The oldest trick in the book is to figure out the problem areas of your shoes without giving them a chance to hurt you. If your shoes aren’t going to be worn with socks, like a pair of high heel pumps, simply wear them around the house with a pair of thick socks before you decide to take them out on the town. This will stretch any area that may need to be broken in. If you don’t have enough time to wear them in, try running a hot hair dryer over the shoes while with your socked feet inside. This can expedite the stretching process.
While you don’t want to suffocate your ankle, it’s important to make sure that any heel with straps or laces is secure to your foot. Not only will a too-loose shoe rub all of the wrong areas of your foot, especially the back of your ankle, but feeling like your shoes will fall off with each step will cause you to unnaturally grip your toes. This could cause muscle pain in your feet in addition to the rubbing.
We all love wearing heels because they make us feel sexier. Pair a chic heel with your favorite career dress and leather purse and you’re sure to feel invincible. However, that effect is quickly diminished when someone walks like a baby calf in their heels. Walking with bad posture can make not only your feet ache, but your whole body. According to Bustle, when you walk in heels, you should keep your head and spine straight, while completely lifting your legs towards your center while you walk.
If you’re wearing heels to work, it can be tempting to kick your shoes off under the security of your desk. However, this can actually make your feet ache more when you put them back on. Your feet swell throughout the day – which is why you should never go shoe shopping in the morning – so taking them out of the shoes that you wore in the morning, only to squeeze them back in in the afternoon can make you feel like one of the stepsisters in Cinderella. Believe me, sitting with your shoes off isn’t worth it!
Fight the urge to take your shoes off throughout the day.
There are a surprising amount of ways you can use various adhesives to make your heels more comfortable. Invest in a sheet of moleskin, a soft cotton with a sticky back, and adhere it to areas of your feet that rub uncomfortably on the shoes. Moleskin is made for this, so it won’t fall off or slip around throughout the day like a bandage would. Another way to wear your heels more comfortably is to tape your third and fourth toe together. This sounds like a strange tip, but according to She Knows, when these toes are supporting each other, stress on the nerve on your foot is alleviated.