DETROIT – A scene from the popular new “Barbie” movie has inspired a TikTok challenge that’s worrying foot experts.
“Barbie” is coming off an incredibly successful opening weekend -- 155 million at the box office. It’s the biggest debut ever for a film with a female director.
One of the scenes has inspired the “Barbie feet challenge,” which involves stepping out of sky-high heels like Margot Robbie does in the movie. It’s a two-second clip, and thousands of fans are giving the challenge a try.
People are wearing high heels and trying to step out of them without the shoes moving. Then, they take a step in the high-heel position, just like Barbie.
While the “Barbie feet challenge” isn’t as dangerous as many other TikTok trends, podiatrists are worried about the risk of injury.
“The forefoot in that position is where a lot of the pressure is on the ball of the foot and the toes,” said podiatrist Sari Priesand, of Michigan Medicine. “That puts a lot of stress and a lot of pressure on the structures of the ball of the foot, but also, if there are deformities of the forefoot, that can also put some stress on those, and then the ankle or hind foot, which is lifted in the air, would be destabilized.”
This challenge is new, but it’s well-documented that people who love high heels can run into trouble over time.
“I have seen injuries,” Priesand said. “I have seen people sprain their ankles. I have actually seen patients who have bunion deformities who wear high heels. I’ve seen patients even develop infections from having that rubbing happen. It just sort of escalated out of control.”
Priesand said she fully supports Barbie -- she just wouldn’t recommend wearing high heels too often or walking like Barbie all day.