Podiatrists Find Themselves on the High Heels of Fashion

Those stiletto heels strutting through pages of women’s fashion magazines this year mean revenue for more than the manufacturers.

Podiatrists report an influx this year of fashion victims seeking treatment for twisted ankles, hammer toes, buckling at the heel, and pain at the ball of the foot.

Dr. Nicholas Grumbine, a Fullerton podiatrist, says he sees more such cases any time the fashionable height of heels rises.

His worst case this fall?

A local business executive in her late 20s, who hobbled in on a pair of expensive 3 1/2-inch-high killers. She had just worn the heels on a three-hour shopping spree and couldn’t stand the pain anymore, he says.

The nerves and joints in the bottom of her foot were inflamed, the ligaments stretched, and the protective, fatty pads on her soles had shifted out of position, leaving the bone unprotected, he said.

Grumbine put her feet in a pair of boot-like casts that she had to wear for about two weeks until the swelling went down. He also prescribed soaking, ultrasound and medication. Her treatment cost about $1,000 altogether, he said.

*

Barbara Marsh covers health care for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-7762 and at barbara.marsh@latimes.com