High heel shoes make us feel tall and sexy. They take us one step closer to our ideal image. I mean, Barbie wears them, Disney princesses wear them, Hollywood stars wear them…. Why not us, right?

Unfortunately, unlike Barbie and Disney princesses yet very much like Hollywood stars, we’re humans. We’ve got a body that’s built a certain way and is liable to injuries, a body that isn’t replaceable in a trip to the store.

Even more unfortunately, high heels cause severe damages to quite a few of our body parts. Some of these damages may be permanent and cause us to live the rest of our lives in pain, especially when we excessively use these pretty shoes.

It doesn’t take decades to hurt our bodies forever. Girls as 16 years young and women with as little experience as 6 months of regular high heel walking can already cause enough damage to themselves, they might need surgeries to try and regain proper leg and back use.

Following are some of the risks you take every time you’re willing to wear out your body by wearing high heels.

Your Leg Structure and Your Ability to Walk Could Change

26 small bones and 33 joints make up our feet, which hold our entire body weight. When we choose high heels, we put all of our weight on our feet’s ball bones, which could lead to an inflammation in these very bones.

When our muscles get used to walking this way, the way we walk changes. It becomes more stressed and forceful. As a result, the muscles become shorter and the feet work harder to take each step than they did before, even if we suddenly change to flat shoes. Tissue in the knee and thigh can also become shorter.

Since they work extra hard while wearing high heels, our feet become more vulnerable to injuries, including sprains and fractures. A limp could be developed.

In addition, feet structure can change so much to fit high heel shoes, that it becomes physically hard for a woman to walk in flat shoes or barefoot.

From Back Problems to Migraines

Wearing high heels causes the body to slowly lean forward, as our entire weight hangs on the front end of our feet. That changes our posture and causes pressure to our lower back.

Gradually, the pressure expands upwards. It hurts our upper back and even our neck, which leads to disc herniations and migraines, among others.

Nerve systems across the body may be damaged, which could bring on additional physical challenges.

Heels Might Be Here to Stay

Despite the ominous, well researched knowledge, foot and ankle experts are pessimistic about the possibility of convincing their patients – and women in general – to stop using high heels. They believe that, bodily damage or no bodily damage, fashion will win.

This can’t come as a surprise to anyone who takes part in western culture, where images of “correct” womanhood are obsessively sent our way from the moment we are born.

In a world where it’s acceptable to starve yourself, peel off your skin and put yourself under the knife when you’re perfectly healthy just to meet the latest mythical standards of beauty, in a world where a very small portion of the population is considered more admirable, desirable and worthy just because they look a certain way, heels will likely prevail.

Therefore, it becomes a question of moderation. Heels can be fun and can make us feel special. Most of us make choices in our everyday life that might not be the ideal choices for our health, like drinking a really tasty cup of coffee in the morning.

Chances are, if you wear high heels only now and then – say on special occasions that don’t require much walking – you’ll cause very little, if any, damage to yourself.

However, if you’re a high heels only kind of gal, there are ways to minimize the risk. For example, wear as short and as thick heels as possible. Then cut down the number of times or hours you wear high heels throughout the week by walking to work with comfortable shoes, by taking your high heel shoes off while working at your desk and by mixing up the types of shoes you wear. Your body and your future are worth it.

What’s your take on high heels? Leave a comment and share your opinion with us.