pressed against each other, it is easy for a nail to be forced downward and grow into the skin surrounding the nail bed.

Ball of Foot Pain—wearing shoes with heels over two inches high puts a lot of weight and strain on the forefoot. This can lead to a few problems that manifest with pain in the bottom of your foot. Two possible sources of this discomfort are a callus or a neuroma. Calluses form to protect areas deep in the foot that are being damaged. A neuroma is a nerve bundle that thickens as a result of inflammation. Both of these conditions can also have symptoms of burning or the sensation that you have a rock in your shoe or are walking on a sock that has bunched up under your foot.

Heel Pain—another part of the foot that gets harmed by excessive-high heel wearing is the heel. The uneven weight distribution on the foot aggravates the arch, inflaming the plantar fascia and leading to heel pain. In addition, the back of the heel can get friction from the stiff backs of high-heel pumps which causes a condition called Haglund’s Deformity. The friction irritates the bony structure at the back of the heel, which enlarges it and makes it more painful to wear shoes.

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, it’s best to contact our Upper West Side office by calling 212-877-1002 for an appointment. Of course, these foot problems have other causes besides high heel usage. Our podiatrists, Dr. Howard Goldsmith, Dr. Rosanna Troia, and Dr. Kristina Ruff, will examine your feet and ask questions about your activities (including shoe choice) to get to the root of the problem.