Health
High Heels Hard on Knees
High heels may be stylish but those over two-and-a-half inches could boost the risk of developing arthritis of the knee, a study says.
Writing in the British medical journal The Lancet, Massachusetts researchers say knee arthritis, twice as common in women as in men, may be due to the wearing of high-heel shoes, which "results in compensatory changes at the knee and hip to maintain balance. And most of that compensation occurs at the knee, the researchers say.
"The altered forces at the knee caused by walking in high heels may predispose (wearers) to degenerative changes in the joint," they say, calling for more studies on the links between knee damage and heel design.
Especially affected is the inside of the knee joint and the use of such heels could be linked to arthritis in that area. The researchers wrote that "osteoarthritic changes at the knees of human beings are more common in the medial (inner) aspect than the lateral (outside) aspect of the knee."
Writing in the British medical journal The Lancet, Massachusetts researchers say knee arthritis, twice as common in women as in men, may be due to the wearing of high-heel shoes, which "results in compensatory changes at the knee and hip to maintain balance. And most of that compensation occurs at the knee, the researchers say.
"The altered forces at the knee caused by walking in high heels may predispose (wearers) to degenerative changes in the joint," they say, calling for more studies on the links between knee damage and heel design.
Especially affected is the inside of the knee joint and the use of such heels could be linked to arthritis in that area. The researchers wrote that "osteoarthritic changes at the knees of human beings are more common in the medial (inner) aspect than the lateral (outside) aspect of the knee."
