Heels may lead to joint degeneration and knee osteoarthritis

While women have been making a fashion statement in high heels for years – wearing trendy stilettos, wedges, pumps and kitten heels – there’s now reason for concern about what those heels may be doing to their knees and joints over time.

A new study by an Iowa State University kinesiology master’s student has found that prolonged wearing of and walking in high heels can contribute to joint degeneration and knee osteoarthritis.

Danielle Barkema recently completed her thesis research studying the effects of high-heeled walking on forces acting on lower extremity joints.

Kinesiology Professor and department chair, Phil Martin, assisted her in the study, which was presented, in part, at the annual meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics (ASB), 18-21 August, at Brown University in Providence.

“Obviously with research like this, you can’t say with any certainty that if you wear high heels regularly you will develop osteoarthritis. We don’t know that,” Ms Barkema said.

“There are probably people [high heel wearers] who do and those who do not. However, based on this information, wearing high heels puts individuals at greater risk for developing osteoarthritis. And it seems to be that the higher the heel height, the greater the risk.”

“I tell my friends to try to wear high heels in moderation and, if possible, to wear lower heels,” she said.