Heels’ Rule Book: No Pain No Gain! –Episode 1-

Admit it! You think you’re the only one who suffers wearing sky-high heels!

Every woman of us has this weird feeling she’s the only woman who suffers wearing heels, while everyone else is just walking in them lightly!! Well “NOT TRUE” – even those women who look like they’re flying in heels are crying from inside!

However, there are some tricks that can make wearing heels easier on our feet and walking in them much more comfortable; and other tricks that can strengthen your feet and do some post-heels damage control.
Here are these sneaky tricks; know them by heart, they’re life (well… or feet) saviors!
Before going out in your high heels:

Before going out in your high heels:

• Practice with socks: Yes!! Everyone does it! Wear medium thickness socks and parade that new pump at home few times before you wear it to the party. It will force the pump to relax a little and take the shape of your foot.
• Exercise! You heard it, exercise. Having a strong back, thighs and legs will take off a lot of pressure off of the feet while walking with heels. It might look like it’s all about the foot, but the whole thigh and leg is a part of how good you walk in heels and how much pressure the muscles will take against how much the foot solely will be taking.
• Do not walk for long distances, or exercise right before putting on heels, it will get your feet to swell and barely fit in the pump!

While wearing heels:

• Make sure your toes are as flat as possible inside the pump and your foot is positioned correctly on the front end, where most of the pressure will be felt. Push in your foot towards the inner front of the pump while wearing it to guarantee enough space!

• Use gel pads: I swear by those. In fact, I survive with my heels on them! Every time I am going to wear medium to high heels, I slip 2 pads in every shoe, front and back!! If you are wearing high-heeled sandals, there are pads for the laces too! Trust me, they do relieve 70% of the pain because they absorb most of the shock the foot goes through. Scholl is the incontestable recommendation in this domain!

• Pour in some baby powder: Yup, pour some powder on the inner front sole of the shoe when it is a closed one. It allows your toes some more movement preventing intense friction and potential numbness. Do not let the powder reach the middle or back part of the inner sole so it won’t cause the shoe to slip out of your foot, if it has no different type of support like Mary-Janes.

• Band Aids: First time wearing the pair?? Apply a band-aid on every point where you expect the shoe to rub your skin, especially the back outer edges. You will probably need to use this measure only for the first two times you wear the new pair. You can pick up some skin-colored bands (Johnson & Johnson have all shades of skin), but if you’re stuck with regular ones, don’t worry about it; because everyone knows everyone else does the same! (I use this technique a lot with wedges and ballerinas too!)

Damage control:

• Take it off: So you’re back home, first thing you should be doing is taking off your heels and walking bare feet for few minutes for the blood circulation to go back to normal and for muscles to relax.
• Massage: Sit down a little and give your feet a couple of minutes of massage, for the same reasons mentioned above.
• Cold Gel: Have a soothing and relaxing cold-gel (my favorite is Yves Rocher feet gel – Lavender scented) and apply it to your feet after you take off your heels.
• Routine relaxation techniques: Work on keeping your feet healthy especially the skin which will be in direct contact with shoes and the blood circulation. Opt for two to three hot soaks a week (30 minutes in hot water and essences) followed by a short massage with good feet moisturizers (I’d recommend Vichy’s foot cream! It fights and reduces calluses in a week) , after that you can soak your feet in a scented moisturizer and wear thick socks overnight. This technique will make sure your feet are healthy and the skin is not thickening or drying due to the extra pressure.
And when it comes to walking in heels, as a friend from London says: Positive strides and heel-toe, heel-toe!! But it’s a whole different story Belle Beirut and I –Patricia Issa- will be telling you in the next Heels’ Rule Book Episode!

Good luck with all those killer heels!
Patricia Issa
@Patricia Issa

Click here to check out Episode 2