Just like most women, my mother loves to get on my case about things. And by "things," I really mean everything. The color of my hair, that it's too long, too short, I'm gaining a little weight, but then when I tell her I'm working out, she makes a point to mention that I could be "bulking up." After only a short weekend visit, I am close to going to her perfectly clean oven and sticking my not so perfect head into it.
But, I digress. The other day, she nagged about my shoe choice (D&G slingback heels), stating that it was masochistic to wear such high heels when we didn't even have plans to go anywhere. And for the first time in my 25 years on this Earth, I thought that she may be right. My arches ached, my calves were cramped and my toes felt pinched. Why was I wearing these sadistic (albeit beautiful) shoes?
The next morning, I awoke feeling liberated. I didn't need to wear my heels all the time! What a silly girl I'd been! I put on a soft gray jersey dress and slipped into my ballet flats that had been collecting dust. The cloth at the heel was stiff and felt more like the plastic that came in a child's toy than material meant for foot wear. I pushed the thought from my head and remembered that like any shoe, even ballet flats need to be broken in.
For two hours I walked funny, compensating for the stiff material and the lack of support. Three hours later, I felt a rawness at the back of my ankle which I hadn't felt in years. After half a day, I ripped the shoes from my feet, determined to never again wear ballet flats. Blood stained the inside of the evil blister-creating shoe, my arches were throbbing and open sores oozed all over my feet. Never before had they experienced such a deadly assault. I totally blamed this pain on my mother.
Plagued by curiosity, I bandaged my feet and chose another pair of flats. Within 30 minutes, my feet ached all over again. Only this time, the area right below my big toe felt compacted. I threw this pair behind me and grabbed the next. I conducted the experiment with five different flats, yielding the same results each time. Finally, I grabbed my trusty D&G slingback heels and with a rush of relief, slid them onto my feet. All pain disappeared.
The only thing I can think of is that I must have high arches…arches that need heels to offer support and to be comfortable. How twisted is that? Does anyone else have this problem? Is there a specific type of ballet flat I need to buy…? I have a feeling there is an investigative report coming soon to Modo Facile regarding the best ballet flats for high arches!
~ Colleen Katana
2 comments:
When I wear flats, my ankles bleed like that, too. But I think it's less the flats and more the closed ankle area...but then again, it could be the arch, because I have an incredibly high arch, too
This is coming from a different point of view, but depending on how much time you spend in your trusty sling-back heels could also be causing the pain you are having when wearing flats. I read an article on the web recently that talked about how your calf muscles could actually shorten due to extended wearing of high heels. I'm sure that having high arches doesn't help matters either. Just another spin on the subject :)
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