To think your body can adapt to heels?

[FairTurtle]

I wore some heels for the first time after ages yesterday. They were these: https://www.reiss.com/style/SU416555/AA4571?utm_content=search&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAoae5BhCNARIsADVLzZckMVGe6XrGvCeqMN4WHe8aS9mYOcfJcBNWe3AbZ0jmHIA8XZ3eyOQaAncOEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds#AA4571

About 7 inches. Today my lower back is killing me. So are my calves, hips and hamstrings. They weren't even that high, plus I was sitting down most of the evening as it was a dinner. Only walked for a total of 30 mins?!

Does anyone have any advice? I really wanted to buy some nice Esska heels, which I'm told are comfortable and high quality, but if they also result in more than a day of back pain, its not worth it!

Some of us don’t get any pain.

The back pain suggests you have a pretty weak core to me, which is a problem generally anyway. Do you do any exercise?

I would probably a) wear flats for a while b) make sure your core strength and posture are decent.

Wow. Strong statement!

My feet definitely unadapted during lockdown.

i used to wear heels every day for work, maybe I was numb to the pain, but I just can’t do it anymore.
Long live the white trainer fashion.

You will pay the price later down the line though.

As I am now.
I used to wear heels to work. I would walk a mile to the station, then walk from the tube to work, then do the same on the way home.

I have bunions, flat feet and arthritis in one of my big toes and can't wear anything more than 1.5 inches high without being in agony.

Not that it would restore health or take away pain, sadly; but I think this should blow up and become the new PPI scandal, personally.

Any woman who was ordered or coerced to wear significant heels in order to be allowed to keep her job has very demonstrably been put at a huge disadvantage and should, at the very least, quality for a hefty compensation pay-out.

Proving it was obligatory might be a challenge, especially when it goes back some years; but at least it would now put the frighteners on any modern-day bosses seeking to order women to endanger their long-term health, just because the senior management and dinosaur clients find it a grubby turn-on to see them in heels.

The back pain suggests you have a pretty weak core to me, which is a problem generally anyway. Do you do any exercise?

This sounds plausible. I am very fit, which may make a difference.

Also a previous very high heel wearer, always wore heels didnt even own flat shoes, high instep and always walked on my toes when didnt have heels on, met a man who was a massive walker, think peak district, so bought my self a pair of walking boots, i now at 63 can not wear heels havnt worn them for 8 years, but last year i bought some 2.5 inch heeled sketchers ankle boots, they are SO comfy i can walk quite easily in them, so i think shop around find comfortable.

Not that it would restore health or take away pain, sadly; but I think this should blow up and become the new PPI scandal, personally.
Any woman who was ordered or coerced to wear significant heels in order to be allowed to keep her job has very demonstrably been put at a huge disadvantage and should, at the very least, quality for a hefty compensation pay-out.
Proving it was obligatory might be a challenge, especially when it goes back some years; but at least it would now put the frighteners on any modern-day bosses seeking to order women to endanger their long-term health, just because the senior management and dinosaur clients find it a grubby turn-on to see them in heels.

Yes was also one of these people, even had a boss that would not allow us to wear trousers even though it was legal to do so.

I used to love heels. Then I worked in the NHS and switched to flats, now I’m totally converted to barefoot shoes and boots and surprise surprise my 10 year constant lower back ache has gone! There’s loads of reasons why heels are bad but this visual was what made it click for me. It’s all a case of what’s important to you, and now I couldn’t even dream of wearing heels or even non barefoot shoes. There are prettier options out there too.

this website has tons of info and is where the image came from.

https://anyasreviews.com/ufaq/how-do-barefoot-shoes-affect-my-alignment/

Substitute the word adapt with the word deform. In adapting to heels your normal body is deforming itself to cope with something unnatural to its normal working. It puts stress on the joints and muscles. This is going to lead to problems one way or another.

Why is she poking her knees forwards and leaning back in the last picture? That is not how most people stand when wearing high heels, and she’s wearing flat heeled boots.

Totally flat shoes don't work for most people because there's no arch support.

I used to wear heels all day every day. Then some extra weight and Covid hit. Now I just can’t do it.

it makes me a bit sad because they are so pretty but not enough to make me go through the pain of retraining.

Arch support is a myth. The human foot arch is a miracle of physical engineering, strong enough to withstand load and springy enough to power a sprint. The key is exercising it like any other hard working body part - heel raises, heel drops, going barefoot, lots of walking. Most people can develop strong healthy arches - it’s the opposite of the deformation talked about above.

I think the comparison with dancers is incorrect.

i was a dancer and hated heels- they forced my feet into a fixed position, shortening the hamstrings and reducing flexibility and movement.

when dancing, even en pointe and Demi point, it’s not a fixed position and your ankles and feet need to be flexible with a good range of movement. You also remain balanced and straight, you aren’t adjusting your posture and centre of gravity to compensate for the heels pushing you forward.

it also made my legs look really ugly as the calf muscles shortened and bulked up at the top.

my mum wore heels for years. Got to the point where she even had heeled slippers as her hamstrings simply couldn’t stretch to heels flat. Took several years of physio to be able to walk with feet flat again.

Definitely! A heels a heel. Blocks give more stability less inclined to turn your ankle i think.

the boot isn’t flat, it has a small heel. She’s demonstrating that even a small heel throws off the body’s alignment. First image is a barefoot boot, so zero drop no heel at all, good alignment of shoulders over hips, hips over ankles. Subsequent pics are a similar boot but with a small heel and the difference in alignment in makes. I think maybe it’s to show that if you try to realign your shoulders over hips then the misalignment still happens elsewhere, in this case the knees? She’s got tonnes of blog posts and supporting images that give more info, I only know the difference it has made for me and my family. I get no foot pain or lower back pain unless I wear my wellies which are the only non barefoot shoe option I have left.

Also the comments re arch support, no other part of the body would a doc or physio tell you to wear a permanent support rather than do exercises to strengthen the muscles and joints! I don’t know why feet are so different?!

Lots of interesting discussion on here! I just want to re-iterate again that I'm not a full-time heels wearer, and was just a bit alarmed than 7cm (2.7inch) heels have caused me so much pain! It's the second day since wearing them for an evening and my back and thighs/calves are still not normal!

Since we're talking about the safety etc of high heels, can anyone recommend any particularly high quality brands, that make lower height block heels (so 1 - 1.5 inches?) that are optimised for comfort, health etc? What heel height is ok to wear regularly?

I think the biggest concern is that you spent £148 on sandals that look bang average.

My podiatrist would disagree with you.

I used to have lots of lovely heels for work - my feet got bigger during pregnancy and post covid I can’t wear them but also no-one wears them anymore.

Post Covid anyone under about 45 seemed to be in flats or trainers. There was one lady in my office of hundreds of people - literally one who carried on wearing heels because she’d done it every day for work and wasn’t going to stop. She always looked much more put together than anyone else but she stood out because no-one else could be arsed anymore.

If she stood up straight like a normal person her body wouldn’t be thrown out of alignment.

They are trying to flog you shoes.

I used to pride myself on my stiletto walking ability. When girls in the office used to keep trainers for the commute in their bag I used to scoff and think I wouldn’t be seen dead in a nice smart dress and then trainers.

HOWEVER then I had kids, put on 3 stone, WFH and now they kill me. I never wear heels. Weight has a lot to do with it. Far easier when you’re really slim.

Why would you want your body to adapt to something that is so bad for it?