The Heartwise Blog
On this page you will find articles and thoughts written by the Heartwise team. If you have any questions or comments on what you see here, please contact us.
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High Heel Shoes
by Jim Marcum JMarcum MD FACC
posted February 9th, 2010 1:10am
The original plan was not for women to wear high heel shoes. Michelle came into the office because of chest pain that was ultimately caused by high heel shoes. For twenty years she worked as an executive secretary. She told me every day she put on her high heel shoes and went to work. This was the expected office attire. Well after twenty years her feet began to have significant problems. There was pain, trips to the podiatrists and several operations. She usually excercised but because of the sever pain she quit. She found some relief in food and put on weight. Soon she had diabetes, hypertension and sleep apnea. She then was placed was on medications and a sleep mask. She still could not sleep because of the severe pain in her feet. Narcotics and a sleeping pill were given. subsequently she was replaced at work because her boss said she was not as sharp as she use to be. The narcotics slowed down her bowells and she had a bowell obstuction complicated by an infection. She was now having chest pain. What a horror story!
Unfortunately this does happen, usually not to this degree. When one stress occurs even if it occurs slowly, there can be a trickle effect. Michelle desparately needed a new pair of shoes twenty years ago. Michelle asked me to share this story to get people to think about the consequences of even the simplistic actions, though I must admit shoes are a big deal for me. The clothes we wear, things we put on our bodies to smell or look good, the substances we put in our body, and the list goes on. All this makes a difference and as good stewards and CEO's of our body, we owe it to ourself to think about these thingd and not follow the trends which may not be what is right for us.
If she would have known what could happen down the road, she would have gone barefoot or purchased some comfortable shoes even if they were not the trend. Are we wearing clothes that put stress on the body? Are we doing subtle things that might cause a ripple effect twenty years down the road? When we live in deception, there will be a ripple effect.
