Shoes are an essential necessity for people. It not only enhances one’s dressing taste, but also has a close relationship with our health. From the comfort and simplicity of flat shoes to the allure and fashion of high heels, the shoe industry is constantly changing the height of the heel. The latest research shows that negative heel shoes are better for human health. The relationship between people and shoes is similar to the relationship between a building and its foundation. No building takes the design of its foundation lightly, and the Architectural Association has a special section on foundations to conduct in-depth research. But for the design of shoes, it has never been so rigorous. The traditional concept of backwardness and prejudice has severely restricted the development of shoe research, and has caused more health problems. Clinical data show that “in addition to congenital deformities, many foot disorders are acquired foot diseases. It is projected that approximately 1/4 of the world’s population suffers from varying degrees of podiatric disease.” The medical community has confirmed that most foot diseases are directly related to shoes. And a lot of information confirms: barefoot is more conducive to the health of the foot. In other words, from the perspective of foot health to examine, shoes are harmful and unhelpful. Since no real cause or countermeasure has been found for a long time, we have to call it “civilizational disease” helplessly. This for the highly developed modern science, is undoubtedly a great irony. A love-hate relationship with high heels High heels are the love of fashionable women, it is like a work of art generally gorgeous and beautiful. But the initial feeling of wearing it, must be trembling, like walking on thin ice, like the song: “high heels on bumpy feet”. Along with the torture-like pain, various pathologies come along with it. On the issue of shoes and health, the damage of high heels on health is the most typical and prominent, it is mainly manifested in the following aspects. 1, forefoot diseases. Common forefoot diseases such as bunions and toe neuromas are generally related to excessive force. High-heeled shoes make the body’s center of gravity shift forward, the force on the palm of the foot increased exponentially, which inevitably causes disorders in the long run. Once these two diseases are formed, the ability to walk will be greatly affected, and even the normal wearing of shoes is very difficult. In addition to surgery, there is no better solution. 2.Flat foot syndrome. It 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 tension is too high for a long time, the metatarsal tendon membrane will relax and the arch will be lowered, which will cause flat feet in serious cases. The relationship between the heel height and the tension on the metatarsal tendons can be clearly reflected in the construction of the shoe sole. Many shoes have a steel plate in the center of the foot (equivalent to the position of the metatarsal tendon membrane), called the “hook center”. It is used to strengthen the sole of the shoe. The higher the heel, the higher the requirements for the strength of the steel hook heart, otherwise the sole will be easily pulled off, while shoes without a heel do not need to use a hook heart. The greater the height of the heel, the more the sole needs to be reinforced with steel hooks, and the human metatarsal tendon membrane cannot be reinforced, isn’t this terrible? 3, ankle injury. Ankle injury is commonly known as “broken foot”, wearing high heels broken foot is already a common thing. Normal people in walking and sports, the ankle is easy to produce inward turning force, the outer side of the shoe is always the first to wear is the reason. People themselves are constantly adjusting this turning force to maintain balance, but after wearing high heels, the ability to adjust is reduced, which can easily cause broken feet. And the higher the heel, the greater the potential energy of inward turning, and the more serious the injury. 4, low back pain and cervical spondylosis. The main cause of lumbago and cervical spondylosis is excessive curvature of the spine, because the spine is connected by a number of vertebrae, 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 forward, inevitably causing the pelvis to tilt forward, increased spinal curvature, the concentration of force on the lumbar and cervical vertebrae, easy to form damage, the accumulation of such damage will eventually lead to lumbago and cervical spondylosis. Second, the specious but not in the heels For a long time, the heels have been considered the most conducive to health, and there is no adverse effect, and high heels become distinct poles. In the shoe industry, it is held as the golden rule, designers try to make their products conform to the mid-heel standard as much as possible, in order to sell. Consumers also tend to choose mid-heeled shoes for health reasons. Those women who are discouraged by high heels are even more attracted to mid-heeled shoes that can also sway. In this way, mid-heeled shoes have naturally become the mainstream of footwear products. But this theory is sometimes puzzling, mid-heeled shoes and high-heeled shoes are in the back end of the shoe with a heel, although the height is different, but it is difficult to draw an absolute line. For example, the 3.5 cm high heel, some people think it is a high heel, some people think it is a medium heel, and then there is a “medium high heel” transitional title. Since there is no absolute boundary, how can there be diametrically opposed roles? High-heeled shoes are the enemy of health with no benefits, just a little shorter in the heel is the perfect health angel? If you look at it with a skeptical eye, there are even more questions. The core of the health theory of mid-heeled shoes is that it makes the force on the bottom of the foot become even. The explanation seems simple: high heels make the force on the palm of the foot greater than the heel, which is naturally not good for health; and flat shoes, where the weight of the heel is greater than the palm of the foot, are also inappropriate. Only mid-heeled shoes can make the force on the foot become even, so the best. In fact, just look at the anatomy of the foot can be learned, the structure of the foot is clearly uneven, the heel bone is thick and solid, strong muscles and ligaments; while the bones, muscles and ligaments of the forefoot are much weaker. From the perspective of human mechanics, the heel bone bones are similar to the longitudinal superposition, structural stability and smooth gravity transfer; while the bones of the forefoot are almost transversely arranged, the weight must be maintained by the strength of the muscles and ligaments, is an elastic structure, easy to deform, not suitable for weight bearing. In short, no matter what angle of analysis, the front foot weight-bearing capacity is far inferior to the rear foot, so that the front and rear foot to bear the same pressure does not make sense – uniform does not equal reasonable. It will definitely damage the tender parts, which is also the reason why foot problems are more common in the forefoot. After the issue of mid-heeled shoes was clarified, the knot of foot disease, which has risen sharply and is now known as the “disease of civilization”, was also untied. Although the damage of mid-heeled shoes is not as significant as that of high-heeled shoes, but the accumulation of time will eventually lead to disease. What’s more worrying is that this effect is still intensifying. In recent years, sports shoe manufacturers have launched new mid-heeled sports shoes, under the compulsion of the theory of mid-heeled health, more and more people have switched to using mid-heeled shoes for physical exercise, which is very dangerous. Hopefully, this issue is raised and clarified to trigger some rational thinking. Mid-heeled shoes and high-heeled shoes are collectively known as heeled shoes. There is no essential difference between the two relative to the role of the human body! Since the higher the heel, the more harmful it is, is a flat shoe without a heel or barefoot completely harmless? A lot of medical practice shows that barefoot is better for foot health than wearing shoes, but the skin is easily damaged. Flat shoes can obviously make up for this deficiency, and also maintain the mechanics of barefoot, which is the most natural and natural state for humans, in line with the mechanical structure of the human body and the laws of motion. However, in recent years, many articles have been difficult for flat shoes, that wearing flat shoes heel burden is too heavy, easy to cause damage to the heel, and the poor shock absorption function of flat shoes will affect the health of the spine and brain. As with the health theory of mid-heeled shoes, this is also not based on science. In fact, when standing barefoot and wearing flat shoes, although the force on the heel is greater than the palm of the foot, but in line with the mechanics of the foot structure, and will not damage the heel. The previous has been analyzed theoretically, and now look at the actual situation. Foot injury caused by excessive exercise is clinically known as “marching fracture”, also called “marching foot”. It is named because it occurs mostly in soldiers on foot. It is most commonly seen in runners, walkers and gymnasts, as well as textile workers and porters. Its main damage is to the metatarsals of the forefoot (especially the second and third metatarsals) and the surrounding soft tissues. This is also practical evidence that the heel has a much greater weight-bearing capacity than the ball of the foot, because it is always the forefoot that is damaged first. If you wear shoes with a heel, forefoot damage will undoubtedly occur earlier and be more severe. The heel is much stronger than we think. It is mostly damaged due to accidental injuries or accidents such as falls from heights, and can be accompanied by multiple fractures of the spine pelvis, etc. It is not a sports injury. People who often wear shoes with heel, occasionally wear flat shoes may produce heel pain, more obvious in patients who are bedridden for a long time, which is the result of long-term lack of weight-bearing heel and atrophy of the plantar fat pad, which will disappear quickly after adaptation. Then look at the disadvantages about shock absorption. Authoritative research findings have confirmed that the formation of vibration due to human movement is not harmful but beneficial to health. When we engage in strenuous exercise and heavy physical labor, the vibration is certainly much greater than in daily life, and what we wear are not flat shoes? If wearing flat shoes can really damage the spine and brain, then how could early humans who walked barefoot survive? So, is there a shoe that is mechanically beneficial to human health? Based on the previous analysis, we will naturally think of shoes with a high front and a low back, and we will call such shoes negative heel shoes for the time being. In fact, the negative heel shoes have long been not conceived, appear in the market for a few years, but has been silent. There are more varieties and manufacturers of negative heel shoes, the following three are more representative: the United States of America’s ground ball shoes, Hong Kong’s slimming shoes and Beijing’s body training shoes. The function of these three shoes is basically the same – to correct the body’s posture, so that the spine can be upright. Form training shoes also have medical significance. We all know that the root cause of back pain and cervical spondylosis is the excessive curvature of the spine, correction is the most fundamental treatment method, and the beauty training for healthy people is treatment for patients with back pain and cervical spondylosis. The rehabilitative effect of form training shoes can also be explained in layman’s terms by “walking backwards”. Surgeons usually recommend patients to do “backward walking” (backward walking) exercise, which has proven to be effective. Like the principle of physical training, backward walking serves to shift the person’s weight back to the heel. But backwards walking by the road conditions and many other constraints, and prone to the risk of falling. It is due to the existence of these hidden dangers, backwards walking exercise is difficult to sustain, and the effect is naturally limited. Form training shoes solve this problem by limiting the body’s center of gravity to the heel for a long time, so that even when walking forward also has the rehabilitation effect of walking backwards. This latest method of back pain rehabilitation is known in the medical community as “back pain foot therapy”. Some people may be concerned about walking backwards or wearing negative heel shoes on the heel health damage, in fact, this concern is unnecessary. Ballet dancers, for example, although the ballet action, but the foot position only five, known as the five positions, each foot position requires the feet completely outward (that is, horizontal) open. At this point, almost all the weight of the whole body falls on the heels, more than wearing negative heels under greater stress, while also carrying out strenuous exercise. Even so, the ballerina’s heel is not damaged as a result. In the centuries-old history of ballet, there are no records of heel damage either. Therefore, this concern is unnecessary, as the center of gravity of the physique is in the heel.