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Are you a religious heel-wearer? Maybe you’ve been wearing heels for so long that you feel more comfortable in them, or you just like how they look and the confidence they give you.
Once you read what happens when you stop wearing them, you may reconsider.
- Your back pain will go away—even if you didn’t even know you had it. Heels misalign your back. They tilt your pelvis and butt so that your butt sticks out and your spine curves. Some women who wear heels regularly experience spondylolisthesis, which is when one vertebra slips over the other. Ouch! Wearing flats means you’re not putting any stress on your lower back anymore, and eases any pain the heels may have caused.
- Your runner’s knee will go away. You thought it was runner’s knee, but surprise! It was your heels all along. The weight shift that your heels cause means that you’re putting extra strain on the tendons in your knees. Stop wearing them? You can start running again.
- Your balance will improve. If you’re a regular heel-wearer, your balance can deteriorate even when you’re wearing flats. Wearing flats strengthens your ankle muscles and makes it harder for people to tip you over.
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- Your actual heels might hurt. Wearing heels over an extended period of time will shorten your Achilles’ tendons. When you start wearing flats, these tendons have to streeetcchhh all the way back out again to a 90-degree angle, and for a while that can hurt. Don’t worry, the pain won’t last very long.
- Your legs will get longer. You read that right. Wearing heels regularly can shorten your muscles in your calves, making your legs look much shorter. Once you make the switch, a combination of wearing flats, stretching, and foam rolling can make your gams look long and lean again.
