The original function of shoes is to protect the feet, and the decorative function is just a derivative function, but today people are following a cart-before-horse thinking that the decorative function of shoes is the most important.
Shoes become more and more beautiful, but they are not necessarily comfortable, and in some cases they might even hurt foot or other body parts. It's really cruel torture when wearing uncomfortable shoes. Then what health effects of these styles of shoes and what kind of shoes can be both beautiful and healthy?
High heels will let you have a figure of perfect elegance, but it is real torture from the toe to the spine. It's obvious that because of the raising heels, weight borne by whole foot is centralized at the forefoot which is unfit for loading, adding burden to the forefoot, making you feel more painful when standing and walking.
High heels can affect the foot bone health. When wearing high heels, ankle joint becomes loose and not stable which will increase the possibility to get sprained and cause ligamentous injury, tendon rupture or even fracture. If the heel is too high, metatarsophalangeal joints in the excessive stretched state will lead to subluxation of the metatarsophalangeal joint, and even fatigue fracture (stress fracture).
High heel is one of the factors contributing to osteoarthritis of the knee. Ankle is unable to play the normal function because of high heels, knee joint must be under greater pressure in order to maintain stability of the body when walking; tension and pressure for a long time can cause inflammation of the knee. Studies have shown that wearing high heels for walking knee pressure will increase 23% on average. Wearing high heels when climbing stairs, pressure for knee increases 3 times than usual times; Going down the stairs will even increase 7~9 times of pressure than usual. Consequently, when wearing high heels, you'd better climb the stairs as fewer times as possible.
Is the thick heel safer than thin heels? Actually there's no big difference between both knee injuries. While thick high heel causes knee wear increasing 22%, fine high heel increases 26%. However, thin heels certainly increase the possibility to sprain ankle due to instability. When wearing high heels, human center of gravity moves forward, and to get balance human body will take initiative back. Physiological curvature of the spine gets worse; vertebra contact area reduces and pressure increases, the load on the spine becomes bigger. Back and hip muscles in contraction for a long time is easy to raise lumbago and back pain.
Remember the principle that to wear the right shoes on right occasions. In daily life, we recommend that you choose loose, suitable shoes in accordance with arches physiological principle with adequate height for heels. It is more suitable for you to wear sport shoes for a long time walking when traveling, and they would also be useful to correct foot problems. If you want to wear high heels, it is necessary to carefully select shoes. Suitable shape of shoe and heel height makes the foot not so easily tired; shoes with built-in auxiliary tools of certain hardness such as built-in heel cup and arch support pads will effectively reduce pressure to be healthier. At the same time it enhances the wearing comfort of shoes. When you wear high heels you can also use the forefeet mats to reduce foot injuries. Only protecting our own feet can we keep beautiful appearance longer.