Agony Of DeFeet, From High Heels

High heels make women look good, but at what price?

The Early Show kicks off a three-part series on foot care with a look at the problems high heels can cause not only in women's feet, but in other parts of their bodies.

Medical correspondent Dr. Emily Senay concedes, "We know women are not going to stop wearing high heels. That's not going to happen."

Co-anchor Rene Syler, a big fan of high heels, agreed. Though Syler has had many foot problems, she continues to wear high-heeled shoes.

But, says Senay, "The foot is perfectly designed to carry the weight of the body evenly, between the forefoot and the heel. The minute you start to raise the heel, you're shifting all that weight and pressure to the forefoot and that's not good. …Some studies have shown they can increase the pressure on the forefoot up to six-fold. …That's where problems begin. Not where they end, but that's where they begin."

For starters, Senay points out, women who wear high heels, which are generally defined as those higher than two inches, have more trips, falls, strains and sprains.

And, "That's before you even get to the longer-term problems," Senay notes.

"Women are much more likely to have bunion surgery than are men. Eighty to ninety percent of the bunion surgery in this country is done on women. That's no surprise: Women wear high heels. People who have a genetic propensity to bunions and hammer toes, obviously, high heels can bring that out."A shortened achilles tendon is another problem. What happens then is, when you start to go down to flats again, it can be painful, it can be tight. Women have to sort of learn to walk in these shoes, so they totally reconfigure their whole body. And that's just the foot."

A big concern, Senay explains, is that high heels can increase the risk of osteoarthritis of the knee: "There are some studies that suggest it can, others that it's not as associated as we once thought. Probably being overweight is a bigger problem for osteoarthritis of the knee.

"But it shifts the mechanics of the body. So back pain, neck pain, not just knee pain," can result from wearing high heels a lot.

"So, it goes all the way up the body as you totally re-shift your posture, which you have to do to wear high heels."

The solution? "Some people say high heels should be like desert: You wear them only once in a while. You can pad them. Try to go for something that's less than two inches if you can."

Things can get even worse when you combine high heels with narrow shoes, Senay observed.

The added pressure on the front of the foot from a high heel in combination with a narrow, constricted toe area can also be problematic. The narrower the foot and the more compressed the foot and toes are, the more likely any existing physical abnormalities or underlying problems are exacerbated and cause pain or physical deformities.

Compressing the foot can result in the development of bunions. A painful compressed nerve called a neuroma can develop. If the toes are restricted inside the shoe and the cannot move naturally while walking, the result can be fatigue, bruising and pain. Over time, toe restriction can contribute other physical problems like calluses or hammer toe.