High heels burst onto the internet spotlight recently in response to the lead female character in the Jurassic World movie running through the entire movie (including the jungle) in, yes, high heels. In addition to the humorous jabs and the more serious discussions about gender representation, the question of the effect of high heels on the body also resurfaced. With particularly good timing, new research from Hanseo University in Korea now sheds light on what exactly happens to the human ankle with prolonged high heel wear.
Image Source: paolomartinezphotography
Researchers followed 40 healthy, college-aged women going through four years of school to become airline attendants. The women were required to wear three to four inch heels to their classes at least three times a week, and thus made good candidates to study the effects of consistent high heel wear over a long period of time. Researchers periodically measured ankle strength using isokinetic testing, which helps to isolate certain muscles in the ankle at a time. Results showed that prolonged high heel wear negatively affected four important ankle muscles: plantarflexor, dorsiflexor, invertor and evertor. The motions controlled by these muscles can be seen in the images below.
Interestingly, muscle strength actually increased over the first one to three years of high heel use before deteriorating significantly in the fourth year students. Researchers suggest that while high heel use builds strength in certain ankle muscles at first, prolonged high heel wear can create a muscular imbalance that can lead to severe injury. As a result of this imbalance, other muscles in the ankle weakened severely, and the subjects’ dynamic balance significantly worsened over time.
The takeaway from this research is that high heel use can weaken ankle muscles and negatively affect a person’s balance. Many high heel wearers may not realize these facts until it is too late, so the researchers stress the need for ankle strengthening exercises, especially for those who need to wear heels more often, and recommend limiting high heel use in general to prevent prolonged damage to the body. If I may add one more piece of advice: when the possibility exists that you may need to run from dinosaurs, remember to pack your tennis shoes.
Feature Image Source: Heels by Hernán Piñera
