I had £350 Botox in my FEET to help me dance in 6-inch stilletos pain free – but did it work?
ALTHOUGH I spent my younger years tottering around clubs in six-inch stilettos, these days I can’t last five minutes.
As a fashion stylist, I long to wear skyscraper slingbacks and sandals.
Particularly now that going out-out is back and the shops are full of fantastically colourful heels. You only have to look at some of the outfits at the Met Gala in New York this week to see that the days of lounging around in pandemic pyjamas are long gone.
From diamond-encrusted pointies to wacky wedges, the footwear was something to behold.
Meanwhile, sales of high heels have soared post-lockdown, outselling trainers for the first time since 2018.
And Manolo Blahnik — a favourite of Sex And The City’s Carrie Bradshaw — has brought back its 5in heels years after it stopped selling them.
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Oh, how I’d love to join the well–heeled party. And now, it seems, maybe I can.
The latest must-have tweakment at the Oscars and other star-studded events this year is, apparently, Botox — IN THE FEET.
After two years of flats, the tootsies of Tinseltown are not quite ready for hours of teetering around in stilettos. Enter injections into the balls of the feet.
Plastic surgeons have apparently helped stars including Nicole Kidman and Kim Kardashian to navigate the red carpet with a bit of Juvederm for the cushioning and Botox for pain relief.
With a hen do on the horizon — which means a night of drinking and dancing — I was game to give it a go. Could this be the answer to my footwear prayers?
I headed to Regents Park Aesthetics in Marylebone, central London, for the treatment. I told clinic owner Kay Greveson that it was the balls of my feet that usually hurt the most. So this is where she focused the treatment.
As well as celebrities with enough money to eat Botox for breakfast, the treatment is common with runners.
Abby McHale
Numbing cream was applied to the area, which was then wrapped in cling film and left for ten minutes. The cling film unwrapping ceremony was followed by eight to ten small injections in each foot.
Kay explained that Botox in the feet can alleviate conditions like excessive sweating, inflammation of the tissues on the sole and pain around the arch, also known as plantar fasciitis.
As well as celebrities with enough money to eat Botox for breakfast, the treatment is common with runners. Kay told me the procedure is meant to “block the release of acetylcholine in overactive muscles, inhibiting muscle contraction, and function”.
To be honest, I’m not sure the numbing pain worked completely — it was a little painful. But the fact that the process only lasted a few seconds made it bearable.
Afterwards, I thought I may not be able to walk for a while until it settled, but I was told I could leave. And my feet felt completely fine as I walked down the street.
While the Botox can take two weeks to fully kick in, I had four nights before my hen do. Apart from a bit of itchiness, I felt fine. But the night of dancing to the Spice Girls hits would be the ultimate trial. Then the day arrived. All dolled up, I spent six hours socialising and showing off my finest moves on the Just Dance game.
Here I was in my four-inch block heels at 1am and feeling pretty good.
Abby McHale
And, miraculously, out of 22 guests, I was the last one standing.
I was also still in my shoes. I couldn’t believe it. I’m usually the first to kick them off.
At university, I would be found standing against a wall and rocking on my heels, attempting to take the pressure off my feet.
Last year, for a trip to the races, I wore inch-high kitten heels while all my mates were making divots in the grass from their stilettos.
But here I was in my four-inch block heels at 1am and feeling pretty good.
Of course, there was a little pinch in places, but I felt giant steps had been made.
‘The balls of my feet were burning’
The following day, rather than the numb and tingly feeling my feet are accustomed to after donning heels, they felt fine.
So much so that I went for a walk to blow off the cobwebs. In the following days, I wore heels around the house — again, pain-free.
But a week on from the treatment, feeling confident enough to wear my boots for a whole day at the office, my luck ran out.
After a brisk ten-minute walk to the station, the balls of my feet were burning and it continued all day. I soldiered on, but it was a little disappointing.
I haven’t completely written off the treatment — Kay warned me it would be two weeks for the treatment to settle and that not everyone’s feet take to it.
At £350, would I get foot Botox again?
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If I had the cash to splash then I’d give it a go, especially for a special occasion like a wedding — and it’s meant to last up to three months.
But given the cost-of-living crisis, I think I’ll have to stick to buying plasters and insoles. As Christian Louboutin once said: “High heels are pleasure, with pain.”
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