Frequent high heel cause varicose veins?

This is a fairly controversial topic. There are no scientific studies to prove or disprove this hypothesis.

However I personally think that wearing too much high heels can make your varicose veins worse.

When you are wearing heels >4 cm high, your use much less calf muscle when you are walking. Since calf muscle pumping is responsible for emptying and pushing blood in the leg to the heart, wearing high heels will lead to more pooling of blood in the calf. This will distend the veins in the leg and thus lead to valve dysfunction and ultimately give rise to varicose veins.

Therefore I always advice my patient who has varicose veins to wear heels < 4 cm high in their daily life. But I tell them it’s is ok to go ahead and wear their Jimmy Choo’s heels for that special occasion where they need to look their best.