7 Signs Telling Your Heels Don't Fit Well & 5 Ways to Find the Correct Fit

You might want to achieve a sophisticated look with your heels. That’s a good idea. They could look elegant at first but did you know that they could ruin your health if you end up choosing the wrong one?

This extensive guide will show you how to pick the right pair of heels so you can keep flaunting your style while still being able to avoid the possible health complications.

How Should Heels Fit

Keep the following factors in mind and you will be good to go.

• Consider buying your heels in the afternoon or in the evening when your feet seem a bit fat. Don’t try to do this in the morning though. Remember to have a gap of about a half-inch to a quarter-inch to the front sides of your toes.
• If a pair is putting too much stress on your feet then go for half size bigger. Your toes should fit securely in the front of the toe box, but have a little bit of spacing to wriggle around.
• Walk around for at least 10 minutes with the new pair before you make an order and make sure it is not causing any pain or swelling on your feet. If you find your feet pinching or rubbing, it’s better to use foams. Alternatively, padding helps in reducing blisters over the whole area. In case of platform heels, the soles of high heels are rounded.
• Many tend to believe that high heel wedges are more comfortable when compared to high heels since they evenly distribute your body weight. But the truth is that wedges touch the ground with a large surface area, making you feel comfortable. Your weight distribution depends on heights of heels but not on their sizes or shapes.
• Get rid of any pair of heels that is tight, particularly around the toes. If you are not used to wearing heels you could find that the same pair you wore a few years ago would not fit right now.
• Don’t just buy a pair even if you know the actual size or brand since your feet might continue to grow bigger. Never force your feet to fit into your shoes. According to podiatrists, too high and tall heels cause foot deformities.
• If you need to place your deformed feet into your shoes then use a wooden spoon warmed up in hot water to spots that need stretching. This is only applicable for soft leather shoes, not for leather plastic shoes.
• ApplyPORON® foam shoe inserts into your heels. It would help keep your feet safe from sliding and slipping, stabilize your shoes, and cushion the balls of your feet. Not everyone has the same feet size and shape, so you’ll need a customized option. Make sure your feet do not push upwards and the balls of the feet are in the right place.
• Even after adding high quality shoe inserts your ankle could still hurt. They would not mitigate pain that resulted from over flexing ankles. This condition could dislocate your ankle bones that could only be overcome by low heels of about 3 inches high.

Signs that Tell Your Heels Don’t Fit Well

1. Sliding Too Much

Sliding around with your new heels causes difficulty in walking and even pain. Your heels could slide if your shoes are too large or your feet become wet. This is risky when you need to walk long distances. To avoid any possibility of falling, try heel grips. They are soft and small padded set inside the heel to ensure a good fit.

2. Overhanging Toes

This is more common in high heels but sometimes found in flip flops as well. An excellent solution to this problem is to get the right sized heels, especially if your job requires standing up for long hours or if you have swollen legs. If the problem continues even after matching the correct size, then apply padding.

3. Causing Pain

This is something you should not ignore. Wearing wrong size heels could cause pain not only in your toes but also in your hip, knee or even in your waist. Wearing painful heels for a long time could also result in temporary or permanent dislocation of your bones or joints.

Try to reduce the number of hours you spend wearing heels, look for low heels or heels with shock absorbers, or wear pain relief heel socks.

4. Consistent Blisters

When you put on heels, much of your body weight rests on them. Blisters are caused due to the friction caused when your toes, heels, and the soles of your shoes rub against your shoes.Your outermost skin would start to dry and shed due to blisters.

However, you could get immediate relief from blisters with the Elastoplast Large Blister Plaster. It is specially designed for blisters on the toes or ankles.

5. Wrong Heel Placement

Adjustments are necessary for your heels and your shoes. Your heels should be in line under your heel bones, neither at the front nor at the back of your feet. If they are positioned incorrectly, you could lose your balance soon.

6. Tight Straps

Straps are as equally important as your shoes. In case you notice that they are cutting into your feet anywhere, remember that no amount of breaking in will be able to change that.

7. Heel Bobbling

Ideally, your heels should not lift more than half-inch out of your shoe with each step of walking. When your heels bobble, your possibility for falling increases.

You need to think of heels of half size down or you can put on heel inserts for a better fit.

How to Find the Right Fit?

a) Measure Your Feet

The right way to measure your feet and to find your right shoe size is to measure your feet at feet stores. You will have to place your feet on a special scale called carpeted scale for proper measurements. You will also find other such devices that would fit into your feet and automatically adjust themselves with your foot dimensions to measure your shoe size.

Alternatively, you can measure your feet at home yourself. Get a pencil, a ruler, and two pieces of paper. Place your left foot on one paper and right foot on the other. Draw lines from top to bottom of your feet and from the left to the right edge and then measure with a ruler.

b) Inspect the Heels

When you put a heel onto your foot for the first time, fasten it with straps. If you are comfortable then this means these heels are suiting you perfectly. But when you are struggling to fit them in your feet, their size might be too small. This will result in too tight shoes that can cause major health problems. 

Examine your heel areas and make sure the straps don’t cut you. You should not expect enough room in between your heels and the heels of your shoes. Too small or too big sizes are not preferable.

c) Inspect the Toes

Your toes should be at the front tip of the shoes when standing. This position might vary due to the wide variety of toe boxes available, such as closed toe boxes, open toe boxes, and peep toe boxes.

No matter your toe boxes are, you should keep your toe comfortably and securely. Check if your toe areas are getting red or purple and don’t forget to notice overhanging toes.

d) Inspect the Sides

Your sides of feet need to be within the same boundary with your heels. The presence of enough space between the edges of your feet and the insides of your shoe is not advisable. Also, your feet should not project out from the shoe. You should have no trouble in adjusting the edges of your feet to the inside of your shoes. Examining the sides of your feet helps you get the perfect size and shape of shoes.

e) Walk around the heels

Both heels of a pair of women's shoes need to be balanced with equal tightness level. They should move up and down at the same level at the same rate. Remember to investigate areas of toes, sides, and heels and never buy heels without practicing them.

We hope that you know how to select your heels by now. Don’t forget to give a trial of a minimum of 10 minutes while wearing a new pair. If you find a new pair uncomfortable after your purchase, don’t hesitate to change immediately.

FAQ:

1. Should you buy heels a size smaller?
2. The answer can be yes or no. Buy low heels if you are feeling pain when wearing them. Similarly, pick heels of half size down to avoid heel bobbling.
3. Are 10 cm heels too high?
4. No. In fact, 10cm heels are a good choice because you can walk for a long time. However, heels as high as 12-16 cm would not be comfortable to walk.