Why Are Celebrities Falling In Heels?

Could it be that heels are becoming a persona non grata amongst celebrities?
Recently, Madonna bruised a bone falling off her heels, Emma Thompson took off her heels at the Golden Globes to avoid foot pain, and Camila Avles de-heeled herself at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
So if celebrities keep tumbling when they're wearing heels (remember Jennifer Lawrence's fall last year at the Oscars?), how can the average person?
Meghan Cleary, author of "How To Be Truly Unstoppable In Your Stilettos" and the website Shoe Are You says it's possible. "You've got to be savvy about your high heels," Cleary said.
"It's all about planning," she adds. Her biggest tip: don't wear stilettos for more than an hour and bring a back up pair to wear the rest of the time.
The New York Daily News talked to foot experts about wearing heels, and taking a tumble in our footwear is not a new problem. Heels appeared as early as the Renaissance, and even back then, women who wore them had weakened Achilles tendons, shortened gastrocnemius muscles in the lower legs, and battered bones in the foot and toes. 
One foot doctor even created a full-body workout designed to keep our bodies in shape for wearing stilettos (no lie!). 
"You need to train the foot, ankle, and [abdominal] core," said Emily Splichal, creator of the Catwalk Confidence program. 
According to Broadway choreographer Lorin Latarr, "It takes more work than you'd expect to get your body used to it."
Shop function, not fashion. The biggest women's shoe brands, like Dior and Christian Louboutin, have heels typically ranging from 3 to 5 inches. When selecting a shoe, try the "bounce back" test: put your fingers in your shoes and see if the bottoms have a strong bounce. And before you leave the store, talk those heels for a stroll on the hard wood floors.
"When you wear heels that high, you're going to pay the price for it," said Vasilios Christofilakos, an accessories design professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology. 
"You just have to have some common sense when you're shopping for heels," adds Christofilakos, who has designed the RobertoVasi footwear line for men. 
Even Sarah Jessica Parker, the queen of stilettos, said last year that she would have to give them up after they destroyed her feet. But for many women, you'd don't have to be that severe.
"You should only wear it when you have to," commented Dr. Louis Peterson, a Manhattan podiatrist, who said that one in six of his patients are women who have a high heel injury. 
Cleary adds that if you absolutely have to wear stilettos, take time at home wearing the shoes. "You have to practice, practice, practice. Feel it out before you go out," Cleary said. 
Reference: New York Daily News
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Osteoarthritis Affects One in Six Over 50

More than one in six adults over the age of 50 in the United Kingdom are affected by painful foot osteoarthritis, a number that is higher than previously believed. The new research from Keele University shows that the disease, which affects 3.5 million UK adults, has a significant impact on daily tasks.
The research was led by Keele University's Arthritis Research UK Primary Care Centre and included 5,000 participants. More than one million visits every year are made to doctors because of osteoarthritis, a disease with symptoms of inflammation of the joints, damage to cartilage, and swelling of the bone. Difficulty moving, pain, and stiffness are effects of these symptoms.
The research team found that painful foot arthritis affects more women than men, and is more common in those who have spent their careers performing manual work. Previous studies focused on x-ray findings, and this was the first to investigate how foot arthritis affects the daily lives of sufferers. Three-quarters of people with the condition reported having trouble with everyday activities like walking, standing, housework, and shopping.
This new study included new methods of detecting osteoarthritis in the midfoot, which had previously been difficult to diagnose.
Dr. Edward Roddy, clinical senior lecturer in rheumatology at Keele University, said, "Foot osteoarthritis is a more common and disabling problem than we previously thought, making everyday tasks difficult and painful for people affected.
"While it's been known for decades that joints in the foot can be affected by osteoarthritis, much of the previous research has focused on the hip and knee areas, and research on the foot has concentrated almost entirely on the bunion joint at the base of the big toe. However, by looking at the whole foot and the impact on people's lives, it's clear the problem is more widespread than we anticipated.
"This is an area that needs much more research to understand the reasons why people develop osteoarthritis in their feet, and what we can do to help improve pain and suffering from this common condition. Doctors and other healthcare professionals should also be aware of osteoarthritis as a common cause of foot pain in this age group."
Professor Anthony Redman, spokesman for Arthritis Research UK and Professor of Clinical Biomechanics at the University of Leeds said, "We know that foot problems become much more common as we get older but the medical and healthcare community have been guilty in the past of dismissing this as just an inevitable part of aging.
"We have long known about some forms of osteoarthritis in the feet such as bunions, which are a common type of osteoarthritic damage affecting the big toe joints and are taken much more seriously, with both on-surgical and surgical treatments widely employed. The study tells us that if we want to keep our over 50's active and healthy we should be similarly serious about arch or midfoot pain. While osteoarthritis does not yet have a miracle cure, the associated pain and disability are not inevitable and people with foot pain should be given genuine treatment options- something can always be done."
Reference: Medical Xpress
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Pick the Right Shoes For the Gym

As the new year begins, the top resolution for many people will be to join a gym or go to the gym more frequently. It's a great resolution to have, and keep, but if you're not wearing the proper shoes for the gym, you're likely to do more harm than damage. 
"The right shoe is very important in terms of injury prevention," said Dr. Daniel Geller, a foot and ankle specialist at Empire State Orthopedics. "The right shoe supports your body's natural biomechanics, which is the way your body hits the ground. If your body hits the ground and we do something that we shouldn't be doing, we're going to be stressing structures in the lower leg that can lead to injury."
Our podiatrists see injuries frequently that could have been prevented with the proper shoe. The most important thing in finding the right shoe is knowing your foot type. 
"There's a promontory foot type that rolls in, there's a neutral foot type that maintains its arch support, and there's a supinatory foot type that rolls out just a bit. Finding the right shoe that compliments your foot type will supplement your biomechanics, therefore making you more efficient, less injury prone, and it will enable you to run more comfortably," said Dr. Geller. 
If you're unsure as to what type of foot you have, visit a podiatrist today, who can tell you about your foot and what would be the best kind of shoe for you. Everyone's needs are different. With those suggestions, you can go to a shoe store knowing what you need. 
Many specialty shoe stores offer a treadmill, where your movement is recorded and analyzed. Based on what the salesperson or pedorthist sees, they can point you in a specific direction. 
Patrick Murford of the NY Running Company says he see people all the time who purchase incorrect shoes. 
"One of the biggest mistakes people make when they're shopping for workout shoes is that they shop by style instead of by function," Burford said. "It's important to get something that is proper for the way your foot moves and the way your body moves in motion."
This year, make sure you start off with the right shoe, on the right foot, before you head to the gym!
Reference: Time Warner Cable News. 
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Celebrities Recovering From Foot Injuries, Surgery

There have been several celebrities in the past several weeks who have been in the news with foot injuries or recovering from foot surgery. Winter is a common time of year for people to injure their foot or ankle and extra precautions need to be taken so you don't spend most of your time on the couch recuperating!
Supermodel Iman is recovering from foot surgery she had right before Christmas. The 58 year old is being nursed back to health by her rock star husband, David Bowie. The exact type of surgery she had is unknown, but it could potentially be on the fracture she sustained last year. Iman was forced to give up high heels for a while as the fracture healed. 
Last Monday Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden fell while skiing in the Alps and sprained her ankle. The 36 year old princess was spending a short holiday in Cervinia in northeast Italy with her husband, Prince Daniel and their daughter Estelle, and King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. Victoria was taken by private helicopter to Aosta and then to Geneva, Switzerland, where she was seen by doctors.
Actress Christina Applegate had to give up her Broadway stint in the 2005 revival of Sweet Charity because of a broken foot sustained during a preview. She has branded her time as "awful" after getting the broken foot and receiving several bad reviews. The dance moves Applegate was supposed to do were deemed too intricate by a doctor for the type of injury she had and she was replaced by an understudy.
Applegate told Britain's The Independent, "I don't think disappointing is a word that can describe how awful that whole experience was, how sad it was. I'd been working so hard, dancing my butt off, and once it (her foot) was broken, I could never do the show the way I'd rehearsed it."
However, it wasn't just her broken foot that caught the attention of critics- it was her singing voice. "I'm not musically inclined in any way, shape or form. I faked my way through Broadway. Trust me on that. A lot of the reviews were 'Her voice was just horrible.' I was a dancer and I would have loved to continue with dancing. I always thought that was what I was going to do, as a kid, dance on Broadway."
Leonardo DiCaprio has been on the red carpet promoting his new movie The Wolf of Wall Street with a limp. DiCaprio sprained his ankle at home after flooring gave way under his foot.
The Hollywood hunk's Los Angeles mansion has been under renovations and he was left on the floor writhing in pain after twisting his ankle. He told entertainment show Extra, "I sprained my ankle... You feel silly just saying, 'I sprained my ankle', but it does hurt."
DiCaprio has continued promoting his new movie despite of the injury.
References: Contact Music, Daily Star, Hollywood.com, Contact Music. 
If you believe have a foot problem and do not currently see a podiatrist, call one of our six locations to make an appointment.
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