About beauty, about shoes, about pain, in medicine, the story ends like this: in recent years, bunions, bunions, corns, calluses and other diseases caused by long-term wearing of high heels are becoming more and more common.
Bunions
Bunions are a common deformity caused by wearing high heels. A bunion deformity is a deviation of the bunion to the lateral side at the first metatarsophalangeal joint. A bunion is a complex anatomical deformity. Bunions are the most common lesion involving the bunion and occur most often in people with a genetic predisposition combined with prolonged wear of ill-fitting shoes, which can exert abnormal pressure on the bunion
There is an important relationship between the occurrence of bunions and the prolonged wearing of unsuitable high heels. The prevalence of bunion deformity is 15 times higher in people who wear high heels than in people who do not wear high heels. Shoes that tightly bind the forefoot appear to be the primary causative factor for bunion deformity. High-heeled shoes are generally triangular in the front, high heeled standing, gravity drives the front of the foot into this narrow space, the upper is mostly made of leather, no flexibility, the bunion is forced to turn outward and rotate outward, the little toe is turned inward, the middle three toes overly dorsal extension, the higher the heel, the more obvious this effect, resulting in the normal force point of the bunion displacement, the formation of bunion deformity, this deformity is often accompanied by bunion bursitis, front This deformity is often accompanied by bunion bursitis, anterior arch collapse, etc.
Genetics is another important factor in the development of bunions, especially in adolescent patients; a positive family history of bunions has been reported in many studies. Inversion of the first metatarsal, in which the first metatarsal is turned inward at an angle at the metatarsocuneiform joint, may also be a predisposing factor for the development of bunions, with a high incidence especially in adolescent bunion patients.
Bunions manifest primarily as an outward deformity of the bunion at the first metatarsophalangeal joint, with or without pain, and the degree of bunion deformity is not proportional to pain. The main cause of pain is acute bunions caused by pressure and friction after the medial bulge of the bunion metatarsal head. Long-term abnormality of the bunion joint, the occurrence of osteoarthritis causing pain and the callus under the 2nd to 3rd metatarsal head causing pain. Patients with severe bunion may develop deviation and riding across the other toes. After the deformity is formed, it is difficult to correct on its own, local pain gradually increases and walking is difficult. This deformity can only be corrected by surgery, but the purpose of surgery is mainly to relieve the patient’s pain, not just to correct the deformity.
The bunion can be classified according to the severity.
1.Mild bunion
The bunion angle is less than 30° and the intermetatarsal angle is less than 13°. The joints are often matched and the deformity may be caused by an interphalangeal bunion.
2.Moderate bunion
The bunion angle is 30° to 40° and the intermetatarsal phalangeal angle is 13° to 20°. The metatarsophalangeal joint is often mismatched (subluxation), and the bunion rotates forward and often causes pressure on the second toe.
3.Severe bunion
The bunion angle is greater than 40° and the intermetatarsal angle is 20° or greater. The bunion is rotated anteriorly and often overlaps the second toe, and the metatarsophalangeal joint does not match. There is often metastatic pain under the second metatarsal head and there may be arthritic changes.
Common hazards of high heels
The main cause of low back pain and the development of cervical spondylosis is excessive curvature of the spine. Because the spine is made up of multiple vertebrae connected, the contact surface of two vertebrae is nearly flat. When the posture is upright, the vertebrae are in contact with each other, the force is dispersed and not easily damaged; while the spine is bent, the contact surface between the vertebrae becomes smaller, the force tends to be concentrated, even concentrated to a point, the pressure increases rapidly, so it is easy to damage the vertebrae. High-heeled shoes make people’s center of gravity shift excessively, which inevitably causes the pelvis to tilt forward, the spine to bend and increase the concentration of forces on the lumbar and cervical vertebrae, which can easily cause injury, and the accumulation of this injury will eventually lead to lumbago and cervical spondylosis.
Wearing high heels and walking barefoot when the hip, knee and ankle joint stress is completely different, often wear high heels will significantly change the normal function of the ankle joint, walking the human body must be compensated by the hip and knee joint to maintain a stable gait. The prolonged tension and pressure can lead to degenerative changes in the patellofemoral joint cavity, thus inducing knee osteoarthritis.
In normal people, the ankle is prone to inward turning forces during walking and sports, and the outer side of the shoe is always the first to wear out for this reason. People themselves are constantly adjusting this turning force to maintain balance, but after wearing high heels, the ability to adjust will be weakened, easily causing “broken feet”. And the higher the heel, the greater the potential energy of inward turning, and the more serious the injury.
The main reason for flat feet is the relaxation of the metatarsal tendon membrane, which is located on the bottom of the foot and maintains the stability of the arch like a bowstring. The higher the heel, the longer the back arm of the arch, and the greater the tension (tension) on the metatarsal tendon membrane. If the long-term tension is too large, the metatarsal tendon membrane relaxation, the arch will be reduced, serious will cause flat feet.
If the toe of the shoe is too pointed and squeezes the thumb, it will cause a bunion. The bunions that are turned out will have a spike-like painful sensation when they become inflamed because they have been compressed by the friction of the shoe.
An overly pointed toe can squeeze the foot and can worsen the bunion problem. A bunion is a swelling and inflammation in the joint of the thumb. Bunions can also occur in other toes. Doctors do not believe that squeezing, pointy toe heels can cause bunions, but high heels do worsen bunions.
When the toes are forced to squeeze against the front of the shoe, it can put the toes in an unnatural shape, leading to deformed foot problems as the joint in the middle of the toe is constantly bent by the toe. Mallet toe can lead to toe pain.
The pressure on the forefoot caused by high heels can lead to stress fractures.
Thick hard skin grows where the shoe and foot are constantly rubbing together. When you put on high heels and your foot slides up in front and squeezes inside that narrow shoe, this creates a whole new pressure point on the foot and creates friction.
In addition to changing the distribution of gravity throughout the body, high heels cause more weight to move toward the metatarsals. This can cause pressure and pain in the forefoot.