Are High Heels Sexy?

Its common knowledge that high heels shorten calf muscles. When the heal is elevated the calf is put into a shortened state and over time will naturally adopt this position. Without getting to technical I will explain the effects this can have on the body. Our bodies operate in a chain of systems that work together called the kinetic chain. The four main points are the ankles, knees, hips and thoracic spine (upper back). Put simply if any of these areas are not moving how they should it will have an effect throughout the entire chain as they try and correct the problem.

If a calf muscle is shorted your ankle may internally or externally rotate. This will put strain on the knee as it tries to correct the imbalance. The supporting muscles of the knee in the upper leg will consequently rearrange themselves leading to a muscle imbalance. Moving up the chain the hips then realise there is a misalignment below and will, in the case of a shortened calf tilt arterially, that is your bum will appear to stick out and there will be an excessive curvature in your lower back. This in turn puts undue pressure on the thoracic spine leading to stress and pain through the shoulders and neck. Please note this is a general diagnosis and may vary from client to client.

The bad news is in extreme cases you will need to stay out of your beloved heals as much as possible until the relevant imbalances have been corrected. The good news is, is that this can be corrected reasonably quickly (depending on the client) and you can get back into your heals as long as appropriate functional movement is continued.