High Heels And Your Sex Drive

Better for your health, better for your sex life, and better to renew your pelvic pleasures. Hard to believe that we're talking about wearing high heels, but recent studies reverse the old negative publicity which blasted those staples of everyday women's existence...studies which blamed high heels as a cause of bad posture, stress fractures and other injury. Now they're just the cure for failing sex drives according to a recent study published in the journal, European Urology. And just the cure for admiring men as well as consumer women.

Opening the controversy is Dr.Maria Cerruto, a researcher and urologist at Italy's University of Verona. Cerruto, who expresses a great affection for such shoes, claims that high heels (also known as "stilettos" in Italy), tone the legs and strengthen the all- important pelvic muscles. Just wearing these shoes would, in effect, replace much of the need for the pelvic exercises necessary to keep the pelvic area musculature healthy.

She studied 66 women under the age of 50, and discovered that women who held up their feet at a 15 degree angle to the ground, the physical equivalent of a two inch, or moderate heel, showed up to 15 per cent less electrical activity in their pelvic muscles. This leads to the conclusion that these same muscles are more relaxed, when the woman is wearing the heels than not wearing the heels, increasing muscular strength and the ability to contract. Physiologically, the pelvic muscles are responsible for sexual performance and satisfaction. Less electrical activity means more relaxation, and more relaxation translates into better sex according to Dr. Cerruto. And better health.

Unspoken, but obviously related, is the fact that this unintended exercise and relaxation of the pelvic muscles is far more amenable to the boring, jarring and often hazardous pelvic exercises dished out as therapy to women getting over their pregnancy or surgery. If the exercise is suitable, then, the woman is more likely to exercise, just like anyone else. And if the regimen of merely wearing these suddenly medicinal fashion accessories leads to better health, women will not complain. And, of course, neither will admiring men.

Admiring men will continue to admire, with the logical extension that women desire admiring men and will wear the shoes more, hence exercising more. High heels are a broad and very ancient acceptable fetish in fashion and art. They seem to traverse all cultures and income levels, are depicted with great regularity in magazines, stocked widely in stores, and sell very well, regardless of the vogue otherwise.

Now they are seen as very healthy for exercise of the same sexual urges and practices which teased them into popular existence. Remember those high heels can cause foot, ankle, knee and back problems. They are not for everyone, especially those women with a history of ankle sprains, bad knees, bad hips and backs.

All in all, a very happy circumstance for men and women. Just what the doctor ordered, and not unpalatable medicine at that.

Comments

[BluGrrl]

Well, this is great news for me, I love heels as I was blessed with long legs. Now I find out there is a sexual advantage to wearing heels? Excellent.

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

Milan is the shoe capital of the world. All the shoe trends emanate from Milan, so it's not surprising to see an Italian study on high heels. I love high heels. I'm 5'11" barefoot, and it's never stopped me from wearing 4 inch stilettos, platforms or wedges. I don't wear them around the house because I have hard wood floors, but I've never been able to break my addiction to high heels. 400 crunches a day and some yoga or pilates will also suffice for keeping your pelvic floor muscles in shape, if you happen to prefer flats.

[Ookiecay]

Well, armed with this info, I will put a little extra attitude in my strut when I'm parading around in my ever-present heels. Someone has to stand up for glam.

[Ramus]

What a load of horseshit this is! When I was very young I wore them all the time...called them my "catch me fuck me" shoes. I was cruising and it pays to advertise and I sprained my ankles a lot. As I got older, got married had kids, I didn't not wear them because I could not really move in them, they threw my balance off, made my lower back and feet hurt like crazy. On my fiftieth birthday, just for a special occasion, I was out with some men friends in my very highest heels. After a few birthday cocktails I fell off the high heels causing a terrible sprained ankle that hurt for about a year. A sign from Zeus. No more high heels. I guess they are helpful if one is advertising for a fella or a fuck...but they are just terrible for your feet, and back and legs. I now wear New Balance sneakers, USA (they're made HERE). And I will never ever wear shoes again that hurt any part of my body. Check out the toes of women who wear high heels all the tine..not so pretty. We might as well bind our feet like the ancient Japanese women!

[BluGrrl]

Well, as much as you allegedly sprain your ankles in heels did it ever occur to you that you may just be clumsy ? I wear heels quite often and the only time I ever sprained my ankle was when I was running down the stairs...in sneakers.

As far as all the complaints about back, foot pain etc. I would wonder what kind of physical shape one's body was in and whether they were flatfooted or not and what kind of heels they were wearing and whether they fit properly.

I have never had any of the problems I hear some of you complaining about, and just because you can't pull off wearing heels doesn't mean others can't.

And to compare foot binding with wearing heels, that's a little over the top, don't you think?

[dadw5boys]

SHOE SALE

SHOE SALE

SPEND YOUR MONEY NOW

BETTER SEX

SHOE SALE

[BluGrrl]

I'd rather spend yours...

[2manymonkeys]

I know high heels can damage feet, legs, backs but women who wear heels around me won't spend alot of time on their feet but more in bed.

High heels shorten the look of the foot, make the legs appear longer and more shapely, lift and tighten the buttocks.

Listen for the sound of a woman walking in heels and then observe how men aged 9 to 90 will turn to catch a glimpse.

[CAPTAINSKIPPY]

Funny how it takes a while for "the experts" advising us about our lives to learn what we figured out without them.

[Pneumaticus]

I knew that.

[Killer]

For whatever reason, women in Western cultures have been acculturated to high heels as sexual turn-ons, and men have been acculturated to see the same. Having been raised in that culture, women in heels were sexy.I liked to see my wife in heels, but then she shared with me the following fact. When she wore heels, her friggin feet hurt! I realized that there were plenty of things brought us together, the least of which was her footwear.

[evekendall]

What a nice man. ;)

[nainam97]

Whatever happened to "moderation" when it comes to the question of heel height?

If I am exercising or walking a long distance, I wear running shoes or flats.

If I'm going to the office on an ordinary day, I wear classy little mid-heel pumps.

If I'm going out on the town, depending on the climate and location, I put on my "floozy shoes" --high stillleto sandals or pumps. If the evening involves dancing, I try to wear sexy shoes that have been a bit broken in.

I have no bunions, corns, blisters, crooked toes or other foot problems, I also like to go barefoot around the house, or "sockfoot" if it's chilly.

My doctor, my pedicurist and my husband all say my feet are pretty and in great shape. So girls, go for it and just wear what's right for the occasion!! We should neither be slaves to fashion or foot health.

[cinemaven]

Great for your pelvis.. hell on your feet.

Only someone who has never worked in a job where heels over 3`` are part of the uniform could write this. After 3 years of wearing heels, I not only had horrible foot problems but my tendons had stretched to a point where it took me a year to be able to wear flats. Luckily, I got out of there without lasting damage... nothing more than having to have my nailbed scraped for chronic ingrown nails. A co-worker I`m still in touch with who worked there for 18 years has crippling leg problems. She has had 4 operations on bunions.

Of course, she still looks great in heels but out of them her feet are a fetishists nightmare... bunions, hammertoes, corns and ingrown toenails... mmmmmm sexy...



(We worked in an upscale restaurant where female servers were required to wear 3``+ heels)

[NoComment9]

This is total nonsense and Dr. Positano knows it! I saw him in a political doc type film called Running in High Heels saying the exact opposite of what he's saying here.

A lot of us readers are already dismayed with the tabloidy direction that HuffPo has taken. Now I can't figure out if HuffPo wants to be TMZ or Cosmo! But shame on the good doctor, he knows better and encouraging women to overuse high heels is bad for their health. You might get away with in in your 20s but at some point you pay a medical price.

[hiNY]

it's new research study!!! READ BEFORE YOU COMMENT

[NoComment9]

BE INFORMED BEFORE YOU TAKE OTHERS COMMENTS TO TASK -- it seems that this "new" info is all about the benefits to a wearer's pelvic muscles ONLY. There's nothing new in this info that negates the other well-known and established hazards to the rest of the musculoskeletal system that the Dr. discussed in the film I saw and the Dr. completely omits mentioning them in his post here. Read the other comments --- other commenters are listing the known hazards.

What's going on here is sort of like the Dr. saying "New research shows that cigarette smoke give users a sense of euphoria" without mentioning anything else.

The fact is high heel use needs to be done in moderation and the Dr. knows it and should have written a bit more thoroughly to include that info as well as cover the specific hazards. He's writing as a medical expert, not some guy just promo-ing a study.

When doctors step into the media, they shouldn't just parrot whatever press release flies across their desk -- they should provide some objective anaylsis or medical background. Sanjay Gupta on CNN (who I'm not necessarily holding up as a gold standard) often reports on stuff like this and adds some info about the context of the "new research" or mentions other research that contradicts the info. Medical studies are often conducted, funded and released with a financial agenda. It does great harm to the public if doctors acting as medical experts in the media just report them and don't analyze.

[lungfish]

I remember some of the alleged downsides to high heels including shortened achilles tendons that tended to tear when stretched out ot walk barefoot, turned ankles, etc.... I dont know if I prefer women who wear them..... I do like potential mates to appear feminine and that means skirts and such.... I have a business in SF and when I am there I do appreciate the well dressed, feminine woman over pantsuits, etc.... I don't underestimate (or overestimate) her but her care for her appearance is influential when I am in hiring mode. It also demonstrates that she manages her weight, has a sense of self worth, and is a well rounded person - if her resume is solid. I would never hire on looks alone.

[InternationalObserver]

er ... thanks for sharing!

[jasondeluxe]

Wow thank God that's all cleared up, the thread was dying to know.

[WilliePilgrim]

People are mistaking high heels as functional shoes. They're part of a costume a woman wears in order to attract a mate, not to walk that extra mile, and by the way, they look best when they're up in the air, not down on the ground.

[PracticalIdealism]

Eye candy, exactly! Similar benefits to the pelvic region can easily be achieved by doing 20 minutes of Pilates a few times per week. Much easier and more effective than wearing stilettos 24/7.

[dora rice]

Wearing high heels a lot gives you shapely legs. But not back ache or any other problems. I wore them for years. Glad I don't have to wear them anymore. I rather be a slob.