Experts warn against undertaking the ‘Barbie Feet Challenge’; here’s why

Concerned doctors have warned against trying out the challenge as it can lead to ligament injuries.

“Doing it once or twice might not be harmful, but doing it repeatedly over an extended period could lead to various risks. The posture puts the ankle in an unstable position, making ligament sprains and injuries more likely, similar to the issues often seen with high heel use,” said Dr Udit Kapoor, consultant, Metro Hospital, Faridabad.

Consider the pitfalls (Source: Getty Images/Thinktock)

“Walking on one’s toes without the support of heels is not sustainable. In fact, the reality is that Barbie actually has flat feet in the movie, a condition shared by around 30 per cent of the population,” said Dr Kapoor while enlisting some of the issues including lower back ache, sore calves, foot pain, ankle sprain, hammer toes/bunion, deformity in first and second toes, and callus formation in feet.

For teenage girls, it can be even more risky as their bodies are not fully grown and their growth plates can be damaged, noted Dr Yuvraj Kumar, chairman, orthopaedics, joint replacement and sports injury, Accord Super Speciality Hospital, Faridabad.

“Standing stiffly on an ankle may appear quite similar to wearing high heels as risks are the same like strain in the back muscles, risk of rupture in the back muscles. But the similarities end here. High heels are potentially not as dangerous as standing on an ankle. In the case of high heels, the body weight still gets evenly spread across the body but here the entire weight is being borne by the ankle, so there is a high risk of back and ortho problems. High heels are not an ideal thing to wear but the risk associated with the ankle-standing are far higher and it should be totally avoided,” said Dr Kumar.

According to Dr Akhilesh Yadav, associate director, orthopaedics and joint replacement, Max Hospital Vaishali, attempting to maintain a pointed foot position for extended periods of time:

*Strain on the muscles, tendons, and ligaments of the feet, ankles, and lower legs can result from holding the feet in an improper position.

*Maintaining the feet in a pointed posture all the time might cause the ankles and toes to lose their flexibility.

*A person’s stability and balance may be affected by their pointed feet, which raises their risk of injuries and accidents.

*Foot and ankle pain and discomfort may result from the load placed on the muscles and tendons of the foot, said Dr Yadav.

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