Stilettos, high boots and seemingly innocent sandals can cause severe foot pain later in life, a new study has warned.
Researchers at the Institute for Aging Research of Hebrew SeniorLife in a new study of older adults and foot problems found that the types of shoes women wear may cause future hind-foot (heel and ankle) pain.
Nearly 64 percent of women who reported hind-foot pain regularly wore these types of shoes at some point in their life.
"We found an increased risk of hind-foot pain among women who wore shoes, such as high-heels or pumps, that lack support and sound structure," says lead author Alyssa B. Dufour, a graduate student in the Institute's Musculoskeletal Research Program.
Published in the October issue of the journal Arthritis Care and Research, the study is one of the first to examine the association between shoe wear-beyond just high-heel use-and foot pain.
The researchers, who analyzed foot-examination data from more than 3,300 men and women in The Framingham Study, say past shoe wear among women is a key factor for hind-foot pain. They found no significant link between foot pain and the types of shoes men wear.
From a list of 11 shoe types, study participants were asked about the one style of shoe they currently wear on a regular basis, what they regularly wore during five age periods in the past, and if they experience pain, aching or stiffness in either foot on most days.