From bunions to blisters, to shin splints, muscle cramps and tendonitis - how much are you putting your body through to do what you love? Now is your chance to learn how to stop beating and start treating your feet with a little extra dose of tender lovin' foot care while you dance. Learn from podiatrist Dr. Andy Fortuna as DanceScape asks him to unleash his advice on how dancers can prevent and deal with common painful symptoms that occur from overuse.
1. Change your shoes regularly.
Wear a different style shoe as much as you can because if there are pressure points in certain areas that become persistent and chronic then you can develop tendonitis or bursitis. Changing your shoe style and type will vary these pressure points to prevent one area from taking a beating all the time. You should have at least two pairs of practice shoes to best care for your feet and prevent symptoms of Overuse Syndrome, which occurs when there is constant pressure placed on the same area of the foot over time.
2. Vary your exercise.
Dancers feet are normally strong anyway but flexibility and strengthening exercises can be helpful. Try to avoid doing the same move over and over again, especially if it requires unordinary amounts of pressure, leaning or stretching on particular areas of your body or feet.
3. Seek help as soon
as you experience symptoms of pain.
If something persists to the point where you have chronic pain in an area it pays to get somebody to look at it because it could be something as simple as the shoe that you are wearing. An ounce of prevention really does pay off.
4. Don't practice too much in your heels.
Do not practice too much in your heels unless it is right before a competition and you want to get use to the height of your heel. That is why Capezio sneakers are so popular for practice sessions. The muscle memory with the routine is basically what you are really practicing, whereas your technique with the height and style of the shoe may only vary slightly. The higher the heel is, the more restricted the hip action is for women. It puts them forward, restricts a lot of what you can do and gives you a lot of toe and ball of the foot pain, especially if you practice in that height consistently. I recommend practicing in a two inch heel and only practicing with your extreme high heels (3 or 3 1/2 inch heels) a week or two before your competition to get used to the height. Don't beat up your feet in a three and a half inch heel for months and months before your competition.
5. Ice or heat to treat aches and pains?
These are two philosophies, but I recommend icing. Heat will soothe you and make you feel good while you have the heat. It brings superficial circulation to the skin area but it can only penetrate as far as the dermis, which is the underlying tissue. For heat to penetrate any further, you would actually have to 'cook' your foot.Ice on the other hand can get to bone. The benefit of ice is that it has an analgesic effect because once it gets to the bone it numbs the area up. It also keeps the swelling and inflammation down and then when yuou remove the ice, the benefit is that the blood vessels immediately dialate to bring a lot of blood to the area to warm it up again and that's where the healing begins. Ice will penetrate through muscle to the bone.
Psychologically, people also use creams to treat aches or pains and if it makes them feel great, then Dr. Fortuna recommends to use it if it makes you feel good, but physiologically speaking, ice is the way to go for any healing, swelling, aches, pains, tendonitits or bursitis.
6. Shin Splints.
If you experience shin splints then you are basically pronating and you most likely need a support. A shin splint occurs because when the foot pronates (is flattened) there is a muscle that is supposed to hold the arch up that is attached to the shin and because it is pulling so hard to hold the arch up at the foot level it is also pulling at the origin of the muscle which attaches to the anterior edge of the tibia where inflammation occurs. Get yourself a pair of orthotics, ice down the area and usually your shin splints will go away.
7. Muscular Cramping.
If you get them at night, it is a result of over working them during the day. If you get them while you are doing things, you are probably just fatiguing the muscle to the point of cramping. Muscle cramps can also be a result of dehydration and you may need calcium or phosphorus in your diet, but more than likely they are a result of what exercise you put your body through in your daily routines.
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