Would you chop your toe off to make heels more comfy?

There's a rise in women have dramatic foot surgery to make their heels feel better.Photo / Thinkstock

A growing number of stiletto-obsessed women are cutting off their pinky toe in a bid to fit in to their favourite shoes.

Surgical procedures like shortening pinky toes, foot injections and even full amputation of the smallest toe are some of the ways woman are trying to make their heels fit better, Medical Daily reports.

"Unless you've been there, and you can't find shoes, and you're in pain, don't judge," Susan Deming, a woman who recently had her toe shortened, told Fox News.

Deming says she used to love sky-high footwear until it became too painful for her to wear them for more than a few minutes.

"I was having calluses and just all sorts of problems with my left foot. And there was finally a solution. There's never been a solution before," she says.

A few toes on Deming's left foot were longer than others, making that foot an entire size larger than the other. So she had 1cm removed from her second toe.

"I've never felt this good about something I've done. If it's vain, it's vain," she says.

American podiatrist, Dr Nathan Lucas, says some women get fat injected in to the balls of their feet so when they wear high heels it's "as if they're walking on pillows."

He's often asked to make feet narrower and an increasing number of women are requesting for full toe removal.

"It's on the rise here because the more people know about it, then of course the more they require about it," he tells Fox News.

"For me, that's a bit extreme. I wouldn't take off anyone's toes off unless it has to come off."

Podiatry New Zealand president Bruce Baxter says it's no secret that women who wear heels can run in to problems.

He advises women wanting to put fashion first to opt for heels that have platforms at the front, to reduce the extreme height between the front of the foot and heel, and stretch well before they train in flat shoes.

- www.nzherald.co.nz