Margo the Wandering Womb tries to wear high-heeled shoes. Chronically wearing high-heeled shoes contributes to osteoporosis, weak pelvic floor, increased risk of falls, hammer toes & bunions, strain to the knees and hips, back & neck pain, and uterine health. Don’t let your uterus wear high-heeled shoes!
Margo the Wandering Womb tries to wear high-heeled shoes.
Margo is recovering from a twisted fallopian tube and a bruised ego. Luckily, she lives with an abdominal therapist who specializes in uterine health and was realigned in no time.
I know, I know it’s hard to give up the heels because you feel beautiful and powerful in them. Guess what you’re already beautiful and powerful! Honestly, I don’t know where the powerful thing came from because high heeled shoes make us vulnerable. The other day while out walking, I almost collided with a woman wearing four-inch heels. I, of course, had my barefoot ninja shoes on (see shoes below) and was able to get out of her way with the agility of a cheetah. She, on the other hand, teetered on her stilettos and almost fell on her face. Not only do elevated heels make us vulnerable to an attack or a fall, but also to osteoporosis, prolapsed organs, tilted uteri, foot, knee, hip, back, neck and pelvic floor pain and dysfunction. There’s nothing sexy about wearing adult diapers!
I gave all my high heeled shoes away to people I don’t like. Just kidding…I kept a couple of pairs ;-). Who knows, maybe someday I will wear a pair of positive heeled shoes to a wedding, or while out tango dancing. But it won’t be more than an hour or two of torture at a time and my feet will get a nice foot massage afterward.
I recently went to a friend’s place of employment to help her with her standing workstation. Four other women in the office also had standing workstations, but they wear high heeled shoes all day! PLEASE DON’T DO THIS, you’re canceling out the benefits of getting off your butt and will end up ditching the standing workstation by the end of the week complaining that it gives you back pain. It’s called denial. Sometimes it’s hard to admit that it’s the shoes you paid $200 for that are messing you up (and will end up costing you thousands of dollars in knee replacement surgery and adult diapers later).
In the Womb Care online course, I will teach you abdominal womb massage, herbal remedies, pelvic alignment exercises and more!
If you have been wearing positive heeled shoes (even an inch heel) for most of your life, transition out of them slowly. The book, Whole Body Barefoot: Transitioning Well to Minimal Footwear
More Resources:
On high heels and short muscles: a multiscale model for sarcomere loss in the gastrocnemius muscle.
Five Things You Didn’t Know About Osteoporosis
Your ninja shoes and cute shoes didn’t come through. I’m curious to see what they look like. Can you fix it? Thanks!!
Hi Paula,
It’s working when I go to the page. Can you hit refresh and see if it loads? Let me know if it works for you.
I’ve been really enjoying your blog. Thank you for sharing your expertise. I might just be ready to try a vaginal steam. After watching your recent interview video where you described it, I thought hmmm…what a great way to bring good blood flow and circulation, not to mention TLC, to a precious part of the body. I’ve been recovering from hypertonic pelvic floor after a vaginal birth, so this could be perfect for me.
Regarding footwear, oh yes, this has been on my mind. I gave up positive heels well over a year ago, thanks to Katy Bowman’s blog (right about the time I found out I was pregnant), and it was HARD. There are clothes in my closet that I can’t wear because the proportions are all wrong with flats. And yet it’s a small price to pay for life-long health. I’m completely committed, especially since I’ve now had some PF issues. Because my feet need a slow transition to barefoot and barefoot-style shoes, I’m in Kalso Earth shoes for now. Some of them are quite cute! One pair in particular was so flattering and got compliments that I bought two more pairs. I can’t handle true minimalist footwear yet, but I’m on my way.
Here’s that Earth shoe I love: http://www.planetshoes.com/item/kalso-earth-shoe-rally/14012/105 It’s one of the ultra light-weight Earth shoes that’s more flexible and gives my feet wiggle room. I know my feet have improved in health because I can wear this shoe without pain. Before, I could only wear their more structured, “supportive” shoe designs.
Thanks for the link and comments Alison. Those are cute shoes! I’ll add them to the list.
I LOVE Margo! Great post, Barbara! (And secretly, I love that pair of heels!) 🙂
Proper footwear is essential when using a standing work station. I agree, if you are standing out of alignment due to heels, then what is the point? Hopefully the workstation you helped with was a “Sit/Stand” station so they can change it up throughout the day. You give valuable information, especially for a male therapist. I will never be a pelvic floor specialist for women, just something I believe is better suited for a female therapist, but definitely good for me to know about these types of dysfunctions.
The same information applies to men as well. A lot of men’s shoes have a 1-2 inch heel.
Cool article.
As you know, wearing high heels causes prolapsed uterus. A prolapsed uterus is when the uterus slips down and out of the vaginal canal.
I think the reason women feel “powerful and beautiful” in high heels is somehow connected to the ballerina who dances on her tippie toes and looks “dainty and beautiful.” (Makes me wonder if tippie toe dancing ballerinas have prolapsed uteruses during/when they stop their dancing career).
My favorite shoes are by the brand name Sketcher and the model type of shoe called the ORIGINAL shape up sketchers shoe. It is a very comfortable shoe to wear.
Have a delightful day!
Fortune
Overcoming mortal boundaries.
The vegan shall inherit the earth.
P.S. I sent an earlier comment today and then I decided to do a quick google search on the topic of ballet posture and uterine prolapse.
A lady with uterine prolapse commented:
“…When I practice ballet I no longer tuck my but it, but I do lift from my tail bone, I do not let my stomach hang out. I also stay in neutral spine without lifting the tail bone up, but I never tuck it in. If I tuck my butt in I instantly feel the uterus fall.” (website to read whole comment from the lady: http://prolapsehealth.com/forums/topic.php?id=146)
So I suspect that ballerinas may have a higher suseptiblity to uterin prolapse if they tuck their but in to acheive ballet postures.
So anyways, in case you are wondering why women wear high heels, I think ballet dancing on the tippie toes is somehow is connected to the obsession with wearing 5 inch high heels among the female population.
Have a delightful day!
Fortune
Overcoming mortal boundaries.
The vegan shall inherit the earth.
P.S.S.
I am still researching ballet posture and uterine prolapse.
This webite demonstrates “proper ballet posture” in a free video.
You can see that proper ballet posture means tucking the butt in and making the uterus in an easier position to slip down the vagina.
Also ballet posture says turn the legs outward so the toes are jutting to the sides, which also tucks in the butt and makes the uterus in a precarious position to fall down the vagina.
In addition, proper ballet posture is similar/simulating wearing high heels if you wear the heels and have good posture while wearing the shoes.
So I guess the only good/healthy ballet is “bad posture/ untucked butt ballet.” 🙂
Website video demonstrating ballet posture: http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-master-ballet-posture
Have a delightful day!
Fortune
Overcoming mortal boundaries.
The vegan shall inherit the earth.
.Finding shoes that fit wide feet is difficult. This is partly genetic and partly that I used to prefer walking barefoot until a blackthorn attacked my toe.I couldn’t get into the negative heel ones I tried.I have to wear wellingtons a lot as it is so wet here and the only ones that don’t hurt are actually like wearing boats and alas and alack they have a raised heel.Are there any wide barefoot shoes or wellingtons? it would be great to actually feel where the ground is.you have to ask why shoes are assumed to need a raised heel.
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thanks alot
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wondering the same thing! My feet are D and E widths, and no barefoot shoes I’ve tried so far are wide enough. Not Merrells, not Vivos. I think Softstar might be..and haven’t tried vibrams. Still, not the greatest style or weather variety for us with wide feet. 🙁
Yeah, I would try softstar or Lems.
I’m wondering if you would mind commenting on Lems vs the Merrell barefoot pace. I noticed that you said the merrell might not be great for city walking. How do the Lems compare? Thanks.
Well, depends on how much city walking you’re doing. I wouldn’t want to walk several miles on concrete in either one. The Lems seem to have slightly thicker sole. I use the minimal metatarsal pads in the heel of both brands if I’m walking on concrete.
Sweet Barbara – thanks again for your lovely blog – i refer to it again and again. Love barefoot shoes – going back to ‘regular’ does not feel like an option – but i am finding my heels get sore and tired particularly after city walking – you mention the heel inserts above. Do these change how the shoe feels? Do they create a slight positive heel? Any other thoughts on this? Thank you!!!
Hi Samar, thanks for reading! The “heel inserts” I use are actually metatarsal pads and I don’t feel like they change the feel of the shoe, or elevate the heel much because they are gel like, so the weight of my body sinks into them. I feel they are better than walking on a concrete all day. It’s not a perfect solution, but I’d say it works in a concrete world. I’ll wear the pads on days I’m walking a ton in the city, especially a five plus mile day with no dirt or grass in site to walk on. If I’m walking in my neighborhood to the store and back (2 mile total) for instance, I’ll walk without the pads and walk on grass every opportunity I get. Perhaps the shoe companies will come out with a minimalist city walker shoe….?