How your stilettos may cause bunions and hammer toe, and ways doctors say to prevent it

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Many of us wear stilettos or high heels, and we love them.

For some people, the higher the heel, the better.

However, orthopedic doctors warn that it could mean major foot damage in the long run.

ABC13 spoke to some heel-lovers who said wearing four-, five- and even six-inch stilettos improves their posture and makes their legs look sexy.

Dr. Oladapo Alade, an orthopedic surgeon with Kelsey Seybold Clinic, acknowledges that although the heels may be stylish and look appealing to some, those stilettos may come with consequences down the road.

According to Dr. Alade, height matters because if the heel is too tall, people tend to walk on their tippy toes, and that can cause contracting of the Achilles tendon in the back of the leg. He wants people to also beware of a narrow shoe toe-box that aggressively forces your toes together.

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"Mechanically speaking, constantly having something that's pushing your toes together, cramming them together, can cause the toe to drift over and actually cause a bunion," Dr. Alade said.

He said that a painful hammer toe could be a problem, too. Dr. Alade's solution is for women to wear shorter heels, and if you must wear tall stilettos, don't wear them too long.

Dr. Alade said if you develop bunions or hammer-toe that change the alignment of your toe, it could require corrective foot surgery.

"My recommendation is that ideally, heels should be worn sort of sporadic and on special occasions and not really should be considered sort of a daily shoe," Dr. Alade said.

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