The Scotsman January 2004-01-06

Wearing High Heels May Help Women Avoid Knee Problems


It is the news every shoe-loving woman has been waiting to hear – wearing high heels may actually avoid painful knee conditions in later life.

Fears that spine-bending stilettos could lead to knee arthritis are unfounded, according to University of Warwick researchers who discovered that three-inch heels were associated with reduced risks of joint problems.

Professor Margaret Thorogood, from the Medical School, said certain shoes did not cause knee problems but that being overweight before 40, doing demanding physical work and previous knee injuries all did.

In fact, there was a link between regular dancing in three-inch heels and a reduced risk of knee problems, the academic said.

Stilettos were not to blame for knee arthritis as more than half of the 111 women surveyed for the study – of whom some suffered with the condition and some had no knee pain at all – wore them.

Some 55.2 per cent of the women with knee arthritis regularly wore 3 ins heels as did 67.1 per cent of women with no pain.

Professor Thorogood said: “Women who smoke, are overweight and do a lot of heavy housework such as scrubbing are more likely to develop painful knees later in life.

“But women who wear stiletto heels will be reassured to learn that their choice of fashion-before-comfort footwear will not lead to knee joint problems and may even prevent them.”

The medical community previously thought that one reason why women were twice as likely to develop knee osteoarthritis than men could be high-heels.


More than 100 women aged 50 to 70 participated in the study which was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.