It's the tail end of party season and women who have been wearing high heels - especially those with designer heels of up to 17cm for many nights these past several weeks - might be feeling excruciating pain in their backs and feet. So, why do they do it?
'It was a fashion thing,' says Jennifer Saran. 'Everyone was wearing them [high heels] and I didn't want to be shorter than everybody else, so I went to work in them, partied in them and went dancing in them.'
Part of the reason women are drawn to tall heels, she says, is because it gives the wearer confidence. 'High heels do tend to get you more compliments.'
But after being a high-heel wearer for 20 years, Saran started feeling pain in her legs.
'For 18 months I had felt my knees giving out every time I went up the stairs,' she says. 'At first I had put it down to being weaker because I had just had a child, but it got progressively worse to the point where I would have to hold on to the banisters,' the mother of four recalls.
In an effort to find out why she was having such a hard time walking, Saran sought the advice of a podiatrist. 'He took one look at me and said, 'You need to ditch your high heels'. So I did and felt instantly better,' she says.