Ultrasonographic Evaluation of the Femoral Cartilage, Achilles Tendon and Plantar Fascia in Young Women Wearing High-Heeled Shoes

Ayşen Akinci¹, Kamal Mezian², Ayşe Merve Ata¹, Murat Kara¹, Şule Şahin Onat³, Eda Gürçay⁴, Aslı Çalışkan¹, Maria Ines Taboas Simoes⁵ and Levent Özçakar¹, ¹Hacettepe University Medical School Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ankara, Turkey, ²Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Health Care Disciplines and Population Protection, Kladno, Czech Republic, ³Ankara Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey, ⁴Gaziler Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey, ⁵PMR hospitalar assistant in Centro Hospitalar Entre Douro e Vouga, E.P.E, Portugal

Meeting: 2017 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

Date of first publication: September 18, 2017

Keywords: cartilage, foot wear, tendonitis/bursitis and ultrasound

Session Information

Date: Sunday, November 5, 2017

Title: Orthopedics, Low Back Pain and Rehabilitation Poster

Session Type: ACR Poster Session A

Session Time: 9:00AM-11:00AM

Background/Purpose: Wearing high-heeled shoes (HHS) may include structural and functional abnormalities due to repetitive stress particularly in the knee and forefoot. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the distal femoral cartilage, Achilles tendon and plantar fascia were different between healthy young women wearing HHS and flat shoes.

Methods: A total of 91 healthy women (aged 20-45 years) participated in this cross-sectional study. Women wearing shoes with a heel height of >5cm were enrolled in the HHS group, and those wearing shoes with a heel height of <1.4 cm were included in the flat shoes group. Femoral cartilage from the lateral femoral condyle (LFC), intercondylar area and medial femoral condyle (MFC), and Achilles tendon and plantar fascia thicknesses were measured by using ultrasound.

Results: There were 34 women (mean age; 31.1±6.4 years, BMI; 21.6±2.3 kg/m²) in the HHS group and 57 women (mean age; 29.5±7.3 years, BMI; 22.5±3.4 kg/m²) in the control group (both p>0.05). In group comparisons, thicker right MFC and left Achilles tendon were obtained in the HHS group (both p<0.05). Between group comparisons yielded thicker left Achilles tendon in the HHS group than the flat shoes group (p<0.05). Plantar fascia thicknesses were similar both within and between group comparisons (both p>0.05). Right Achilles tendon thickness was positively correlated with right (r=0.469, p=0.005) and left (r=0.402, p=0.018) plantar fascia thicknesses only within the HHS group.

Conclusion: Wearing HHS resulted in thickening of the right MFC and left Achilles tendon in women wearing HHS which might definitely be interpreted as secondary to chronic overload. Our results may provide an understanding of the morphological changes with wearing HHS and recommend that this “social” issue that exists in women’s lives be investigated further to reveal the musculoskeletal consequences.

Disclosure: A. Akinci, None; K. Mezian, None; A. M. Ata, None; M. Kara, None; Ş. Şahin Onat, None; E. Gürçay, None; A. Çalışkan, None; M. I. Taboas Simoes, None; L. Özçakar, None.

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Akinci A, Mezian K, Ata AM, Kara M, Şahin Onat Ş, Gürçay E, Çalışkan A, Taboas Simoes MI, Özçakar L. Ultrasonographic Evaluation of the Femoral Cartilage, Achilles Tendon and Plantar Fascia in Young Women Wearing High-Heeled Shoes [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2017; 69 (suppl 10). https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/ultrasonographic-evaluation-of-the-femoral-cartilage-achilles-tendon-and-plantar-fascia-in-young-women-wearing-high-heeled-shoes/. Accessed .

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