Image courtesy of Chris Moore
“Moderation and common sense is the key to healthy feet, rather than using Botox as a shortterm fix.”
With cosmetic surgery now becoming as common as having a facial, it was only a matter of time before we started having cosmetic surgery on our feet. When it comes to pampering our tired toes, most of us would just book in for a pedicure. However, the search for fabulous feet has just stepped up a notch. Sydney socialites are taking extreme measures with Botox injections to eliminate pain caused by wearing high heels. But, as the trend is set to sweep Britain,Josie Pohlinger asks, is this really a step in the right direction? The condition that foot Botox is said to tackle is the pain in the soft tissue on the ball of the foot, or metatarsal region, now dubbed ‘stillettotarsal’. Caused by years of tottering around in high stilettos, the condition is becoming rapidly more widespread due to heels getting higher. With a height of between 13cm and 15cm, the new killer heel is living up to its name, damaging the feet and causing severe agony. The likes of Prada, Pucci and DSquared2 saw models tumble from the heights of their heels at their shows on the runways of Paris and Milan in September, with wear-ability close to zero. But this has not stopped Australian women embracing the trend with pleasure and, therefore, turning to Botox to counteract the effects. They’ve swapped their flip-flops for the heights of heels, and now have now discovered cutting-edge cosmetic surgery to demise the painful consequences. It seems that heels are now a dangerous business; apparently 40 percent of women who are prone to wearing high heels have incurred some form of injury by falling off them. But what softens the fall is the long list of physical benefits that women get from that extra height. The integral wardrobe must-haves lengthen your legs, flatten your stomach, push out your bottom and boost your breasts, so it’s no wonder women will run the risk of falling over in their sky-high Christian Louboutins and pump their feet with Botox to increase wear-ability. It’s also no surprise that a recent study found that almost half of women in Liverpool and Manchester wore heels all week long. If Botox for feet isn’t for you, alternatively, for the faint hearted, you can alleviate the burning sensation felt in the balls of your feet on a night out by investing in gel-pads. However, Botox appears to be the way forward for the killer-heel addict. Usually famous for giving celebrities and socialites a more stern appearance in the face and smoothing out wrinkles and fine lines, the foot Botox treatment is now in hot demand in the quest for perfect feet. The launch of Christian Louboutin’s staggering 8-inch heels this year, a leap from his 5 to 6 inch increase in 2008, confirms that heels gracing the perfectly preened feet of fashionistas now are only set to become higher. Louboutin told The Sunday Times ‘There’s no doubt heels have never been as high as they are now. You can find 20cm (7.9in) heels in the fetish trade but this will be the first time they make fashion mainstream.’ The highest heel ever to exist in the fetish trade is 20 inches, confirming that when it comes to shoes, women are, indeed, completely mad. The wearer
of this 20 inch monstrosity heel must be propped and assisted by helpers to be able to stand. As I’m sure you can imagine, these shoes are for commercial purposes only. Should you look carefully at the tag, it would undoubtedly state ‘do not wear for longer than five minutes’, and probably a second statement advising the wearer not to venture out into the street with these skyscraping stilts hanging from your feet. Whether its 6 inches, 8 inches or, for the brave woman, the whole 20 inches, this fixation on everincreasing heel height comes at a hefty price. Statistics suggest that as many as 20,000 women a year in the UK are hospitalised by their heels. It’s no wonder the foot Botox procedure is taking off in Australia and likely to become just as popular here. Podiatrist Paul Bours, from Sydney, Australia, says ‘it’s adventurous to inject in the feet because people don’t think about doing it. Where a woman might usually consider a more familiar form of cosmetic surgery, they are now considering the benefits of podiatric surgery instead to eliminate pain with vast cosmetic effect.’ As far as Bours is concerned, the procedure could become as common as breast enlargements or facelifts in the future. ‘Once the awareness is out there, we will see more patients pouring in’, he exclaimed. Although Bours is positive about the effects of this new surgery-fad, Dr Bob Kass, a GP in Adelaide Australia, is sceptical about how effective the treatment really is. ‘Women in Australia are now living by the rule that if the shoe doesn’t fit, fix the foot’, declares Dr Kass. He remains certain that the benefits of the procedure, weighted with the cost and long-term effectiveness, is not worthy. ‘The Botox injection won’t cause any long-term damage, but there is really not long-term benefit in the operation. Moderation and common sense is the key to healthy feet, rather than using the Botox as a short-term fix.’ So, who are the women having this operation and how effective is the treatment, really? Like many other women her age, Christina, a 22-year-old dental assistant, loves shoes but finding the perfect fit hasn’t been easy. ‘In certain shoes, it causes me pain and my feet will rub against the shoes and hurt me’, she says, sharing this problem with countless women both in Australia and all over the world. Growing up, Christina had what is called ‘hammertoe’, a deformity of the middle joint. ‘I got teased by people at school because they thought my feet were odd.’ Fed up with all the pain it was causing her, she decided to go under the knife. Christina is one of an increasing number of women who are turning to surgeons to correct typically troublesome complaints. Along with the hammertoe, other agonizing problems that occur for women as a result of wearing high heels include the muscles in your toes beginning to cramp, your feet may begin to spasm as a result of being restricted and excess pressure on the ball of the foot may cause pain and burning in that area. This then results in the soft tissue becoming swollen, sore and red. Other side effects include broken ankles, poor posture adjustments and painful bunions. Some simple tips to