The Effects of Heel Height on Postural Stability of Healthy Young Females

Introduction: High heel shoes alter the kinematics and muscle activity patterns of the lower extremities and spine. These changes in biomechanical characteristics of the body could be a challenging issue for postural stability system. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of different heel heights on the postural sway of healthy young women.Materials and Methods: Thirty-two female students who aged 22.3 ± 1.4 year old volunteered in this randomized cross-over trial. The center of pressure parameters were recorded while participants stood upright on a forceplate in four random conditions: barefoot, with zero heel-height shoes, with 3 cm heel-height shoes, and with 6 cm heel-height shoes. The recoded data was statistically analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA.Results: The statistical analyses indicated significant differences between the different heel heights (P < 0.050). The raising of heel height caused increases in the mean velocity F(3,29) = 4.6; P < 0.015, path length F(3,29) = 23; P < 0.001, and the range F(3,29) = 23; P < 0.001 of the body sway in different conditions of this study.Conclusion: It seems that increasing in heel height caused some alteration in the boy sway parameters which could induce a postural instability.