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Can I wear high heels for long hours? What should I be mindful of when wearing high heels?

These are some of the questions posted to Dr David Su by a Lianhe Wanbao reader. She had injured herself while wearing high heels when she missed her step alighting from the bus. The injury caused her to experience knee pain, heel pain and had to alleviate the pain by wearing knee pads and flat heel shoes. As such, she wanted to know about her high heels foot problem and the other health issues wearing high heels.

According to Dr Su, it is common for such an incident to happen and it is important to seek help from a doctor instead of bearing with the pain. He advised ladies to be alert and walk with smaller strides when wearing high heels. It is also good for those working in offices to take off their high heels and do occasional stretching of their calves when seated. They can also bring along flat heel shoes when walking around the office, and only wear the high heels when necessary (for example, during meetings). Lastly, it helps to choose appropriate, broad-based and not too tight-fitting high heels.

There is no age limit to wearing high heels; choosing the appropriate one for you is the most important in preventing any high heels foot problems. There are a few things to look out for when choosing appropriate high heels:

1. Height of the heels for comfort varies according to individuals
2. Broadness of the heels affects stability of the footwear
3. Width of the toebox influences the space allowance for the toes to rest on