High Heels and Foot Pain: What You Should Know

Anytime you wear shoes that are tight or constrict the natural shape of your foot, doctors say it's bound to cause foot pain. But when you add high heels in to the equation, podiatrist Stuart Mogul, DPM, says pain can quickly escalate to damage. "In addition to restricting the foot, you are also increasing the weight on the area that is restricted, so you're not only crushing your toes, but you're crushing them and then putting weight on them, and that's a problem," says Mogul.  Among the most common problems he sees are painful, aching bunions -- those bony protrusions that usually pop up at the base of the big toe and distort the shape of the foot.
     "High heels don't cause bunions, but they sure can aggravate them. Both the heel height and the point of the shoe can play a role," says Mogul.  Moreover, he says some women who have bunions also have a displaced bone on the bottom of the big toe joint, which changes the way the foot "tracks" or acts during motion.  "If the foot is then placed in a high heel, and pitched forward, the pressure on these bones increases and bunion pain grows worse," he says.
　
High Heels and Foot Pain: What You Should Know By Colette Bouchez WebMD Feature