MUST READ: What high heels are really doing to your feet

They make you look taller, leaner and more glamorous. But our love affair with spindly stilettos is threatening to leave us alarmingly down at heel, according to a staggering new piece of research.

An infographic featured by The Washington Post illustrates, in shocking visual detail, the negative effect the stylish female's choice of footwear has on their bodies.

The diagram shows how wearing high heels places excess force on the inside of the knee - a common site of osteoarthritis among women.


One study found that knee joint pressure increased by as much as 26 per cent when a woman wears heels.

The height of your heels and a narrow toebox can create a thickening of tissue around a nerve between the third and fourth toes, which can lead to pain and numbness in the toes called Morton's neuroma.

Consultant podiatrist Mike O'Neill, from the College of Podiatry, recently warned that squeezing feet into smaller shoes can also cause long-term damage including arthritis, stress fractures, and trapped nerves, which may even require surgery or steroid injections.

Another common effect of wearing heels is bunions.

Tight-fitting shoes can cause a painful bony growth on the joint at the base of the big toe, which forces the big toe to angle in toward the other toes.

A study found that one in five feet operations are to remove bunions.

Based on the average cost of private treatment of about £4,000 (N1million).

The research also highlights an issue they have dubbed 'pump bump'- caused by the rigid backs or straps of high heels which irritate the heel and create a bony enlargement also known as Haglund's deformity.

Ankle injuries are also a huge cause for concern as high heels impair balance and a wearer is therefore at greater risk of falling, which could lead to a sprained or broken ankle.

High heels also cause the body's weight to be redistributed and prolonged wear can lead to joint pain on the ball of the foot called Metatarsalgia.

The higher a heel, the more damage it will have on your Achilles tendon as it causes it to tighten up and create pain.

And it isn't just your feet and legs that are suffering as a result of vertiginous footwear.

Spindly stilettos also put strain on your posture by pushing the centre of mass in the body forward, taking the hips and spine out of alignment, as well as putting excess pressure on the forefoot.