It’s the age old question every woman: How to wear high heels without pain.. Many of us (guilty, here) have throughout the years adopted a “grin and bear it” attitude, choosing our love for stylish shoes over our desire to be comfortable. It’s a trait we aren’t necessarily proud of, and one that regularly has the men in our lives raising their eyebrows in disbelief.
1. Make sure you are wearing the right size shoe.
The number one mistake women make would probably be not having the right shoe size for their foot. Your foot size changes over the years, even as much as one full size, especially after having kids. Have your feet sized once a year, and do it if you’ve never had it done. Have your feet measured when you’re buying shoes, for width and for length as well. A lot of people think they’re a wide or vise versa and they’re not, so definitely do that before you shop.
2. Educate yourself on your own personal foot type.
Know your foot type. In my opinion, a podiatrist would be the best way to know your foot type and what’s going on. If you can’t run out to the podiatrist, there’s a couple of neat ways to see if you have a flat foot or a high-arch foot. Wet your foot and step onto a piece of construction paper. When you make an impression, it will show you how much your foot is flattening or how high of an arch you have. You can look at a person’s foot type and see why they are having pain.
3. The thicker the heel, the better.
Avoid thin heels, the stilettos. They cause your foot to wobble around. Sometimes, the dress is just going to call for a stiletto, as long as it’s something that’s occasional. If you’re wearing stilettos everyday, you might want to consider a chunkier heel style and change it up a bit.
These sleek sandals are a no-no, Dr. Moyer says.
4. Avoid thin soles, opting instead for a platform.
Thin soles will almost always give you pain on the bottom of your foot. You want a thicker sole or a little bit of a platform, which will offset some of the pressure when you’re walking. A rubbery kind of material will absorb that pressure.
5. Take breaks.
Kick your shoes off throughout the day and stretch your ankles and toes.
6. Stretch your feet after you take your shoes off.
The stretches that you’ll want to do are the stretches that will target the front of the foot and ankle, like pointing your toes down, and pulling your toes up with a strap to get the Achilles’ tendon and the calf muscles. And then side to side to get to the instep and the outside of the foot.
7. Try a shoe with more coverage up top.
The more coverage you have on the top of your foot, the better. Sometimes high-heeled boots are actually something you can wear all day and they don’t bother your feet as much. In the summer, you can try something with an ankle strap or a big wide strap across the top. If you’re prone to blisters and friction, you might want to try that style, something that covers more of the top of your foot.
8. Those over-the-counter shoe inserts really do help.
One thing to try are the over-the-coutner products that market themselves for high heels. They are called metatarsal or ball of the foot pads. They are oval-shaped pads that go under the ball of the foot, usually made from a silicone gel. They combat soreness under the ball of the foot. Especially if it’s made of silicone, it will hold your foot more steady in the shoe so your feet aren’t sliding forward as much, which will protect your toes from friction and blisters.
