Why do they do it? All those women who want to look beautiful and sexy wear them, they come in various forms and sizes and are the symbol of sexy, feminine beauty. They have names like Gucci, Prada, Manolo Blahnik and Christian Louboutin. What are we talking about? High heels the back breakers of the modern times.

I asked my wife if she could give me an explanation and she said the following "We know why we risk back pain when we wear those beautiful high heels, they are a symbol of beauty and sex appeal, they make our tush appear higher, our legs longer and the calves sleeker." But are those high heels worth the back pain? Are you women slaves of fashion and four inch stilettos? Many chiropractors and orthopedic surgeons live from your addiction to high heels because they are the main cause of chronic back pain.

She also said: "We all know the sound we make when we remove our beautiful high heeled shoes, that ahhhh sound of relief when we finally stand with our whole feet on the ground. But a few hours later, when we are in bed and our back relaxes we get back pain, stiffness and muscle spasms. Off course we will never admit that our gorgeous and expensive Prada's are the course of our back pain, we blame everything else but not our shoes."

Isn't it time to admit it?

High heels cause so many problems:

- chronic back pain
- hip pain
- calluses
- bunions
- knee osteoarthritis
- curvature of the spine
- hammertoes
- slipped disks

Since the 1500s we have worn high heels, although they were designed for men and women to appear taller, men never worn them for long, the men heels were in and out of fashion since that time but the high heel for women has continued for centuries. Today the high heel is promoted by celebrities, playboy models and is the high heel associated with fashion, sex and youth. They don't tell you that they really don't were high heels all day, just for the photo shoot or the catwalk show.

When you walk the average 10,000 steps a day when wearing a pair of high heels you ask a great deal of your back and it puts your health at risk. With flat shoes or on bare feet your body weight is distributed equally throughout the entire foot, with high heels your body weight is centered in the toes. This puts an enormous amount of pressure on the spine, muscles and vertebrae and the result is back pain.

It does not matter what kind of high heels you wear, wedge-heeled espadrilles, platform sandals and spectator pumps are no better than the skinny heeled stiletto. They all put your back at risk. Its not that you can't wear any heel at all, in fact orthopedists, podiatrists and other foot and back specialists recommend a heel of one half to three quarters of an inch, no higher. A small heel is better in supporting your foot knees and back, it reduces back pain better than flat heeled shoes.