If you are a shoe lover, then chances are you've put fashion before comfort many times before. Lots of the most gorgeous heel designs out there seem to come with the known sacrifice that by half way through the evening, you'll be reaching for a pair of flats you've put in your bag.
High heels are a wonderful invention - there's nothing quite like the confidence that they can give you on a night out, or the feeling of finding a pair that matches your new dress brilliantly.
So rather than making plans to donate your most beloved court heels, or writing off wedges for the summer, let's think instead of the ways that you can stay on your feet, wearing your favourite heels.
We spoke with Dr Andrea Bianchi, a leading orthopaedic surgeon based at The Private Clinic, Harley Street, to find out the best tips on how to keep your feet pain free when wearing heels.
Problems like bunions can develop and get worse from wearing ill-fitting and uncomfortable footwear as they can induce excessive pressure on the toes by forcing the first and fifth toes towards the centre, thus compressing the other toes. If your shoes don't fit, this can cause significant problems for your feet.
2. Don't always choose the highest option
Compression on your feet increases when wearing high heels, as your weight will shift towards the front of your foot. Wearing uncomfortable rigid shoes can also hinder the natural movement of the toes as you walk, thereby weakening your foot muscles and facilitating the appearance of bunions. So it's best to look for heels that aren't sky high - opt more often for mid-heels with supported platforms, like wedges.
3. Make use of an insole if you need one
Just as the eyes need glasses, the foot can require an orthotics insole. Now that we wear shoes, the foot has lost the daily training that was done once by walking barefoot. The shoe has taken off the support of the architectural structure of the foot, a structure made by two arches, longitudinal and transverse. It's the yielding of these two arches that determines forefoot defects such as hallux valgus, metatarsalgia and hammertoe. If your foot isn't properly aligned or you have fallen arches on the feet, you can wear over-the-counter orthotics which are special shoe or heel inserts that a doctor prescribes. These are custom-made specifically for you and will ensure that your foot is well-supported.
4. Don't put up with bunions - they'll only get worse
A bunion is essentially a deformity of the big toe - where the big toe excessively angles towards the second toe. This inevitably leads to a bony lump on the side of the foot. Some patients have large bunions that cause no pain but do cause trouble when finding appropriate footwear, while other patients can have smaller bunions that can be incredibly painful for the patient and impact their quality of life. Whilst traditional bunion surgery can come with extensive scarring and crutches, new treatment, there is now minimal invasive surgery with a promise of no downtime, no metal fixtures, no scars and no pain.
5. Think of your foot positioning
You should be mindful about distributing your weight from your heel to the front of your foot. When you wear high heels, you create pressure on the balls of your feet, so if your foot is misaligned, you will increase pain in your feet, and perhaps elsewhere in your body too. Never squeeze your toes into heels either, as this will result in endless amounts of blisters and discomfort. If you need to, add blister plasters to your heels as a preventative measure.