The foot and ankle are a vulnerable area for the dancer,
accounting for 65% of all injuries within professional dancers and 53.4% within
elite pre-professional dance students. Dancers are constantly on their feet and
despite the effortless look, there is no doubt that this art puts incredible
strain on the lower limbs.
A combination of flexibility, stability and dynamic strength
are required at the ankle and foot for a healthy dancer’s foot. However,
despite the intense training, injuries in this area are highly common.
Foot injuries can be caused by a number of factors
including;
• ill-fitting
shoes,
• an
increase of training intensity too quickly,
• poor
dance technique,
• over
training
Chronic injuries at the foot, due to overtraining, are more
common than acute injuries.
Below are some tips of how you can take care of your feet
each day, with an aim to prevent injury.
Everyday care
Remove the waddle
As a dancer it is very important to look after your feet
when outside of the studio. Dancers often adopt the dancers “waddle” out of
habit due to their turnout training. However, mechanically, the feet are not
designed to be turned outwards, therefore it is important to note when walking
and jogging to place your feet in parallel.
Rest and recover
Additionally, allowing your feet to rest and recover is
highly important and beneficial, in order to help prevent injuries due to
overtraining. Possible ways of doing this is by soaking the feet, simply taking
the weight off your feet or having a massage in the arch of the foot and
Achilles tendon insertion.
Wear the correct footwear
When buying shoes, ensure you wear properly fitted shoes. Not only dance shoes, but any casual pumps too. After a long day training you
do not want to put extra strain on your feet. I would suggest purchasing a
well-fitting pair of running trainers for these occasions.
Prepare your feet
In the morning you might feel stiffness in the foot and
ankle. Why not prepare the feet first thing? Even before class? This will feel
like a breath of fresh air and help enhance movement quality.
Try this plantar fascia roll.
1. Using a
hockey ball, roll deeply into the plantar fascia on the foot for 2-3 minutes.
Ensure you cover the whole underside of the foot.
2. Repeat on
the other foot.
You'll feel like you're walking on air!
You'll feel like you're walking on air!
Strengthening the ankle and foot is highly important in
order to prevent fatigue, a leading cause in injury. View my article on
improving ankle strength here and warming up the ankle and foot here.
Look after blisters
Blisters are a common complaint for ballet dancers caused by
moisture and repeated friction from (most commonly) pointe shoes. Taping
susceptible areas of the feet can help prevent blisters yet don’t work 100% of
the time.
When blisters come up it is unadvisable to burst blisters.
Doing so could lead to infection. It is best to leave the blister to heal in
the open air, however dance class schedules and pain can restrict this. Therefore
you can drain a blister using a sterilised needle to ‘pop’ the blister. It is
important to keep the roof of the blister intact to allow as cover which will
help avoid infection. It is then best to cover this area with a clean dressing.
Avoid bunions
Toe spacers or improvised toe spaces help to improve the
alignment of the big toe. I would recommend fixing these in place before class
with a bit of tape.
If you suffer from bunions then seek a good pointe shoe
fitter who can offer you a shoe with the correct support and angling to remove
pressure from the bunion.
At the end of the day have an ice pack to hand to sooth any
bunion pain.
Do you have any rituals you go through each day to look
after your feet? Let me know below!
Photo credit: Rennison-Rae Photography
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