This time of year is filled with holiday cheer. Everyone is dressing up for holiday parties week after week for the next month. Women especially are shopping for their cocktail dresses and stilettos. Stilettos can make your feet hurt like heck for a reason. One inch heels can increase the pressure on your feet by 22 percent. Two inches can add up to 57 percent, and three inches can add a whopping 76 percent. That pressure means toes are crammed into a tight area, and long term results can lead to very painful bunions or hammertoes. Of course, heels look better than flats but are they worth the pain? What about that night after wearing the high heels when your calf muscles tighten up and cause “charlie horses” in bed. Or when you step out of bed the next morning and your feet still feel like you are wearing those darn heels. Why do we go through the grueling pain? It’s FASHION! Comfort before pain, right? Some women are lucky and they are used to wearing heels everyday and have no problem wearing heels for 8 hours or more. But most of us do not have that luxury. All of my patients at Affiliated Foot and Ankle Center are suffering from a foot/ankle injury but they would like to put on a dressier shoe during the holidays. Depending on your injury, usually heels will exacerbate the problem.
Just follow these tips: Try not to stand or walk around in heels for more than one hour straight. If you do wear a high heel, ice your feet for ten minutes when you get home from your big night out. Remember that feet can still grow and spread throughout adulthood (especially after pregnancy) and tend to be at their most swollen at the end of the day, so do your shoe shopping in the afternoon. Have your feet measured every year to make sure you are buying the right size. For extra heel and arch support, slip orthotics (orthopedic inserts) into your flats. If you have orthotics for your sneakers, you can also get them for your dress shoes. At our offices in Howell, Edison Carteret and Monroe, our doctors custom mold your feet and can make dress orthotics when requested. And remember every pound you gain means an extra three pounds of pressure on your ankle. Yet another reason to turn away from those creamy candy cane martinis. To keep your feet limber, perform stretches such as writing the alphabet with your foot, massage your arches buy rolling your foot on a frozen water bottle for 5 minutes a day, and stretch your calf muscles by dropping your heels down off of a curb or step and holding that stretch for 30 seconds. One more thing….Enjoy your night and be safe! Have a WONDERFUL HOLIDAY!
Smoking and foot care are a dangerous combination; especially, if you have poor circulation, 
