Reshaping the wearing condition of high-heeled shoes by insole design to avoid hallux valgus

Abstract

With the wide variety of shapes and styles of high heels available, women are usually confronted with a plethora of physical issues, such as hallux valgus, fatigued muscles, and ankle, knee, and hip pain from wearing the wrong type of high heels for extended periods of time. In order to decrease the damage done by wearing high heels while improving comfort and support for the feet, design criteria and two special insoles were created, and these were compared to a generic type insole. Fifteen young Taiwanese women participated in the experiment, which utilized an F-scan in-shoe pressure sensor device along with video footage recording to collect data. Series analyses following the distributive and geographical clues were conducted to identify the effect of the insoles and the biomechanical explanation of the deformation of big toes. The findings prove that the designed insoles effectively reduce the deformative torque on big toes. Besides, we identified the change in the wearing condition in the test group of new insoles. Surprisingly, instead of the sagittal, the frontal offset is the actual cause of the big toe's deformation. Also, our result suggests that self-reported evaluation may not be strong evidence to measure the big toes' deformative danger. Finally, we reflect on the potential of design-centered research for theoretical construction.