This is why some women can’t wear heels
Turns out some women are just born to wear heels! [Photo: Getty]
When it comes to shoes women tend to fall into two distinct camps. Heel lovers and heel haters. More often than not those who fall into the hater camp do so because even the mere whiff of a kitten heel is enough to bring on a blister.
While flat-phobes seem to have the enviable ability to stride about in stilettos like its no big deal and will always reach for the heels no matter how hurty their feet.
We’d previously put this little fashion divide down to being one of life’s little annoyances, but according to the experts, some women drew the long straw when it comes to shoe donning and are simply built for wearing sky-high stilettos. Others, however, will be reaching for the plasters no matter the heel style or type.
But, fear not, because consultant podiatrist Emma Supple claims to have discovered a formula designed to find out whether your shoes will cause you pain before you even put them on. Amazing!
It’s all to do with the shape of your foot you see. Emma believes that how ouchy your shoes are has nothing to do with the style of your heels and everything to do with the feet that are wearing them.
Are you a flats or heels kinda gal? [Photo: Getty]
She calls her shoe maths Perfect Heel Height (PHH) and uses it in her London practice to help women suffering pain due to wearing the wrong shoes.
And if statistics are anything to go by, there are lots of us making poor footwear choices. According to the College of Podiatry, sore feet cause the average woman 23 days of pain every year. That’s an hour-and-a-half a day! While a further survey found that one in 10 people would happily take a pay cut or pay to be able to wear trainers at work, and 41% of women have cut short a night out as their feet were hurting so much. But aside from cutting short a night on the mojitos, the wrong footwear can have more serious consequences in terms of sore muscles, corns and blisters, as well as long-term problems such as knee and back pain.
Speaking to Mail Online about finding your optimum heel height, Emma explained that all you need is a chair, pencil, tape measure and a willing friend.
Step 1. ‘Take off your shoes, sit down and hold one leg straight out in front of you, relaxing your foot,’ says Emma. “If your foot sits naturally at a right angle to your outstretched leg and does not dangle, then you have less mobility in the talus and will be more comfortable in flat shoes than in high heels. If the top of your foot falls forwards, in a straightish line following your leg, you are a natural heel wearer.”
Step 2. “To find your optimum heel height, get a friend or partner to help stretch the tape measure from your heel in a straight line parallel to the floor, then place a pencil at the ball of your foot at right angles to the tape.”
Step 3. “Reading the tape measure where it hits the pencil will give you your ideal heel height.”
A foot expert claims to have invented a formula to find the perfect heel height [Photo: Getty]
But even if the test suggests you’re a natural heel wearer and that four or five inches is your ‘perfect’ height, Emma believes there should be a maximum height for heels and wouldn’t recommend more than three inches for day-to-day wear.
So whether the test comes back that you were literally born to wear those Louboutins or you have to live with the crushing realisation that love them as you do, heels just aren’t for you, at least you’ll know that blister’s not your fault. Blame your feet, science says it’s down to them.
Do you prefer flats or heels? Let us know @YahooStyleUK
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