Womens' feet ruined by heels
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With all the hysteria surrounding womens' reproductive health, little emphasis has been placed on other issues, such as feet.
Many women unknowingly abuse their feet and subject them to serious health risks because of fashions and the lack of research concerning female footwear.
The human foot has 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments and 19 muscles. The number of bones in the feet account for 25 percent of all bones in the human body. There are 250,000 sweat glands on a pair of feet that can excrete on average a halt pint of moisture daily.
Without proper care of feet and constant maintenance of foot health, serious medical conditions can arise, ranging from debilitating injuries to fungal infections. Foot health is especially an issue with women, because many women wear heels.
High heels have been in and out of fashions worldwide since the 1500s, when heels were popularized. A lot of factors triggered growing use of heeled shoes.
In 1500, heels were functional, not fashionable, because the heel of a shoe kept a horse rider's foot in the stirrup. As a result, heels soon became fashionable for men.
By 1533, shorter statured people began to use heels as a way to add on extra inches.
Historical rumors have it that Leonardo Da Vinci developed the woman's high heel. As history passed, high heels became a fashion staple and less of a useful necessity. Eventually, men ceased to wear heels, and women adopted the fashion. Today, women still wear heels to work, to social events and on a daily basis.
One of the main concerns today is that high heels are painful and sometimes disabling. Many are not practical, only designed for a fashion statement.
Today many women are seen wearing heels for positive psychological reasons. Sophomore Anna Maletta chooses to wear heels on dressier occasions because she feels that it adds something to her outfit. "Heels make your legs look longer, and to be honest, I'm not a very tall person," she said. "Adding those extra three inches to you gives you a sort of confidence boost."
On a medical level, walking in heels shortens the calf muscle. This leads to many problems, one of the most serious is Achilles Tendonitis. The Achilles tendon is located in the heel and it is attached to the gastrocnemius and soleus calf muscles.
When it is tightened along with both calf muscles, it tends to get inflamed and extremely painful. Heels also result in an unnatural, minced gait as well as lower back problems.
Current fashions also make a narrow toe space, cramping the toes and often resulting in painful blisters and in more serious situations, bone problems such as bunions.
Two of the most common problems are "pump bump" or Haglund's deformity, which is a bone enlargement and protrusion at the back of the heel bone, where the Achilles tendon meets the heel bone. This is caused by the friction of the back of a high heel shoe with the heel, resulting in the calcium deposits in the area.
Another problem experienced by women is known as Metatarsalgia, which is general pain and cramping in the ball of the foot.
Freshman Amanda Friant admits that heels are painful. "I wear heels often but after an entire day on some heels, I get cramps down my leg, and my feet are in pain," she said.
Yet it is not only high heels that are a concern for women's foot health.
According to researcher Peter Cavanagh of Penn State University, atheletic shoes -- although better suited to a woman's foot and comfort -- can create problems if not designed correctly. "Most shoemakers base women's shoes on a last, the form which the shoe is made, that is a scaled down version of a man's last," he said.
However true that women's feet are smaller than men's, anatomically there are still fine differences between genders.
Cavanagh observes that "women have thicker ankles and calves, higher arches and narrower heels" than men do. Women's ankles are also closer to the ground. Toe sizes also are greater for men, making the front part of the foot wider than that of a woman.
Even with a same standard foot size as a man, a woman's calf circumference is larger, which many shoe companies do not take into account.
Along with sizing problems, women's footwear in general also needs to be cognizant of the types of material used in making shoes. Some forms of vinyl and Lucite can cut and create painful blisters. Many others can aggravate fungal infections or allergic reactions.
Aging is also a huge factor in foot health. Cardiovascular disease, diabetes and as pregnancy alter the foot size. Usually, extreme swelling and water retention in feet make circulation risky, which needs to be observed closely.