Why You May Want to Think Twice Before Buying Your Teen the Platform Wedge Shoes

The latest shoe trend to hit the market for many teens is the Platform wedge. Summer has just begun and this seems to be the shoe that every teen is wearing. Many of them choose the wedge option because they feel it's a close second to high heels. Also some parent's feel that this is a stepping stone to high heels that will help them avoid looking too grown. Are these platform wedges really any different from high heels, or can they cause just as much damage as high heels would? Well the first thing I learned when comparing the high platform wedges to high heels is that they are pretty much the same thing. So parents if you think you are preventing your young teen from wearing high heels, think again. Of course I do want to point out that the wedge shoe offers a lot more support to the feet than the high heel itself.

So the wedge shoe may in fact be seen as a training shoe to the high heels that they will wear when they are older. As a word of caution however, parents may want to think twice before they let their young twelve to fourteen year old wear the super high wedges. Wedges come in different height levels, and many doctors feel girls under the age of fifteen should not wear the super high wedges. According to an article on WebMD.com, high heels can cause ankle sprains. Although the wedge shoes offers more support, young girls can still very easily lose their balance and sprain their ankles if the wedge is too high. So if you are considering getting your young daughter wedges, remember to keep the height low. They may want the higher wedges so that they can feel older and look more mature, but it really is not worth risking an injury for the sake of so called beauty.

Also according to Webmd.com, the wedge shoe has a foot bed that is considered rigid. So it causes your young daughter to walk, in an unnatural way. This is probably why so many young girls and even some adults look funny or awkward walking in these types of shoes. So if you think that you are avoiding foot problems by giving your child high wedges to wear, you are doing the complete opposite. If your child wants wedges look for those that are lower to the ground, and don't have much curving around the edges.