Dancing in high heels helps lengthen the leg line, making every step appear graceful and elegant. But the thing with high heels is that not all people are used to walking in these shoes, much more dance in them!
How High Heels Affect Your Body
Wearing high heels affect different parts of the lower body, particularly the feet, ankles, calves, knees, and the lower back:
The Feet
When you are wearing your Latin dance heels, your body weight is shifted to the balls of your feet and the bones in your toes. Depending on the heel height, 4-inch heels increase your body weight to these areas of the feet by nearly a third! The undue stress leads to painful forefoot pain, blisters, ingrown nails, and in some cases, bony deformities.
Walking in heels leads to a forced kind of foot articulation, which exposes parts of the foot to crushing pressure. The uneven weight distribution and crushing pressure cause the feet to develop corns, calluses, and bunions. Also, the feet will experience metatarsalgia, a burning kind of pain at the front of the foot, specifically in the metatarsal region.
The Ankles and Calves
The ankles are also affected when you are dancing in high heels. They bend forward at an unnatural angle, which affects the blood flow in the Achilles tendon. Over time, the Achilles tendon loses its flexibility, making you more vulnerable to Achilles tendinitis - chronic ankle pain and permanent tendon damage.
The calves are connected to the ankles so if the ankles are weakened, the calves will be severely affected. Dancing in heels could lead to spider veins, thickened tendons, and tightened calf muscles that change how the rest of the body moves.
Knees
If you think that athletes are the only ones affected by damaged knees, you’re wrong! Even dancers who love wearing high heels are vulnerable to knee problems too. Because high heels force the knees at an unnatural angle, the bodyweight adds intense pressure to the knees. The stress leads to mild to moderate knee pain and in some cases, trigger osteoarthritis.
Lower Back
Women are more likely to suffer from chronic back pain because most tend to wear high heels than any other group. As the bodyweight shifts to the balls of the feet, the body is pushed forward. This adds strain to the lower back and hips, causing sciatic pains, muscle strains, and curvature of the spine (lumbar lordosis).
Can't Dance in Heels? Try Our Unisex Dance Shoe Flats
FFor some who simply cannot stand dancing in Latin high heels, there are more stylish options here at Yami's! Yami Shoes offer a range of heel heights so you can choose the comfy dance shoes that you like from our collection and get them at a low to moderate heel.
… or you can try any of our Unisex dance shoe flats!
We have a growing collection of unisex dance shoe flats, all in classic shapes and flattering colorways:
- Tropically
- Black Gator
- Mambo White
- Mambo Black
- Leo Black and White
- Carbonado Black Diamond
- Carbonado Red Fire
Tropically
Tropically is crafted from a combination of smooth white leather and printed canvas. It's durable, eye-catching yet uber-comfortable thanks to its cushioned insoles and low profile heels. The all-purpose street dance soles let you dance on any surface! Wear the Tropically to add a pop of color to your ensemble.
Black Gator
If you want something a little more subtle yet stylish, we highly recommend the Black Gator Unisex Dance Shoe Flats! These flats feature supple textured leather with stylish tassel accents. Easy to put on, easier to take off! The slip-on design means changing outfits in between performances is quick and easy.
Mambo White
Let’s do the Mambo! The Mambo White is crafted from smooth leather with tone-on-tone stitching and matching lace-ups. Great for spinning on smooth surfaces, the Mambo's classic shape and minimalist design would look stunning dressed up or down!
Mambo Black
The same iconic shape of the Mambo White, this time in velvety black leather. The Mambo black features the same supple leather that the Mambo white is known for as well as padded insoles and all-purpose street dance soles. This model is one of the easiest to wear in our entire collection because of the classic shape and colorway.
Leo Black and White
Nothing more iconic than black and white leather shoes! The Leo Black and White is a part of our Performance series. It features the classic black and white pairing in a timeless Oxford design. Easy to adjust laces means you can change quickly in between performances while the all-purpose outsoles let you dance on virtually all surfaces.
Carbonado Series
The Carbonado series is a collab with Andrea Arenas aka Ace Fusion, one of the most popular Latin dancers in the biz right now. We are huge fans of her smooth moves and captivating charisma and the Carbonado series embodies all that!
Carbonado Black Diamond: The Black Diamond features a combination of smooth black leather and black diamond-encrusted material. It also comes with our signature street dance soles so it could be worn on and off the dancefloor.
Carbonado Red Fire: The heat is ON! Set the dancefloor ablaze with the Carbonado Red Fire! Crafted from chili red leather and glittering material, the Red Fire features our signature suede soles for spinning on smooth surfaces.
Think wearing Latin dance heels is the only way to make an impact on the dance floor? Think again! With our unisex Latin dance shoe flats, you look good and you feel good knowing that your feet are getting all the pampering they deserve. Explore more of our Latin dance shoe collection right now and find your dream pair!
