04/20/2023
Let's continue with our discussion about how wearing heels can impact your health.
I have to note that although we are talking about high heels, this applies to most shoes for men and women as most shoes have some element of lift.
Now, back to the real question of whether our girl, Carrie, from S*x and The City, would have digestive issues like bloating or constipation or any other bladder incontinence, from her 6-inch heels? (Spoiler: probably yes!)
Our feet and our pelvic floor; the muscles that hold your organs inside your lower abdomen up from falling out of your a**s (for all people) or va**na (for women), have a direct connection, which means a connection to digestion, elimination of our bowels and bladder and sexual health.
Say whhhhaaa?
When we wear heels, the structural changes I discussed in the previous post put extra pressure up through the toes, shins, upper leg, and hips. In the long term, this pulling on your hips will make the back side of your pelvic floor tight, which will cause anal/urethra tension. This can result in someone needing to strain to empty their bowels, bowel leakage or may cause bloating to occur. It may also cause sexual function issues and bladder incontinence (p*e a little when you laugh, jump, run, and frequent urination, because the muscles are already maxed out on tension and cannot contract further to hold urine in.
Tension in our feet, the shoes we wear, swelling or restrictions in our feet and ankles, how we stand and how we move, our gait, all affect the health of our pelvic floor.
Both standing with more weight on the inner or the outer edge of the foot will either cause a dropped arch (inner edge) or a higher arch (outer edge). Both outcomes result in differing lines of tension up through the leg, pulling on the pelvic floor muscles and ligaments, impacting your bowels, bladder, and/or sexual health.
With this in mind, my bet would be that Carrie would have had some issues!
What do you think?
Osteopathy can help address this by looking at the whole body and how it works together as one. By realigning the body, we can make significant changes to your overall health, relieving your symptoms in the process.
