The effects of shoe heel height and gait velocity on position sense of the knee joint and balance.
Il-Yong Jang, Da-Haeng Kang, Jae-Keun Jeon and 2 others
PMID 27799675WHAT IT FOUND
Twenty minutes of treadmill walking in 9-cm heels at 4 km/h significantly worsened knee position sense and balance compared to 3-cm heels at 2 km/h.
This suggests high heels combined with faster walking impair proprioceptive control in healthy young adults.
Key findings
01Participants in the high-heel, high-speed group showed the largest increase in static sway amplitude (0.19) compared to other groups.
02Dynamic balance sway amplitude increased most in the high-heel, high-speed group (2.29) compared to low-heel, low-speed group (0.54).
03Knee joint position sense error was highest in the high-heel, high-speed group (4.62 degrees) compared to the low-heel, low-speed group (0.68 degrees).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study included only healthy, young adults (mean age ~22 years) who were naive to high-heel use, so results may not generalize to older adults or habitual high-heel wearers. The walking task was performed on a treadmill, which may not fully replicate overground walking dynamics. The study measured acute effects after a single 20-minute session, so long-term adaptations or cumulative effects were not assessed. The paper reports significant changes in sway amplitude and position sense but does not report clinical falls or injury outcomes.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret these findings as evidence that high heels cause permanent damage or that they are unsafe for all walking speeds. The study measured acute changes in healthy young adults after a short treadmill session, and the effects on balance and proprioception were temporary.