The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) stresses the importance of protective gear while engaging in a particularly new phenomenon...heeling. Heeleys -- also known as roller shoes or street gliders -- are shoes that have a wheel on the heel. These types of shoes fall into the category of inline skates, which qualifies them as a sport, and carries warnings for their use including wearing protective gear, such as wrist guards and helmets to avoid injuries.

According to James H. Beaty, MD, a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon and president of AAOS, "Orthopaedic surgeons are in fact seeing children come into their practices with injuries due to heeleys, mostly of a fracture-type within the hand, wrist, or elbow."

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission reports over 1,600 emergency room visits in 2006 due to wheel and roller shoes. In addition, balancing on heels can strain feet and Achilles tendons, and orthopaedic surgeons are also seeing heely-related ankle injuries.

For children to maneuver in roller shoes, they merely shift their body weight backward over the heels, the wheels then engage and cause a change from walking to rolling. "As these shoes are sold in department stores, parents buying them may develop a false sense of security -- that they are like any other shoe," says Beaty.

"Roller shoes are very similar to being on roller blades or inline skates and protective gear should be worn at all times. If children are to 'heel,' it should not be done while going down a hill, over a curb, or over rocky areas,' continues Beaty.

Injuries can be avoided if safety precautions are remembered. Below are a few safety tips for those that take up wheeled-shoe sports:

• Learn the basic skills of the sport; particularly how to stop properly, before venturing out.
• Wear a helmet, wrist protectors and knee and elbow pads.
• Avoid rolling in crowded walkways.
• Avoid rolling in traffic. If you come to a cross walk, obey traffic signals, stay to the right side of the sidewalk, and don't weave in and out of crowds.
• Heel on smooth surfaces, away from traffic.
• Do not let a young child heel unsupervised.

Before heading out to buy wheeled shoes, keep the following in mind:

• Do not buy roller shoes that put too much pressure on any area of your foot; the pressure can cause blisters.
• Choose the shoe size at the end of the day when feet will be their largest.
• When selecting the size of the roller shoe, wear the same type of sock that will be worn when heeling.