, which connects it to the leg;
- Tarsus, comprising the short bones of the ankle and heel;
- Metatarsal, intermediate part of the foot, formed by five metatarsal bones;
- Phalanges of the fingers.
The foot is considered the most important antigravity control organ: it represents, in fact, the tonic-postural system that allows the human body to assume an upright posture and to maintain balance in the various positions assumed in space, both from a dynamic point of view. , how static.
In addition to being the support base of the body, the foot also acts as:
- Movement effector, following an order from the central nervous system;
- Receptor of all the most varied stimuli coming from the environment in which it moves (the soil, for example), which are received both by the skin exteroceptors and by the muscular and tendon proprioceptors.
Esteroreceptors and proprioceptors give the foot the important ability to adapt to changes in the body in space, allowing the continuous search for balance thanks to the correct position of the center of gravity (center of gravity of the body), located at the level of the third lumbar vertebra (at the level of the navel, anteriorly).
The sole of the foot is rich in:
- Mechanoreceptors (pressure-sensitive exteroceptors), which provide information on body oscillations;
- Traction-sensitive receptors in the skin of the foot itself, which provide information on the direction and speed of body movement.
Taken together, these receptors allow the body to position itself in the environment in which it is located.
In an upright position, the sole of the foot represents the constant interface between the external environment and the postural system. The information of the breech receptors are, in fact, the only ones to derive directly from a fixed reference such as the ground. Therefore, the resulting plantar reflex from the skin stimulation of the sole of the foot, it is able to activate and modulate very complex reflexes with postural functions of considerable importance.
on shoes with high heels, there is a strong imbalance of the body load on the foot, especially on the forefoot, due to the advancement of the position of the center of gravity.The forefoot is therefore forced to bear a much higher load than it can tolerate when barefoot or wearing shoes with a modest rise (3-4-cm), both in the static standing position and in walking.
Hallux Valgus from High Heels
The breech pathology most frequently associated with the use of an excessive rise under the heel (high heel) is hallux valgus, which appears as a deformation of the first toe that appears laterally deviated towards the other toes, turning the phalanx towards the other fingers, with simultaneous medial protrusion of the first metatarsal bone. The main symptom of hallux valgus is the presence of pain, which reflects a change in the anatomy of the foot. If the hallux valgus is neglected, it tends to progressively get worse: the disorder begins with the big toe facing the second toe, until it determines changes in the actual alignment of the bones of the foot.
The lateral deviation of the big toe shows the formation of the so-called "onion", a protuberance that indicates a "painful inflammation of the mucous bursa (bursitis), which tends to worsen with the rubbing of the shoe. At the level of the bony protuberance, on the outer side of the foot, the skin has redness, numbness and thickening that make it hard and callused (hyperkeratosis). In the advanced stages, synovitis appears, inflammation that affects the entire joint, causing the painful and hot joint swelling.
In addition to chronic inflammation, hallux valgus can lead to bone lesions, ulcerations, calluses and, if particularly severe, a functional alteration of the foot dynamics. Over time, the disorder can evolve into a real postural syndrome (considered that the big toe is used in walking to push forward and balance) with a tendency to knee valgus, stiffness of the hips and accentuation of the lumbar curve, associated with chronic low back pain. In addition, secondary osteoarthritis (joint degeneration) and the formation of osteophytes are common.
Local consequences
Postural consequences
- Joint degeneration and bursitis;
- Metatarsalgia;
- Deformities and dislocations of the fingers.
- Tendency to valgus knee, with pain of the internal patellar facet of the knee;
- Stiffness of the hips;
- Accentuation of the lumbar curve, associated with chronic low back pain.
All this is aggravated, then, if it is a "stiletto" heel, that is the most harmful and difficult condition in which the foot can be placed, given that, due to the reduction in the width of the heel, the foot (consequently the whole propioceptive system) finds himself forced to make various and difficult "adjustments" (which over time become real anatomical adaptations, consequently, pathologies) to avoid losing an already precarious balance due to the elevation of the heel support base.
High Heels: other consequences of postural imbalance
The displacement of the center of gravity and the altered proprioceptive sensitivity of the foot, as well as the structural deformation of the big toe, in turn, can lead to both postural alterations:
- Static:
- Lumbar hyperlordosis;
- Compensation dorsal hyperciphosis;
- Hyperextension of the knees (with relative shortening of the quadriceps muscle and excessive stretching of the hamstring muscles).
- Dynamics:
- Incorrect walking
- Incorrect arrangement of the loads and forces on the various joint and musculo-ligament devices.
Some of these alterations are momentary "wrong attitudes" and voluntarily correctable by the subject. If not corrected in time, with compensatory or corrective gymnastics, they can degenerate into real dimorphisms in the bone structures.
The knee, even before the ankle, is affected by the different and unnatural arrangement of the body load, placing delicate joint structures under stress, such as menisci, cruciate and collateral ligaments.
High Heels: Circulatory Problems and Heavy Legs
Furthermore, the various problems affecting the circulatory-venous system that could arise precisely due to the unnatural "crushing" (especially of the forefoot) of some capillaries located in areas of the foot that normally are not occluded, nor oppressed by overloads. From here derives the annoying sense of heaviness in the legs and, in the most serious cases, real pathologies and dysfunctions of the peripheral microcirculation, very important for the nourishment and supply of oxygen to the muscular tissues, skin and cartilage of feet and legs.
lace up in front, with a rise of 3-4 cm at the heel.
