How High Heels Affect Nerves in Your Feet

If you wear high heels and are experiencing the symptoms of Morton’s neuroma, it’s time to schedule an appointment with a board-certified podiatrist. At Arlington/Mansfield Foot and Ankle Centers, our experts recommend different treatments depending on the stage of your neuroma and the severity of your symptoms.

Those Pointy High Heels May Be the Cause of Your Morton’s Neuroma

Shoes do a lot for us. They can protect our feet, lessening our worry of cuts and infection. But shoes also have an enormous impact on how our feet hit the ground and how our weight is distributed. High-quality footwear, which offers a lot of cushioning and support for the arch and heel, can keep our feet healthy and positively influence our gait. Ill-fitting shoes, on the other hand, can lead to foot issues such as bunions or hammertoe.

Another major consequence of wearing footwear that’s too tight or doesn’t fit well is Morton’s neuroma — a condition that compresses the nerves between your third and fourth toes, leaving you with thickened and inflamed nerve tissue.

Morton’s neuroma can be an especially uncomfortable and even painful condition, and your choice of footwear directly impacts your risk for it. Because of this, our team of podiatrists at Cortez Foot and Ankle Specialists wants to review how your footwear increases the likelihood of developing Morton’s neuroma and what to do about it.

The relationship between high heels and Morton’s neuroma

One of the nerves in your lower back — the sciatic nerve — can get compressed if you spend too much time sitting down. Very similarly, the nerve between your third and fourth toes can also get compressed. When you wear shoes that are particularly pointed and narrow, they squeeze your toes together and compress the nerve as a result.

Common symptoms of this nerve compression include pain, discomfort, numbness, and tingling. It can also feel like you’ve got a pebble in your shoe or your sock is bunched up. Symptoms typically resolve with rest.

Treating Morton’s neuroma

When you first notice symptoms of Morton’s neuroma, switch to shoes that have a low heel and wide toe box. If the discomfort and pain don’t subside, we offer treatments such as custom orthotics and steroid injections. Taking over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications can also help reduce symptoms.

In some cases, the nerve damage can be extensive, and conservative treatments may not be enough to provide relief. If this happens to you, we may need to surgically remove the neuroma.

No matter what treatment method you choose, you’ll still need to change your footwear. If you continue wearing shoes that compress your toes, the neuroma is likely to come back.

Seek expert care for Morton’s neuroma

If you feel like you’re walking on pebbles constantly, don’t ignore it. Morton’s neuroma can become very painful if left untreated, and you may even end up with no option but surgery.

For Morton’s neuroma treatment, schedule an appointment with our team by calling the nearest office location or by booking online . We proudly serve the Bradenton, University Park, and Ellenton, Florida, areas.

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How High Heels Affect Nerves in Your Feet

Do you find yourself choosing high heels more often than you wear flats or supportive footwear? Wedges, pumps, and stilettos may be great for your style, but if you wear any type of high heels frequently, they could be affecting the nerves in your feet.

The board-certified providers at Arlington/Mansfield Foot and Ankle Centers , specialize in treating Morton’s neuroma , a nerve condition often caused by wearing high heels at our offices in Arlington and Mansfield, Texas. In the early stages, this condition may be treatable with less invasive measures, but waiting for help can mean surgery.

Keep reading to learn why you may need to switch away from heels and into a shoe that’s better for the health of your feet.

The connection between heels and foot health

Your feet are an amazing part of your body. They work to distribute your weight evenly and absorb the shock your body experiences when you walk, run, or jump.

When you wear high heels, your weight shifts forward. This puts most of the pressure of bearing your weight on the ball of your foot and your toes. Even a low heel (up to one inch) can increase the pressure on the balls of your feet by 22% .

In addition, high heels change your gait (the way you walk) and your posture. And the more you wear them, the more at-risk you become for foot issues, like bunions, hammertoes, plantar fasciitis, calluses, and Morton’s neuroma.

Understanding Morton’s neuroma

A neuroma develops when a nerve has been partially or completely disrupted. You’re diagnosed with Morton’s neuroma when the nerve affected is in the ball of your foot, typically between your third and fourth toes.

When the tissues around the nerves going to your toes grow and thicken into a fibrous mass, it causes pressure and irritation on the nerves. Although you can’t see this tissue through your skin, it creates significant discomfort.

Symptoms of Morton’s neuroma can vary from person to person but commonly include:

• General foot pain and discomfort
• Burning pain in the ball of your foot
• Tingling or numbness in your toes
• Feeling like you have a stone or pebble in your shoe

These symptoms may get worse when you walk or run while taking off your shoes and rubbing your feet may alleviate your discomfort.

Treating Morton’s neuroma

If you wear high heels and are experiencing the symptoms of Morton’s neuroma, it’s time to schedule an appointment with a board-certified podiatrist. At Arlington/Mansfield Foot and Ankle Centers, our experts recommend different treatments depending on the stage of your neuroma and the severity of your symptoms.

When caught early, conservative treatments may be enough to reduce the pressure on the nerve. These less-invasive therapies may include:

• Changing your footwear
• Wearing custom orthotics
• Stopping activities that aggravate the nerve
• Corticosteroid injections
• Pain medications

If your neuroma is severe or if more conservative therapies don’t resolve the problem, your provider may recommend removing the neuroma with surgery.

Don’t wait to contact a provider at Arlington/Mansfield Foot and Ankle Centers if you think you may have a neuroma! Early diagnosis and treatment are key to a full recovery. Call the office nearest you or request an appointment online.

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