How 3.5inch heels could prematurely age your joints: Walking in stilettos this high causes changes to the gait seen in ageing and those with arthritic knees
- Stanford University research could help explain why osteoarthritis is twice as common in women as men
- Study shows that the higher the heels, the more a woman's gait changes
- Other research shows that when a woman slips on a pair of heels, it takes on average just more than an hour for her feet to start to hurt
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2910761/Stilettos-cause-changes-gait-seen-ageing-arthritic-knees.html#ixzz3Q3IYvxVn
Wearing stilettos may not only be painful at the time.
It could also raise the odds of arthritis in years to come.
A study found that walking in three-inch heels causes changes to gait similar to those seen in ageing and arthritic knees.
The finding could help explain why osteoarthritis is twice as common in women as men.
The Californian researchers said: ‘Because women and men are observed to have similar knee biomechanics during barefoot walking, gender differences in footwear, specifically high-heeled shoes, have been implicated as a possible factor for the higher incidence of osteoarthritis in women.’
The most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis, caused by wear and tear of cartilage that helps our joints take the strain of bending, lifting, gripping and kneeling, affects more than eight million Britons.
Stiff, swollen and painful joints can make walking difficult, with stairs particularly tricky.
The Stanford University researchers studied the gait of 14 women as they walked in different types of shoes, from flat trainers to heels that left the women teetering just over three inches off the ground.
The higher the heels were, the more their gait, including the movement of their knees, changed.
Writing in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research, the scientists said being overweight may make things even worse.
They added: ‘Many of the changes observed with increasing heel height and weight were similar to those seen with ageing and osteoarthritis progression.
‘This suggests that high heel use, especially in combination with additional weight, may contribute to increased osteoarthritis risk in women.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2910761/Stilettos-cause-changes-gait-seen-ageing-arthritic-knees.html#ixzz3Q3IiIYbs
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