From  As American women teeter around in high heels, and as the style gains increasing popularity among teens, a Medical College of Georgia physical therapist warns that the body pays a steep price.

“About 80 percent of Western women report foot pain,” said Dr. Mary Ellen Franklin, an exercise physiologist and associate professor of physical therapy at MCG. “Societies that don’t wear shoes don’t have this problem.”

Research indicates a host of physical problems associated with high heels, including foot pain, foot deformities, a change in back posture, knee osteoarthritis and balance impairment. Americans (mostly women) spend an estimated $2 billion a year on surgery related to footwear. “It’s distressing, because I think many women just don’t realize this,” Dr. Franklin said. “Wearing high heels is their choice, but they should at least be aware of the problems.”

She and her students tested a dozen elderly women and a dozen college-aged women, comparing their function and balance when wearing approximately 2-and-a-half-inch high heels. The women were then retested in flat shoes.

They found that when women stepped up and over a curb-sized platform in high heels, the older women lost their balance 12 percent of the time and were nine times more likely to fall than when wearing flats. When women wear heels, “they come down harder off the step than in flats and the older women come down harder than the younger women,” said Dr. Franklin. “Also, when women wear heels, they come down hard on the forefoot, which is where many deformities occur over time.”

Read more here from the Medical College of Georgia

Source: Christine Hurley Deriso, “Women’s Health Pays Steep Price,” Medical College of Georgia

Enjoy this Article? Get More in our Weekly Newsletter

Sign up to receive Weekly Health Tips + Special Product Offers - FREE!
PLUS, Get a Coupon for $5 OFF at our Online Store just for signing up!

Want to see some of our past newsletters before signing up? Click here.