The Elephant in the room... Foot injuries for Dancers

[skyemc94941]

Right now when I point my right toe, my achilles tendon hurts and I can't point my toe any further.

This started after I hit my heel on the edge of a step and my foot went further in to the pointed position then it normally would.

[GotThaFunk227]

My big toe joint really hurts when I go on releve. (i think its spelled.)

[4everdancer18]

hi so this isnt a foot/ankle injury, but i wanted to shared it anyway. 2 yrs ago i dislocated my left kneecap by relaxing my knee before i completely finished my pirouette. i had 3 months of physical therapy and couldnt dance for 2 . i dont really have much problem with my knee anymore, but my muscles are slightly weaker, and i have trouble doing moves like attitude pirouettes where strong turnout is needed. sometimes if im not careful, i feel my kneecap wanting to dislocate again. any advice??

[elizsal13]

Hey , i'm a young dancer and last spring i landed a leap incorrectly, ant hurt my anckle. my teacher and a woman who came to teach us a master class gave me some tips that greatly heped me, but I left my anckle rapped to long and now I am still struggleing with pain . thankfully the perfectpionte book is helping quite a bit, but I wish there was some easy accsessed info to help other dancers (and my self) to heal completely and prevent further injuries.

[Halynakurylo]

Hi! I'm a tango dancer from Ukraine. That means a lot dancing on high heels. In August I had an ankle sprain - hypersupination (not from dancing) and it took me 2.5 months to start walking without limping again. In November I started dancing on heels again. My ankle doesn't hurt anymore...BUT now i have problems with my knee and hip. Can't do pivots. There's an unpleasant popping sound under the lateral side of my knee cap and in my left hip. I am afraid to do damage to my joints if I continue.

[arrrbazinga]

I'm a fulltime ballet student in Perth and I have sprained my left ankle 3 times from lack of being able to strengthen it after each injury. I have been using wobble boards and thera bands to strengthen up my ankle so it doesnt happen again, but do you have any other ideas on getting the muscles repaired and strong again? Thank you! :) x

[lisahowell2]

@arrrbazinga - Hi there :) we will be covering recurrent ankle sprains in the upcoming webinar - so make sure to keep an eye on theballetblog for details!

[Soph1592]

Hi,

I have been diagnosed with a weak ankle, my ligaments and muscles are weaker in my right ankle. It's not caused by dancing or even by twisting the ankle, because a can not remember anything like that ever happened. I have pain at the front of the ankle and it gets worse when I walk a lot or when I wake up in the morning (don't know why that is, so strange). It also makes a popping sound when it turns. I'm getting pretty scared that it will never go away. I need some help....

Thanks

[ymm10x]

I had to go to A+E last night after falling at dance, and found out I actually had a fracture. I carried on dancing on it for the rest of the lesson and am surprised I was unaware it was fractured.

We have all sorts of competitions, world cups and shows coming up, how would you suggest I get this to heal as fast as possible?

Thanks,

Yasmin

[Crystilwyn]

Just feet and ankle injuries? :(

[PrettyonPointe1]

Two things:

Last year it hurt so badly on the outer side of my left foot to go en pointe, eventually I went to the chiropracter and he said it was a jammed bone, it took three tries to fix it. Do you know how this happened? And how do I prevent it?

Second, the bottom of my foot has started to hurt, the middle of the bottom of my foot. I wear a compression sock when it hurts, and that works, but it is very chronic. How do I fix this? Thank you :)

[lisahowell2]

@PrettyonPointe1 - Hi! - This "Jammed Bone" can sometimes be a "Subluxed Cuboid"- the cuboid is a small swuare shaped bone that sits under that outside part of your foot - and is can be a little unstable especially after you have sprained your ankle... After getting it back in place, did the chiropractor give you and stability exercises for it? Often I tape the foot with a little special pad underneath to help hold it in place which the ligaments heal again...

[itzdomus]

I injured my toe on my right foot... have no idea exactly of how, but I get this really weird pain in the back of it whenever I relevé or jump, as if something sharp was punching through a very specific point (like when you step on a very sharp rock) I've been trying to feel if something is wrong with my bones, but if feels just fine, actually it only hurts when I relevé or jump, and never when I apply pressure with my hands.... any thoughts....

[lisahowell2]

@itzdomus - This is an interesting one - and I would have to ask you a few more questions to figure it out from here... It is probably not your bone... but may be more a problem with a tendon that is only getting strained in the demi pointe poisition... Does it hurt to rise?

[itzdomus]

@lisahowell2 Hi Lisa! sorry I took so long answering back, too much work with Christmas shows!!! Well it doesen't hurt when I start to rise, but I feel the sharp pain along 3/4 of being in full demi pointe (is that a clear image? jijiji) I also discovered that the sharp pain would come if for example I ran and had to stop on that foot, like if I needed to push forward my weight on that foot....

And sorry again for taking so long to reply!

[DaNcEx3JoNaS]

(continued)..so I've gone through four pairs of Russians. I have a narrow foot with wide metatarsals and my second toe longer than my first if that information helps. thanks Lisa!

[lisahowell2]

@DaNcEx3JoNaS - Hi!!! Bruised toe nails often happen when your foot is sliding down in the shoe when en pointe... Is there extra satin at the back of the shoe when you are en pointe? If you have a narrow foot then this can be a problem. You could try a slightly narrower shoe, so that the load is taken more through the bridge of the foot, rather than through the toes - It may aslo be if you are breaking the shoe in too low down, or wearing them for too long - when the shank is broken...

[DaNcEx3JoNaS]

luckily, I don't have many foot injuries but the only problem I seem to have with pointe is bruised toenails on my big toes. they usually fall off eventually but both are pretty badly bruised now for two months or so and seem to be staying attached. I wear lambs wool toe pads (I believe they are lambs wool.. they are the basic ouch pouch) and my pointe shoes are Russian pointes which seems so be strange since most dancers get them from gaynords. no other brand feels comfortable for my foot so I

[FredericaBimble]

I'm not a dancer anymore but your videos have done wonders for my long distance running! I have strengthened my feet and arches which have solved my knee and calf problems with my running. Thanks for these videos.

[lisahowell2]

@FredericaBimble =- Thanks! Its great to hear good feedback from people other than dancers! Keep posted as there is lots more on the foot and ankle coming soon!

[lillk001]

I have bad ingrowing toe nails in my big toes. Pretty sure this hasn't been caused by my dance, (I've had it for as long as I can remember) but it only hurts when I dance. I've tried tonnes of stuff, visited 3 doctors about it, bought big toe gel pads for when I'm en pointe and I wear them as well as the general gel toe pads! What else do you suggst?

[lisahowell2]

@lillk001 - Great question - thanks - there are lots of things that you can try - and I will definitely cover this in our upcoming webinar - Keep an eye out for details :) One of the biggest things to watch tho - is not to lean on your big toe in a tendu derierre,... Sounds innocent enough, but can be a BIG contributor to ingrown toenails!

[Cheerbabeforeverable]

a few months ago i got a ankle injury (not from dance) and i took some time off dance (about 3 weeks)

it was fine so i went back en pointe but it got injured again from overuse... i also have other foot injuries (my left arch is weird and the bone is.... something? from starting pointe too young) so my teacher taught me this cool foot taping thing that helps keep my foot up strong en pointe but i have no idea what to do about my ankle eeep

[lisahowell2]

@Cheerbabeforeverable - Thats great that your teacher taught you an effective taping technique for yoru foot - but not so cool about the ankle.. :( can you tell me more about it? Like how you hurt it in the beginning - and where the pain is..? Maybe then I can help some more!

[Cheerbabeforeverable]

@lisahowell2 thanks for the reply! i hurt it originally playing volleyball- i just fell kind of sideways and the doctor told me it was just a sprain... like i said i took almost a month off from dance and it got better. not long after i was doing triple pirouettes into illusion turns in a lyrical class and fell and did a similar thing only not as badly... 2 weeks off this time. my teacher told me to use a thera band before i could go back en pointe so i did but ever since it sort of aches.

[lisahowell2]

@Cheerbabeforeverable - Ok... So usually after a sprain - it does take some time - and some specific strengthening exercises to get really strong and stabe again.... Using the theraband is good - but more important are propriooceptive and balance exercises to really wake up the receptors in the ligament that you hurt.... Do you have any of my books..? I can direct you to the appropriate exercises if you like!

[Cheerbabeforeverable]

@lisahowell2 PART 2!!!

imagine you are just standing up- the part of your foot that makes a 90 degree angle with your leg, thats what hurts whenever i point my foot (especially standing en pointe) and it doesnt hurt if i poke it or anything, it hurts on the INSIDE like its the joint or something

its not a sharp pain, its a little ache, but its definately there.

it doesnt look weird from the outside in that spot or anything

my right foot is fine- strong and no icky toes from pointe work btw :)

[lisahowell2]

@Cheerbabeforeverable - Hmmmm.... This sounds a little interesting.... how long have you had it? And did it start from an Injury? or just slowly develop...?

[Cheerbabeforeverable]

@lisahowell2 i injured it first but then it got completely better, and the 'weird' injury/pain happened over a few weeks- i didnt think much of it then but it gets more and less painful, some days are just good days, some are not.....

i had been doing pointe for 2 years before this started :)

[dancergirlmh]

I have Achilles tendons, nothing has worked.