High Heels Could Be Doing More Harm Than Good [VIDEO]

High heels may look sexy, but they could be doing more harm than good. And your feet are sending you a not-so-subtle message: BE VERY CAREFUL! High heels are so dangerous they can actually can send you to the emergency room, and the folks at the University of Alabama have the numbers to prove it after analyzing data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System.

Here are the risks when wearing high heels:

1. Emergency room visits
We're not talking about just stubbing your toe. In a decade, injuries that were severe enough to warrant medical treatment actually doubled. Between 2002 and 2012 alone, U.S. emergency rooms treated over 123,000 high heel-related injuries.

2. Sprains, strains and breaks
More than 80% of high heel injuries were sprains and strains to the ankles and feet, while slightly less than 20 percent involved the knee, trunk, shoulder, head or neck. And about one in five of these accidents resulted in a broken bone.

3. Aching legs
In addition to causing terrible discomfort in the lower leg, ankle and foot, high heels limit movement of the ankle muscles and reduce step length and overall range of motions. They can also cause you to lose your balance.

I've got a friend (Melinda) who wears nothing but high heels and swears by them! She wouldn't give them up for anything.