Oscar's Hottest Fashion Accessory: Foot-Lifts

Jan. 30, 2007 — -- From the comfort of your living room, it's hard to tell how painful a stroll down the red carpet at the Academy Awards can be. Those 4-inch heels are no walk in the park.

"I just switch feet. If I can stand on one foot for a little while, then [I can] stand on the other foot," explains shoe model Nikki Tomlinson. "It still looks really good, though. I'm not complaining."

Thanks to modern podiatry, the newest must-have item for the red carpet might just be a foot-lift.

The short procedure involves injecting a collagen enhancer into the ball of the foot to cushion a night of revelry in your Jimmy Choos.

Dr. Suzanne Levine is a self-described pioneer in cosmetic foot surgery. She can actually shorten a woman's toes to better fit her favorite stilettos, but the foot-lift procedure is simpler.

"I see patients prior to the Golden Globes, the Academy Awards," says Levine. "Because they have to look fabulous, and looking fabulous is about wearing fabulous shoes, and I give them that ability without having as much pain."

A patient undergoing the minutes-long procedure only feels the pinch for about two seconds, similar to what one might feel during a bee sting.

"It's not painful," says Levine. "We mix this polylactic acid, referred to as sculptra, which is almost a filler -- it's the same filler that one would use on the face -- and I inject it on the ball of the foot."

While Levine has serviced starlets before all the biggest nights in Hollywood, she also tackles more practical missions, like working on the feet of a hard-working flight attendant.

"I'm constantly on my feet running up and down the aisles," says flight attendant Gloria Diaz. "It felt as though I was walking on concrete. The balls of my feet were beginning to suffer."

After the treatment, Diaz says she felt like she was walking on the clouds through which she so often flies. "It feels fantastic, like I'm walking on little cushions right now."