There are many bad hacks for high heels put forward on the internet as 'helpful advice' from bloggers for desperate high heel shoe wearers.who want pain relief. Three common bad hacks are splinting of toes, wearing thick socks inside high heels, and stretching too tight high heels by freezing water inside them. Believing and carrying out the bad hack of taping toes or wearing thick socks to stretch shoe may permanently damage your feet to that you can't wear any shoes at all - flats or high heels - without pain. For the bad hack of freezing water in tight shoes to make them fit well - the harm is in believing that too tight high heel shoes can be made to fit properly and continue to buy too tight high heels !
When a customer wrote in an Amazon review that the ball of foot inserts I sold were "like magic" I was inspired to write a scientific explanation about the impact on foot comfort from using rebounding PORON foam shoe inserts. I answer the question of how do the inserts work? How can tiny 2.5" x 1/4 " pieces of foam hold back the full weight of a grown woman when her feet are on steep slanted ramps, AKA high heel shoes? And in addition to holding back the feet from sliding forwards the shoe inserts cushion the foot, make walking with a natural gait in heels possible, make legs less tired, keep slides on feet and stabilize high heels so they don't wobble!
Can slides be your perfect alternative to wear instead of high heels with holiday dresses? Pretty party slides seem like the perfect solution to wear for the holidays, esp if you can't wear heels or have high heel pain. They look so comfortable! But their dainty, pretty looks can be deceiving. It will not be the heel height that will cause trouble - it's their instability. Slides are shoes you can slide into and also slide out of backwards or slide off at the sides - even when you didn't intend to.
Even the most experienced high heel wearers - women who wear the most stylish coveted brands of heels fitted exclusively for them - can have problems with their shoes. Superstar Mariah Carey on an evening outing in Los Angeles can be seen with her feet slipping out of her high heel sandals. High heel wearers' everywhere can empathize with her. Problems with walking naturally in heels, feet slipping forwards and pain in various parts of the feet are common issues with high heel shoes. If you have these problems they will spoil the way you and your outfits look - nobody looks good hobbling in heels or grimacing in pain or with their toes hanging out - but worse is that improperly fitted high heels can cause injuries from falls or lead to chronic foot pain. There are rational steps you can take, and precautions you should follow, to make your high heel heels comfortable to walk in and your feet pain free and protected from injury.
Five tips for perfect fitting, no pain, high heels:
1. Buy shoes that fit. Buy high heels by matching the LENGTH of your foot in inches with a size chart, and then try on only those shoes and larger ones.
2. Outfit your high heels with contoured foam high heel inserts.
3. Try out your high heels for at least ten minutes of walking about in the shoe store to make sure you can walk easily in them.
4. If you are buying spike heeled shoes make sure the heel end of the shoe does not wobble about when you walk and the shoes feel balanced.
5. Avoid buying high heel shoes with heels over 3.5” unless you intend to mostly sit while wearing them, and you will not be walking or standing for longer than 20 minutes without a rest period.
