Abstract
In terms of women engaged in clerical job. working time of the workers who mainly keep standing with their high-heeled shoes on has been increasing. According]y. they are exposed to many kinds of foot deformation caused by loads of lower back and lower extremities due to high-heeled shoes. The type of heels they usually wear are diverse though the hight is same. In this study. we investigated most women's favorite styles of shoes concerned with heights. types and contact areas of the heels. Hence. we designed three kinds of shoes for an experiment: their contact areas with ground are 1 cm2. 2-4 cm2 and over 9 cm2 according to the heel heights. respectively. To investigate the biomechanical effects. analysis of motion and EMG were applied to the experiments. In addition. foot pressure distribution was measured for more detailed analysis. Six healthy young women were participated in this experiments. The result showed the heel becoming higher and narrower increased not only fluctuation of CBM(Center of Body Mass). but also the load of low back muscle and lower extremities. Accordingly. there was significant difference among types of the heel in terms of the role supporting load of the body. though the height is same. Especially. the difference among the pressures on a foot was most significant. In conclusion. we verified biomechanical effects are related with the contact area of a heel with ground as well as the hight.
