High Heels May Have Killed PRINCE!

High Heels may have killed Prince!

We all remember Prince ‘s hair, his stylish purple attire and of course who can forget those HEELS! Prince was notorious for wearing heels anywhere he went. In fact his first wife, Mayte Garcia, stated he even wore heels in the house all day long. What does wearing heels and then moving in them do over a long period of time? Perhaps we can learn from Prince. Recent reports are revealing that one possibility to Prince’s death may have been partly due to overdosing on Percocet (a drug to control pain) that he was taking to control the pain his hips. Apparently Prince had been suffering from severe hip arthritis due his long -term use of high heels….see even Prince is NOT immune to the crazy compensations your body will do just to keep you moving.

Your hip joint is shaped like a ball in a socket. If that ball is not sitting symmetrically and evenly in the socket then you will get uneven wear and tear around that ball and socket. Compare a car tire that wears unevenly because the alignment is off.

Wearing heels will throw your body forward and in order for you to still stand up straight, your hips will have to be thrown forward causing…you guessed it…uneven pressure around that ball and socket joint. This is essentially what Prince did all day long by wearing high heels. Uneven wear and tear breaks down the cartilage or covering around that ball. When this happens…it’s called arthritis or formally known as osteo (meaning bone) arthritis. Now it doesn’t stop there. Once your hip starts to cause pain then your body will compensate up and down the body to help decrease pain and this is wear your back, knees, ankles etc. may start to hurt. So the issue can stretch further then just the hip joint.

So what lessons can we learn from Prince? Wear heels sparingly for a nice dinner or party. Seek guidance from one of our awesome physical therapists about what can be done to improve that pain in your hip and what is the best shoe wear specifically for you. Remember…just because you have been diagnosed with mild to moderate hip arthritis…doesn’t mean you have to live with pain and taking pain meds. There are a whole host of things that can be done to improve hip alignment and decrease the uneven pressure around your hips joints so you can get more longevity out of that hip before you might need a new one!

Hina Sheth