Caitlyn Jenner’s Crippling High-Heel Addiction

Caitlyn Jenner is wracked daily with pain and facing knee-replacement surgery — largely because the sex-swapping celeb still refuses to give up her beloved stiletto high heels!

“Her doctors beg her to give up her stiletto collection, but she refuses!” spilled a pal. Even though doctors warn high heels are a major cause of knee pain, 68-year-old Caitlyn is willing to try anything aside from ditching the knee-busting footwear.

Sources told The National ENQUIRER the retired athlete’s chronic knee pain dates back to her days training to be the gold-medal decathlete at the 1976 Olympics, in which competitors run, high jump, long jump and pole vault at championship level.

“Cait’s paying for it now," the insider said. "Her knees stiffen up and ache.” And the side effects of Caitlyn’s sex change haven’t helped. As The ENQUIRER reported earlier, Cait has spent $2 million of her reported $100 million fortune on beauty boosters, including plastic surgery.

Extensive liposuction on her tush and thighs, though, has caused pain that shoots down her legs, worsening her knee pain. “The discomfort is sometimes unbearable,” a source said. For a while, Caitlyn — who's considering an offer from "Dancing with the Stars" — was trying to get by on painkillers, but an insider said that she’s been wisely trying to cut back on any drug use.

Now, though her reps deny it, she faces either knee-replacement surgery or — gasp — having to wear flats. And for high-heel-loving Caitlyn, that’s no choice at all! “Of course, the condition has worsened since Caitlyn began wearing heels full-time,” the pal said.

“Her whole life she was forced to wear heels only in the privacy of her bedroom, so the last thing she wants is to give them up just when she can finally wear them in public!”