This extreme treatment takes suffering for fashion to all new levels

Image: Flickr

Winter may be over here in Australia, but for many of us the memories of trying – and failing – to find a pair of tall boots certainly hasn’t faded.

If you’re a woman with calves that don’t look like Kate Middleton’s, chances are you know what it’s like to sit down in a shoe shop, excited to try on a gorgeous pair of knee-highs… only to find the zipper won’t extend further than an inch or two above your ankle. It’s equal parts heartbreaking and infuriating, and if you’re not a huge fan of ankle boots, it can leave you with very few footwear options for the colder months.

How to make sure your next pair of heels won’t hurt like hell

This isn’t uncommon. Even worse, if reports this week are to be believed, some women are so desperate to find a pair of boots that actually accommodate their calves they’re willing to pay more than $AUD500 to have their legs slimmed down.

There’s suffering for fashion… and then there’s this.

According to the Daily Mail, a treatment known as Calf Botox is currently gaining popularity in the UK. The procedure, which is non-surgical and non-invasive, involves injecting Botox into the lower leg muscles to paralyse certain nerves and subsequently prevent the calf muscle from contracting fully.

Makeup for your legs exists. And you’ll actually love it.

Apparently this can slim down the circumference of the calf by two centimetres or more, a result that lasts up to six months. Long enough to get you through the winter months, conveniently.

The amount of Botox required for this procedure is a lot higher than what’s used to minimise wrinkles on the face – more than ten times higher, in fact.

And this is what makes Calf Botox a little scary.

As the Mail reports:

“Some physicians are concerned that such a large dose could not only cause your muscles to waste away, but also change the way you walk — potentially causing knock-on effects on the knees, hips and back.

“The treatment could even potentially prove fatal if it hampers the muscle’s ability to pump blood from the legs towards the heart.”

Wrecked muscles, potential death… for the handsome sum of $AUD500, this could all be yours!

Look, we’re not sure what else to say, but this is the takeaway: long boots are gorgeous, but if you ask us… they’re not exactly worth dying for.