Christmas sees surge in women getting foot botox to fight high heel pain

There's been a rush of interest over the last two Christmas periods

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

We know Christmas plastic surgery is on the rise for people who want to look good in their party snaps, but the face isn’t the only body part progressively going under the needle at this time of year.

Foot botox is becoming increasingly popular to help women survive the party season.

There’s nothing like taking off your heels after a night of dancing, but more and more women are turning to cosmetic procedures to combat the pain of their shoes.

One cosmetic doctor who specialises in aesthetic medicine, Dr Esho of Clinic ESHO, has seen a 15 per cent increase in clients asking for botox in their feet during the Christmas party period - since the beginning of 2016, he’s performed the treatment on 223 women, already up from 185 in 2015.

The results of the procedure last three to four months, and with increasing numbers of people having early Christmas parties, the majority of his clients request the treatment from October till the end of the year

The botox works in collaboration with dermal filler: injected into four areas of the foot, the botox stops feet sweating and expanding (which often make shoes feel uncomfortable), and the filler is injected into the ball of the foot to act as an extra cushion.

Dr Esho explained to The Independent: “When you walk normally, your weight is evenly distributed across your feet, but that doesn’t happen when you’re wearing high heels.”

The extra cushioning makes a particular difference for older women, as the fat pad on the ball of the foot decreases as you age.

The procedure costs between £600 and £800, and Dr Esho says his clients are a mix of “old money” women in their mid-forties to sixties who wear “very expensive painful shoes”, and younger “new money” women aged from 25 to their mid-thirties - their heels of choice tend to be the latest fashionable heels of the moment.

And fortunately for those with a busy social calendar, there’s minimal downtime after the treatment - within 48 hours you can be dancing the night away in your highest heels. The effect of the dermal filler is instant, but the botox takes two to three days.

However the Harley Street-based cosmetic doctor doesn’t recommend continually having foot botox and filler: “Pain is a signal to tell you something’s wrong,” he said.

Whilst it’s fine to get the treatment for the festive period, Dr Esho believes you shouldn’t ignore the message your feet are sending you.

Come January, flats will never have been so on-trend.