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Dear colleagues,

I received the following questions from the public.

Can wearing high heels cause chronic headaches? I’ve read that wearing high heels on a regular basis can cause muscles behind your neck to be stiff, putting pressure on nerves that result in chronic headaches. I’ve also read that flat shoes are not ideal for foot health. Is this true?


I am supposed to write a short reply in the local paper on this. I am old school so my natural instinct is to be biased against high heeled shoes and my reply will ofcourse reflect this. Any comments from fellow podiatrists or shoe makers in general?

 

anhtar

>Can wearing high heels cause chronic headaches?

No scientific evidence that I am aware of.

>I’ve read that wearing high heels on a regular basis can cause muscles behind your neck to be stiff, putting pressure on nerves that result in chronic headaches.

With a multiarticular skeleton and joint compensations it is unlikely to happen.
Some people are more anatomically suited to wearing heeled shoes than others.

>I’ve also read that flat shoes are not ideal for foot health.

Depends what is meant by foot health? Do flat shoes cause more infections? - no evidence ; do they encourage poor foot hygiene " - no evidence; do they cause postural challenges? - no evidence but some people are likely to suffer discomfort if the posterior compartment of the leg is stretched beyond normal tollerance. All of which comes back to some people are more suited to heeled shoes than others.

I always qualify my answer to the media in these events with "conditons apply"

toeslayer