Up Close: Taking it to the extreme to be a fashion slave

09:55 PM CST on Sunday, February 15, 2004

By Janice Williamson / 11 News

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The latest fashion trend has some doctors alarmed and even one association of physicians condemning it -- cosmetic foot surgery.

Women in growing numbers are having their feet reshaped, toes shortened and extra skin removed, all in the name of Jimmy Choos and Manola Blahniks.

Well-heeled women have never had so many choices, so many narrow pointed shoes with four-inch heels to wear.

KHOU-TV A growing number of women are paying for cosmetic foot surgery in hopes of wearing high-fashion shoes more comfortably.

"I've always said the right shoe can make the outfit," says Judy Wallace.

Wallace admits she spends big bucks for Manolos and Pradas. She likes the way they make her feel. "Sexy," she says. "Like a woman."

She's worn the latest in foot fashion for 30 years and knows there can be a personal price to be paid. "It started with my left foot about three years ago," explains Wallace. "It was a sharp shooting pain."

When she could barely walk, Wallace had a tumor removed from her foot. Her doctor believes it was caused from years of cramming her toes into tight, narrow shoes.

"After 20 years there will be some long term effects there's no question about that," says podiatric surgeon Dr. Ronald Lepow. "Development of spurs, of contraction of toes, hammer toes."

A growing number of women are taking a different approach. They're paying for cosmetic foot surgery in hopes of wearing high-fashion shoes more comfortably.

"Look how great your feet look," says Bessann Maida. She had foot surgery once for medical reasons.

The second operation was her idea. "I basically wanted a foot tuck," says Maida.

Her feet grew wider over the years she says and wouldn't fit into the strappy sandals she yearned to wear.

"We created a little incision here and removed some of the excess skin," explains Dr. Naglar. "And some of the bulging part of the muscle sticking out here."

Dr. Naglar says as many as 10 percent of his patients are now undergoing surgery to make their feet look better. "We fix crooked toes," he says. "Bumps on toes, bumps on the inside of the toe joint."

He and other surgeons draw the line at shortening toes or narrowing nails as some surgeons are doing just to make a woman's foot fit a certain style of shoe.

"If you operate on that foot so they can wear a more narrower shoe failure is a certainty," says Dr. Naglar. "It's easier to fit the shoe to the foot than it is to cut the foot to fit the shoe."

Despite two corrective surgeries on her feet, Judy Wallace understands why some women are willing to go under the knife for fashion's sake and says, "We're working on the other parts of the body cosmetically so it's kind of the foot is the last frontier."

In foot fashion the trend has become do what ever it takes -- as long as the shoe fits.

The American Podiatric Medical Association is formally discouraging foot procedures that are not based on medical problems.

One more note, the doctors 11 News spoke to point out that if your feet do not heal properly after having surgery you will have real problems with your feet beyond their appearance.