Fit or Fiction: Are High Heels Bad for My Fitness?

Since I'm flat footed is it OK for me to wear high heels? --Madison R., New Jersey

Some women are of the mind that a gorgeous pair of high heels put them a few inches closer to heaven. If you're not careful about how you wear them, every step can wind up being hell. After all, the words heel and hell only differ by one measly letter.

I want to say up front that I think a lot of chronic injuries are blamed on exercise that should rightfully be credited to high heels. Over the years, I've had so many women complain to me that they can't run because it bothers their knees or taking a step class bothers their ankles only to see them walk out of the locker room teetering in shoes that resemble stilts. I also think towering heels wind up being a deterrent to adding extra movement into your day like talking a walk at lunch or jogging up a flight of stairs instead of taking the elevator.

I'm not suggesting that you always need to wear sensible shoes, but I do urge exercising some common sense about the way you treat your feet. A good first step is getting to know them a little better. Is your foot wide, narrow or somewhere in between? Are you in fact, truly flat-footed?

To test this, wet your foot and then step onto a piece of paper. If your entire foot is visible in the footprint, you have a flat foot. If there is a slight "C" shape in the print where your arch should be, you have a medium arch; the bigger the "C," the higher your arch. If all that's visible is the front of your foot and the back of your heel, then you have a really high-arched foot.

In general, no woman (with the exception of Dolly Parton or Carrie Bradshaw) should wear a shoe taller than 2.5 inches high for extended periods of time. A rise higher than that puts your foot at an extreme angle and throws your entire body alignment out of whack. It disrupts your posture, your gait and puts extreme pressure on the entire chain of joints all the way down to the toes and all the way up to the neck. Ultra high rise heels are a major cause of ankle problems, knee problems, backaches and even headaches. And as pretty as they are, they can ugly up your feet with corns, bunions, calluses, hammer toes and ingrown toenails.

In conjunction with the maximum height requirement, owners of high-arched feet should run from heels that offer little or no arch support because they already place so much pressure on the balls of their feet. People with low-arched or flat feet need shoes with firm, durable heels with lots of overall cushioning. This is especially true to take the pressure off of your knees if you pronate, e.g., ride the inside edge of your foot when you step down.

Flat foots should also be careful not to O.D. on completely level shoes like sneakers and flip flops either. They'll only serve to squash and widen your feet even further. As someone with feet so wide and flat I could start Fred Flintstone's car, I am walking proof that wearing running shoes all the time -- even with business suits and long dresses -- can turn your dogs into mutts.

So, I want to know ... have you ever taken a tumble off a pair of two story heels? Ever work out in your Manolos? If your feet have a story to tell, let your fingers do the walking by tweeting me @lizzyfit.

In the meantime, learn more about shopping for shoes and basic foot care.