Biomechanical Evaluation on Balance During Standing on Various Height and Contact Area Heeled Shoes

Abstract

People who live in urban cities need comfortable shoes which can support various daily activities and give attractive appearance. In women society, shoes have high aesthetic values because they are considered improve appearance and enhance confidence. Contrast with attractive appearance, high heeled shoes give negative effects on health. High heeled shoes could reduce: muscle movement around ankle, total foot movement, and balance control that may cause injury. This research is purposed to measure biomechanical phenomenon on balance when wearing high heels with various type of height and contact area. Seven ladies (age: 18–21 years old, weight, 50-55kg, height: 148–157 cm, shoes size: 38) - who didn't wear high-heeled shoes for daily activities - were chosen to become the subjects in the experiment. Each subject was asked to stand on bare foot and wore 11 types of shoes with various height (low, mid, high, very high) and base support (pointed, chunky, wedges). Balance assessment was done using force plate. They stood on dominant foot, while the other foot was elevated for 6 seconds. Stability test showed that the most unstable shoes is pointed high, followed by chunky, and the most stable is wedges high. Stability decrease as the contact area gets smaller and the shank curve angle and wedge angle get steeper. The instability is higher in medial-lateral direction than antero posterior direction.