My mom wore 4 inch f..k me heels until the day she entered the hospital, where she died 75 days later.

As a matter of fact, my mom called me on the Wednesday before Memorial Day (and the day after my ex-wife’s birthday) to tell me she wasn’t going to be able to come to my middle child’s bat mitzva.

My mom announced that she lost her balance on her way to a restaurant and fell down. She was all bruised and broken.
I reminded her that she said she wanted to dance at my daughter’s bat mitzva on the day Shira was born. And, her family wouldn’t give a darn how she looked. Just come. She did.

But, I really should have recognized that my mom had never fallen in her more than six decades of wearing high heels. And, she didn’t tip-toe around. My mom walked aggressively (as does almost every native New Yorker) in her size 10 1/2 shoes.

It turns out my mom suffered a slew of mini-strokes. That’s how she fell. Her brain simply conked out and my mom toppled.
That doesn’t mean our beautiful women should be wearing high heels, though.

And, women are, indeed, finally seeking out more sensible footwear. More women are walking to work. (About 1/7 of the DC area population currently walks to work. About 5% of those living in New York City do- but that number climbs dramatically if we just look at Manhattan residents.)

Sneaker sales are now about $ 2.3 billion (part of that is because sneakers cost way more than they did when I was a kid), but sales have risen some 37% over the past few years. And, there has been a 12% drop in high heel sales just over the last year. (High heels are also being sold at steep discounts lately- almost 1/2 off the expected pricing. So, the actual number of pairs of shoes may not have dropped so precipitously.)

Now, this doesn’t mean that women still don’t have high heels in their arsenal. (I doubt they have as many as my mom did when she died- some 850 pairs of heels, with about 50 pairs of those lacking the 4 inch stilettos. My mom was envious of Imelda Marcos, obviously.)

Yes, my mom had arthritis. And, believe it or not, developing arthritis is more prevalent than getting blisters for those who employ the high-heeled shoes. An interesting study was completed by Drs. MH Kim, YT Choi, YS Jee, D Eun, (all four from Hanseo University, Korea), IG Ko (Kyung Hee University, Korea), ES Yi (Gachon University, Korea,) and J Yoo (Sahmyook University, Korea), who examined the women who were training (and then working) for Korean Air. The stewardesses were required to wear high heels- and by checking women over successive years, the research could discern the long-term effects.

A total of 40 students were included in the testing. They wore 4 inch (10 cm) heels for at least thrice weekly. The students were grouped according to their years of study (freshman to seniors, ten in each cohort), and were examined for their ankle strength and dynamic balance.

Not surprisingly, ankle strength (both invertor and evertor) was diminished, as were the strength of the ankle joints. But, not in a linear fashion- strength increased for a while and then rapidly diminished. Moreover, balance was diminished- which may explain why the ankles manifested the results they did.

Drs. D. Casey Kerrigan and Patrick Riley of Harvard University, along with Mary Todd (Spaulding Rehab Hospital) published  a study how high heel (only 2 inches) usage leads to arthritis and knee damage. The data found there was 23% more strain on the knees when women wore high heels versus flat shoes. And, that leads to about double the osteoarthritis incidence in women, when  compared to men.

As if those weren’t big enough problems, wearing high heels means one’s posture is adjusted- and that adjustment puts more pressure on the lower back region. (This explains why more women manifest sciatica.) That overarched back may force women to lead forward with their heads, which causes neck strain. (The problems from wearing those high heels simply cascade, as you can see.)

I’m thrilled that my daughters rarely wear high heels (and, if they do, not only they low heels; they have stubbier heels, which lets one have more balance). That’s true even though they are not exceptionally tall.

Maybe it’s time for all of us to reconsider this “look”.