College Times

Issue date: 2/28/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Photos(dot)com

When I was younger, my mom always warned me in her infuriating, know-it-all tone, "I'm telling you, don't wear high heels; you'll ruin your feet," as she pointed at her bulging, burgundy bunions. "Whatever," I'd always respond, mimicking my idol Cher from "Clueless," and marched my smart-ass 16-year-old attitude out the door.

But my mom had a point as sharp as my high heels did. According to MayoClinic.com, women's foot problems can be caused by wearing high heels and guess which one was at the top of the list: bunions. High five, Mom!

Other noted setbacks to strutting your stuff on what sometimes feel like stilts were corns, calluses, toenail problems, hammertoe, tight heel cords, pump bump (Haglund's deformity), neuromas (Morton's or plantar), joint pain in the ball of the foot (metatarsalgia) and stress fractures.

All right, Mom. You told me so - but let me tell you something. I may not have a baseball-sized bunion to shove in your face supporting my claim, but I've got the BBC News to back me up: "High heels (may - I'm putting this word in parentheses so my argument is stronger) improve sex life!"

I knew my virginal self was wearing high heels for a reason at age 16.

According to BBC News, Italian urologist Dr. Maria Cerruto conducted a study where 66 women, 50 years old and younger, were asked to stand with their foot as though they were wearing a two-inch heel (15 degree angle from the ground). Not only did she find that the women who wore high heels had equally good posture as those women who wore flat shoes, but the women who wore flat shoes "crucially showed less electrical activity in their pelvic muscles."

Her study suggested that the muscles were at the best possible position, "which could improve their strength and ability to contract."

Pelvic floor muscles are the muscles that do the heavy work (thrusting) when it comes to sex. Just like guys go to the gym to get huge (or so they think), women wearing high heels may be unknowingly exercising and strengthening their pelvic muscles to better assist them when it comes to sexual performance and satisfaction.

Hey Mom, remember way back in the day before dinosaurs were around when you used to listen to Nancy Sinatra's, "These boots were made for walking?" She was right. Boots, high heels - they're all made for walking and - they were made for knocking too.

Love you, Mom.

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