WOMEN GO UNDER THE KNIFE FOR CINDERELLA SURGERY

They say when the shoe fits, wear it. But most of us are guilty of squeezing our foot into a shoe that's too tight for pure vanity. The results could be ugly.

More and more women are experiencing foot deformities and pain thanks to sky-high sandals and stilettos. A number of women are going under the knife for what has been dubbed the Cinderella surgery. Dr. Neal Blitz in New York City calls his Bunionplasty(R) procedure plastic surgery for feet.

After years of wearing painful heels, Shawn Lindsey's feet were suffering the consequences.

"Pretty face with ugly feet don't mix," Lindsey said. "Don't laugh, but they looked like little claws."

She experienced chronic aching and eventually could no longer wear her high heels.

"So, I'm 39 years-old, and I'm walking around with flats on. I wanted to be pain-free with pretty feet," Lindsey said.

She turned to podiatrist Barry Weinstein for help. Like so many female patients, Lindsey had bunions and hammertoes.

"Her big toe was pointed out like this," Dr. Weinstein said. "Instead of being straight like my finger, over time, her toes contracted back. The ligaments from here from the shoes she was wearing started to bend her toes back, and so her foot, when she put her foot in the shoe, her toes were buckled back like this. And then the shoe would rub on the top of the toes and cause the skin to thicken and cause a corn."

The fix? A facelift for her feet.

Paulina Charlikowska