Wearing high heels is one of the most favorite accessories used by ladies all over the world, necessary not only for a beautiful look but a requirement in some of the professional environments as well. Wearing high heels can be traced back to the wedding Catherine de’ Medici with the Duke of Orleans in 1533.

However ladies, beware. Your desire to look taller, prettier and stylish may lead to major health problems like corns and calluses to hammertoes, osteoarthritis (Twice as common in women as in men), chronic knee pain, sprained ankles and back problems. Top of all, high heels can be linked to the most painful problem of arthritis in women which may in turn lead to problems like limited mobility also increasing the risk for cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes and the result finally is anxiety and depression. According to researchers walking in a 2 inch high heel increases the strain on the knee up to 23 % while a 3inch heel creates seven times more stress than a 1 inch heel thus making it most vulnerable to arthritis. But do not get duped by the assumption that only narrow high heels or stilettos are to be responsible for it. The apparently safe and comfortable block heel leads to these problems as much as the high heels by placing pressure on the heel. Wearing high hells put a pressure on the body from tip to toe not only misbalancing the knee but the hips and in turn the spinal cord as well. As such almost 80% of female population in the world suffers from back ache, arthritis and joints problem as compared to men. However the risk cannot be eliminated for men either.

Being fashionable at the cost of bearing pain and worst of all going through a foot surgery may be the most impractical and costly way of looking good. Fashion designers should teach the world to value the human body, not fashion as the former itself is the greatest work of art.