Free Health Dissertations - The Purpose Of This Research Proposal Is To Examine The Impact Of Heel Height
The purpose of this research proposal is to examine the impact of heel height on the gait of healthy human subjects. Surveys have shown that between 37% and 69% of women wear high heels on a daily basis (Godwin, McKinzie and Royo, 2004). There have been concerns voiced by health professionals about the difficulties associated with high-heeled shoes, including increased risk of chronic back pain and osteoarthritis brought about by high heel strike transient forces. There is also an increased risk of foot-specific injuries such as bunions, blisters and hammer toes (Whittle, 1999). Furthermore, constant heel elevation is associated with a reduction of the achilles tendon and, as stride length is diminished by walking in heels, the mobility range may be impaired in the long term (Godwin et al, 2004). Further research is required to investigate the impact of heeled shoes on the health and gait of physically able individuals, and users of leg prosthesis (Bergmann, Kniggerndorf, Graichen and Rohlmann, 1995).
A review of studies examining the biomechanical impact of wearing high heeled shoes suggests that the compensation for wearing heels would appear to occur lower in the body at the knee and ankle, rather than in the lumbar region (Hansen and Childress (2004)). This was verified in one study on the effect of shoe heel height on the walking performance of eight healthy adult female subjects (Hansen and Childress (2004)). The ankle and foot rollover shapes of subjects wearing different types of shoes with variable heel height were recorded. Gait analysis motion measurements were obtained from all the women while they walked at three speeds (slow/usual pace/ fast) in shoes of a high heel, medium heel and no heel. Rollover shapes measured during slow, fast and self-selected walking pace were similar, but the largest adaptation occurred at the ankle when heel height increased. While rollover characteristics do not markedly change in healthy, human subjects wearing shoes of different heel heights, there were differences in the forward arc measure. Forward shift measurements did not change significantly from the heel-free shoes and the medium heel shoes, but did change significantly between the heel-free and high heel shoes. This suggests that individuals adapt when wearing shoes of different heel heights to maintain effective rollover characteristics. However, for high heel wearers, there is a postural shift brought about by the lack of ability of the ankle to compensate for the actual height of the shoes. As with most gait to heel studies, there were methodological limitations to this study including the lack of standardisation in footwear where subjects brought in their own heeled shoes, a small sample size and restricting the experiment to stress effects of a block heel (Hansen and Childless, 2004).
Godwin et al (2004) have examined the effects of wearing shoes of different heel height on the function and adaptation of the lower limbs while walking.
Dissertations - Free Health Dissertations
