Drawbacks Of High-Heel Shoe

Chronicle (Levin), 1 September 1949, Page 5

Drawbacks Of High-Heel Shoe

LONDON, August 31. There is little to be. said technicailv in favour of higb-heeled shoes, according to Dr. Norman C. Lake, scuior surgeon of Oharing Oross Hospital, writ.ing in "The Praetitioner." Dr. Lalce recommeuds a shoe with a heel of the "Cuban" tvne with a height of between 14 and 2 inches. "The foot is a long siiffering structure which stands np remarkably well to abuse but the still-plastic foot of the teen-ager is easilv distorted," he said. "It is at this age when yortng women first take to high heels, that the chief harm is initiated. The hi.gh heel looks like remaiuing in fashion for some time despite all its anatomical and phvsiological drawbacks." The drawbacks include throwing unnatural weigh't ou the forward part of the foot, causing a thiuning of the proteetion under the forward foot boues and consequeut callosities and displacement forward of the prntecting pads under the toe hones, causing a ''clawing" of the toes. There was also a tendencv to turn the ankle because of the instability of hiprh heels with a small area of contact with the ground. f ' Correetion is the eorreetway to deal with tliese couditious but there is little hope of doing this unless fashion can be made subservieut to apatomical and physiological demands. This involves a clifFerent psychologieal problem that so far has defied solution.-"