The world’s first 3D scan of a female foot in a high heel shows the shocking effect of damaging high heels. Ped-CAT machine at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, London, takes a 360-degree scan of the patient’s foot in 60 seconds – and is far more accurate than the traditional X-ray.
When wearing high heels, the toes are squashed inside the shoe. The more stiletto-shaped they are, the worse it is. The toes not only get squashed, but they become clawed too. If you wear heels for an hour or two at an evening party, it’s not a problem. However, wearing them for eight hours a day for years on end can cause havoc on your feet. Teen are also prone to foot problems.
With a family history of high heel wearers and you wear them a lot, you are pretty much guaranteed to develop bunions.
“If you are not genetically predisposed, wearing high heels may accelerate bunions quicker.
With the PedCAT machine, the first of its kind in the UK, does a 360-degree scan of the patient’s feet in just 60 seconds.
Doctors can then view 3D image from every angle, spinning it around to view the foot from above, below and the side. It also takes 600 2D views of the foot. The scanner shows the deformity caused by wearing high heels and is much more complicated than we previously thought. ‘With high heels, the toes are squashed inside the shoe. The more stiletto-shaped they are, the worse it is. The toes not only get squashed, but they become clawed too.’
The base of the big toe becomes ‘deviated outwards’, forming a bunion, while the scanner also shows how these bones can become ‘rotated and dropped’.Pea-shaped bones under the base of the big toe – called sesamoids – get dislodged by the immense pressures put on them.
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