Work-Day
For the first part of my work-day I was sitting without shoes on, but for the last four or five hours I was on my feet in my five-inch pointed toe pumps. I was wearing fuzzy-socks under them to help compress my feet more. I spent most of that time walking at my walking pad, and throughout the day I began feeling the effects of the heels more. It started off with minor fatigue, especially in my calves, but as the day went on I started to feel a minor burning in the balls of my feet which was a bit more intense towards the edge of my big-toe’s pad.
That burning in the balls of my feet is an indicator that the fat-pads under the balls of my feet are deteriorating, causing each step I take to impact those joints harder than it used to. Eventually this progresses into metatarsalgia, which comes with persistent sensations in the balls of the foot which intensify during and shortly after high-heel wear. Not only that, but the extra intensity on the edge of my bit-toe pad gives me hope that bunions are finally developing which is something I’ve been waiting years for.
By the end of my work-day, the pain in the balls of my feet had grown to a moderate burning pain between a 3 and a 3.5. At this point I felt like the pain was starting to affect my gait, and I noticed myself subconsciously trying to decrease the impact from each step to the balls of my feet.
The Shower
When I took the heels off for a shower though- that’s when the pain got truly exciting. Right after taking my heels off the pain in the balls of my feet jumped up to between a 4 and a 4.5, and when I initially tried walking with my heels elevated, the burning was even more intense- like around a 5 to 5.5.
The ache in the balls of my feet towards the end of my high-heel wearing is nothing new to me, and it usually worsens a little right when I take the heels off, but this level of pain is definitely a new one for me.
That increase in pain is extremely exciting for the development of forefoot-overload metatarsalgia, but also serves as a powerful reminder of the positive changes my body is experiencing as I continue to wear high heels regularly.
Even though the pain increase faded to almost nothing before I even got into the shower, that wasn’t the end of the exciting sensations from showering. When I stepped into the warm water, most of my feet felt the temperature immediately, but the middle toe of each foot could only feel static! After five or ten minutes pins and needles set in, and over time I regained sensation in these toes. These are early symptoms of Morton’s Neuroma which will eventually provide a near constant reminder of the benefits I get to experience because of high heels.
Evening Auditions
Today was an extremely high-heel filled day. After my shower I took a brief break, before pretty quickly getting ready for the rehearsals this evening. I didn’t end up wearing my five-inch pumps to rehearsal, but instead opted for a cute pair of three inch pointed-toe boots. Technically these boots are a size too small for me, but they really don’t feel too small for me, so I decided to wear a pair of fuzzy socks, a pair of fleece tights, and a pair of compression socks- just to help the shoes mold my feet into that feminine shape.
While I spent most of auditions sitting down, I made up for a good deal of this with the start and end of audition where I moved tables and chairs for around thirty minutes. This definitely put some good pressure on my feet, which I’m extremely grateful for. Even while sitting down though, I figured out that if I crossed my legs one on top of the other and tilted my chair back slightly that would provide a pretty good amount of pressure on my toes which is always beneficial.
After another six hours or so wearing heels (around five hours of which were spent sitting down) my toes were feeling a little squished and there was a dull ache in the balls of my feet, but not much else. Even when I was putting the tables and chairs back in place the pain in the balls of my feet only made it up to a three at most- which is disappointing, but I’m hoping I’ll be able to spend tomorrow in high-heels as well, which would be quite ideal.
Overall, not a bad day. I managed quite a few hours walking it high, tight, pointed-toe pumps plus another pretty good block of time in lower and loser pumps. The sensations in the balls of my feet reached new levels of intensity, especially just after removing my pumps mid-day, and I got some numbness in my middle toes for the first time, though it faded shortly after removing my heels. All around it was a pretty good day.
