I thought I'd share this on the dance forum and not the health and fitness forum because I'm addressing this to dancers.
The other day, my mother finally convinced me to go to a podologist. I started dance intensively three years ago, and started points last year. I started to get an "bunion" on my left foot because of it. Also I was having pain when doing points.
Well the podooligist I had was really nice and he pointed out in me a number of things that might be helpfull to other dancers here.
Firstly, there are exercises to slowdown and sometimes even cure "bunions" on your feet. It's an exercise learned from the Japoneeses: you press down with your big toe on the floor or against your thumb, and keeping it down, spread your toes open, fanning out. It strengthens the muscles that help keep the big toes in place. These are also the muscles that make going on points easier.
Secondly, I have flat feet. If I were doing litterature and not ballet, it wouldn't matter. But as a person who does a huge amount of dance, an uncorrected flat foot can wear out and tire parts of your feet at a later age.
Thirdly, I had a lack of flexibility in the way I flex my feet. I was surprised--because I am so flexible, I am able to do grands pliés almost without letting my heels leave the floor! But it is true, flexing my feet with straight legs is the most difficult form of streching for me. I don't understand it fully, so I can't explain it any better.
Forthly, you can bind your feet while doing points and thus avoid getting "bunions". One of my ballet teachers told me this, but told me to bind them in the wrong place! She told me to bind the part above my toes, at the joints. But really, it's right above the joints that one should bind the feet. It keeps the bones in place.
Fifthly, I needed to re-level my left point shoe because I tend to have my foot un-alined, going in wards when I go on point.
Lastly, a colleague of my podoligist had the job of taking care of a whole ballet company, and he developed a technique for keeping the toes well placed and avoiding "bunions": it costs ~ 90 $. Any way: what you do is have a mold taken of your toes in your point shoes. The toes need to be relaxed. Then the podoligist makes rubber toe protectors that fit your feet perfectly, spread the weight out perfectly and keep all your bones in a healthy place. This is usefull for me because one of my smaller toes on my right foot is a bit too small and puts painfull pressure on the one next to it.
Well, I thought I'd write all this out for any serious dancers out there, especially ballet dancers. I really gets me upset to see people continuing to live with the pain and hurting themselves when there are solutions. A check-up at the podologist might be usefull especially for flat-foot dancers starting point. I never realized how important it was.
The other day, my mother finally convinced me to go to a podologist. I started dance intensively three years ago, and started points last year. I started to get an "bunion" on my left foot because of it. Also I was having pain when doing points.
Well the podooligist I had was really nice and he pointed out in me a number of things that might be helpfull to other dancers here.
Firstly, there are exercises to slowdown and sometimes even cure "bunions" on your feet. It's an exercise learned from the Japoneeses: you press down with your big toe on the floor or against your thumb, and keeping it down, spread your toes open, fanning out. It strengthens the muscles that help keep the big toes in place. These are also the muscles that make going on points easier.
Secondly, I have flat feet. If I were doing litterature and not ballet, it wouldn't matter. But as a person who does a huge amount of dance, an uncorrected flat foot can wear out and tire parts of your feet at a later age.
Thirdly, I had a lack of flexibility in the way I flex my feet. I was surprised--because I am so flexible, I am able to do grands pliés almost without letting my heels leave the floor! But it is true, flexing my feet with straight legs is the most difficult form of streching for me. I don't understand it fully, so I can't explain it any better.
Forthly, you can bind your feet while doing points and thus avoid getting "bunions". One of my ballet teachers told me this, but told me to bind them in the wrong place! She told me to bind the part above my toes, at the joints. But really, it's right above the joints that one should bind the feet. It keeps the bones in place.
Fifthly, I needed to re-level my left point shoe because I tend to have my foot un-alined, going in wards when I go on point.
Lastly, a colleague of my podoligist had the job of taking care of a whole ballet company, and he developed a technique for keeping the toes well placed and avoiding "bunions": it costs ~ 90 $. Any way: what you do is have a mold taken of your toes in your point shoes. The toes need to be relaxed. Then the podoligist makes rubber toe protectors that fit your feet perfectly, spread the weight out perfectly and keep all your bones in a healthy place. This is usefull for me because one of my smaller toes on my right foot is a bit too small and puts painfull pressure on the one next to it.
Well, I thought I'd write all this out for any serious dancers out there, especially ballet dancers. I really gets me upset to see people continuing to live with the pain and hurting themselves when there are solutions. A check-up at the podologist might be usefull especially for flat-foot dancers starting point. I never realized how important it was.
