Physiological implications of high‐heeled shoes on the venous return for healthy women

Abstract

Walking with high‐heeled shoes is a common cause of venous complains like pain, fatigue and heavy legs feeling. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that women using different high‐heeled shoes present an impaired venous return when compared with themselves barefooted. Women without venous disease were evaluated with Air Plethysmograpy, a test that measures changes in air volume on a cuff placed on the calf, while they perform orthostatic flexion and extension foot movements. The test was repeated 4 times: barefooted, with 3.5 cm heel, 7cm heel, and platform heel. The values for the parameters of Venous Filling Index (VFI), Ejection Fraction (EF), Residual Volume Fraction (RVF) were separated in 4 groups, one for each test situation in order to compare them applying Two Way Analysis of Variance. It was found that, on the 7cm high‐heel group, the EF reduces and the RVF increases in relation to barefooted group (p<0,05). The platform heel group presents an increase for RVF values compared with barefooted group (p<0,05). There is no statistical difference when comparing the 3.5 cm high‐heel with the other groups. VFI values did not show difference among the 4 groups. These results indicate that the 7cm and platform heels impair the muscle pump what changes the venous physiology. This is demonstrated by the increase on FVR values. The absence of variation for VFI indicates that the venous valves competence is preserved. FAEPA.