Tamiko Woolfalk rattled off her list of high heels, beaming as if they’re achievement awards.
Boots, pumps, booties, the red ones ... and the gray ones that she still needs to find a shirt to match.In all, she counted 30 pairs in her closet, with heels ranging from 2 to 5 inches high.
“Do they hurt? Absolutely,” said the Far West Side resident. “The worst is the burn on the balls of the feet. But it’s worth it.”
Stiletto-enthusiasts such as Woolfalk say foot pain is the price you pay for the confidence that comes with wearing high heels.
Physicians, however, say the price is steeper than that. More and more, podiatrists and orthopedic surgeons are educating women about the long-term consequences of wearing the wrong shoes, particularly high heels. Aside from foot, lower-back, neck and shoulder pain, they say, high heels also can lead to foot deformities. And recently they have been linked to arthritis.
A recent poll by the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists found that 25 percent of women who wear high heels every day are more likely to get arthritis. Other studies from various medical journals this year show that walking on high heels increases bone-on-bone movement in knee and hip joints, increasing the risk of osteoarthritis.
A study released in March by Finnish researchers concluded that women who wear high heels for 40 hours a week over two years walk differently from women who wear them 10 hours a week. Those habitual high-heel wearers take shorter, more-forceful strides and walk less efficiently, the study found.
Many women who wear heels every day develop tight Achilles tendons, which can cause back pain and make it more difficult for them to walk barefoot or in flat shoes. Other conditions include bunions, hammertoes, calluses and Haglund’s deformity, also called a “pump bump.”
A recent survey by the American Podiatric Medical Association found that 53 percent of women experience foot pain.
“It’s hard to think, in general, that people are so accepting of pain that they don’t question it. Foot pain is not normal,” said Dr. Lori DeBlasi, a Columbus podiatrist who works at Specialized Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine.
DeBlasi said she cringes when she walks through department stores and sees all of the high heels on display.
Woolfalk, 34, a patient-care coordinator in DeBlasi’s office, said that, despite seeing the many foot conditions at work, she maintains a strong fondness for her shoes.
They’ve taken her to nightclubs, where they’ve carried her feet across dance floors for hours at a time. For years, she has witnessed the attention garnered by elongated legs and slim calves.
“You can’t go to the club with sneakers — it’s about the height of the shoe, the sexiness of the calf. It’s a good time and a nice picture,” she said. “Nothing can change my mind about these shoes. ”In some cases, the loyalty to foot fashion goes to extremes. Some women go as far as amputating toes to fit into shoes. It’s called toe tucking.
There have been reported cases in New York City when women pay as much as $2,000 to have part of or all of a pinkie toe removed so they can better fit into pointy shoes.
“These are extreme cases, but it shows you this is the same as the Chinese foot-binding,” said Dr. Judith Smith, an surgeon in Springfield, Mo. “It is a fashion statement and a status symbol.”
Smith, a member of the board of directors of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society’s outreach and education fund, performed a survey in the 1990s that found that 88 percent of women wore shoes that were too narrow, and 76 percent had some sort of foot deformity. Over a 15-year period, 87 percent of forefoot procedures were in women, according to her report.
Smith said she has had patients who were told their surgeries would be ineffective if they continued wearing high heels, yet they still did.
“There’s almost a disconnect there. They just can’t imagine life without these shoes.”
Woolfalk said she has worn her beloved heels less over the past few years but doesn’t plan to cut them out of her life. She said she hasn’t had any lasting consequences from her years of foot pain.
Predicting who will develop foot problems is like trying to predict which cigarette smoker might get cancer, Smith said. “Our job is to educate them on the problems that can arise.”
Some tips from medical professionals:
• If you must wear heels, stick to a wedge rather than a stiletto to maximize stability and keep your feet from rocking side to side.
• Try to keep heels to 1 to 2 inches high, and don’t wear them for more than a few hours at a time.
• Buy shoes at the end of the day, when feet are at their largest.
• Leave enough room in the toe of the shoe to slip in a finger.
• Buy shoes with good arch and heel support. Ballet flats and flip-flops can be just as harmful as high heels if they are too flexible and don’t support your feet.
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