Random Things That Wearing High Heels Actually Does to Your Body (11 items)

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  (#7) They Weaken Your Ankles

  Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte recently came to a conclusion about high heel wearing that might surprise you: it actually weakens your ankles over time. If you’ve worn high heels, this might seem counterintuitive because they seem to take A LOT of ankle stability in order to stay upright.

  Here’s the thing: initially high heels do strengthen the ankle muscles. But, after a certain point, they stop strengthening. Forcing our ankles to adapt to a naturally unstable position like wearing heels can result in short-term injuries like ankles sprains. In the long term, though, the damage can be much more severe, creating ligament and nerve damage to the lower leg.
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  (#1) They Shorten Your Calf Muscles

  Though elongating the leg is kind of the point of wearing high heels, it turns out they actually produce the opposite effect on the body over time. One of the not-so-pretty side effects of high heels is shortened calf muscles. It’s a chain-reaction thing, so bear with me for a second. Basically, walking in heels strains your Achilles tendons, which anchor your calf muscles to your heels. So, when the Achilles get strained, they cause the calf muscles to bunch up. Over time, this can result extreme calf tightness and an overall shortening of a heel wearer’s calves.
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  (#4) They Tighten Your Knee Joints

  The knee joint is the largest joint in the body, and it’s built to absorb high levels of force. A team of researchers at Stanford University found that wearing high heels can put so much force on the knees that it prematurely ages them. Repeat. This is not a drill. Really high high heels force your knees to bend further forward than walking barefoot or in flat shoes does. This increased forward bending can bring on premature osteoarthritis in heel wearers and contribute to stress fractures and trapped nerves in the legs.
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  (#2) They May Lead to Premature Osteoarthritis

  Osteoarthritis is a type of joint disease created when the cartilage around your joints breaks down so much that the bone underneath it starts to wear down, too. It causes joints to swell, become stiff and painful, and decreases their range of motion.

  Long-term high heel wearing can indirectly result in osteoarthritis in a number of joints in a heel wearer’s body. The knees especially are particularly susceptible. Frequent heel-ing puts extra stress on your joints, which speeds up the wear and tear on them. This wear and tear then speeds you down the road to osteoarthritis.
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  (#8) They Cause Hammertoe

  Look at the shape of your foot; focus on your toes. Now look at the shape of your handiest high heel; focus on the front. Notice anything about the two? No, this isn’t a pop quiz. It’s an exercise to illustrate the big difference between the square-ish shape of most people’s feet and the narrow, usually pointed shape of the toe box of most high-heeled shoes. Forcing toes into this tiny, unnatural space, and then forcing them to bear a lot more weight and force than they would have to in a flatter shoe can have some pretty unpleasant consequences for the little guys.

  Hammertoe, a condition in which one of your toes develops a downward bend or curl, is one of these consequences. It can cause a fair amount of pain and discomfort while walking for those who develop it. Although some people are born with hammertoe, many develop it from prolonged wearing of tight, ill-fitting high-heeled shoes.
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  (#9) They Alter Your Natural Gait

  Wearing high heels alters the way you walk, and not for the better. Your natural footfall, or “gait,” becomes more staccato, thanks to a change in your center of gravity. Each time you take a step, you are essentially catching yourself in a fall. When you're in heels, you "fall" more quickly, meaning you need shorter, quicker strides in order to maintain the necessary balance. The thing about an altered gait is that, over time, it can actually cause bone and nerve damage in areas throughout the body. In the case of high heels, an altered gait, combined with increased force on the ball of the foot and toes, can result in everything from ingrown toenails to damaged nerve conditions.

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