Right on your heels
Jan 18, 2008
IS it a trend? A woman walks into office donning her stylish suit and high-heeled shoes. But the moment she gets to her desk, she removes those “working†shoes in favour of sandals. Yet, you cannot really blame her.
By Carol Natukunda
IS it a trend? A woman walks into office donning her stylish suit and high-heeled shoes. But the moment she gets to her desk, she removes those “working†shoes in favour of sandals. Yet, you cannot really blame her.
While high heels may be the ideal shoes to wear for our professional images, many women confess they are having trouble with them. “I feel uncomfortable; it is like my legs just become tired, I can’t stand it the whole day,†says Jackie, a sales executive.
“My feet swell, so I now keep sandals in the drawers. Sometimes, it is so painful if I don’t change to sandals,†Jackie’s colleague says.
So style doesn’t indeed mix with fitness. And while we might downplay the issue, medical experts advise us to be very careful with the kind of shoes we choose. Forced too often into the tight confines of the narrow, yet steep foot “boxâ€, your feet become vulnerable. They develop bumps and areas of thickened skin that rub painfully against your shoes.
“High heels strain your legs and feet, leading to some little fractures in your nerves or nerve damage,†says Dr. Augustus Oryema, Orthopedic Medicine general health practitioner on Kampala Road.
“If the shoes are even tight fitting, you are pressing your nerves and veins, and blood may not be flowing properly, which could result into a clot of sorts. Many times, there is also the unnatural bending of the toes. Tight shoes can lead to deformity,†he adds.
Oryema also warns against very heavy soles, as they lead to ankle sprains and sometimes back ache, especially if there is a lot of activity involved. “Our bodies were not designed to wear too much weight at the bottom of our feet, ankles, or wrists. Weights added to those areas can cause strain in the joints above them,†he says.
So, do the flat, loose shoes become the only option? Do you give up your pretty high heels?
Not entirely, according to Oryema.
“You can still wear them. The feet problems occur over a period of time, especially when you are wearing them year in, year out,†he explains.
Unfortunately for high heels lovers, most experts recommend an inch and a half as the most comfortable and least risky.
For those who cannot give up on the high heels, Oryema suggests wearing more flat shoes, for walking to and from work, and changing into high heels once you arrive at work. If you have an important event in the morning, wear the high heels then and switch to lower-heeled shoes in the afternoon. Oryema also says one must give their feet a nice massage or soak them in warm water at the end of the day, to avoid complications.
IS it a trend? A woman walks into office donning her stylish suit and high-heeled shoes. But the moment she gets to her desk, she removes those “working†shoes in favour of sandals. Yet, you cannot really blame her.
While high heels may be the ideal shoes to wear for our professional images, many women confess they are having trouble with them. “I feel uncomfortable; it is like my legs just become tired, I can’t stand it the whole day,†says Jackie, a sales executive.
“My feet swell, so I now keep sandals in the drawers. Sometimes, it is so painful if I don’t change to sandals,†Jackie’s colleague says.
So style doesn’t indeed mix with fitness. And while we might downplay the issue, medical experts advise us to be very careful with the kind of shoes we choose. Forced too often into the tight confines of the narrow, yet steep foot “boxâ€, your feet become vulnerable. They develop bumps and areas of thickened skin that rub painfully against your shoes.
“High heels strain your legs and feet, leading to some little fractures in your nerves or nerve damage,†says Dr. Augustus Oryema, Orthopedic Medicine general health practitioner on Kampala Road.
“If the shoes are even tight fitting, you are pressing your nerves and veins, and blood may not be flowing properly, which could result into a clot of sorts. Many times, there is also the unnatural bending of the toes. Tight shoes can lead to deformity,†he adds.
Oryema also warns against very heavy soles, as they lead to ankle sprains and sometimes back ache, especially if there is a lot of activity involved. “Our bodies were not designed to wear too much weight at the bottom of our feet, ankles, or wrists. Weights added to those areas can cause strain in the joints above them,†he says.
So, do the flat, loose shoes become the only option? Do you give up your pretty high heels?
Not entirely, according to Oryema.
“You can still wear them. The feet problems occur over a period of time, especially when you are wearing them year in, year out,†he explains.
Unfortunately for high heels lovers, most experts recommend an inch and a half as the most comfortable and least risky.
For those who cannot give up on the high heels, Oryema suggests wearing more flat shoes, for walking to and from work, and changing into high heels once you arrive at work. If you have an important event in the morning, wear the high heels then and switch to lower-heeled shoes in the afternoon. Oryema also says one must give their feet a nice massage or soak them in warm water at the end of the day, to avoid complications.