We don't appear to have any scintillating dance facts to share with you at the moment, but if it's detail on the finer points of technique you're craving you might want to check out Richard Lamberty's ballroom dance technique blog. Richard is the founder of the Bay Area's same sex dance program. He is also the U.S. mens ballroom champion and one of the top dancers in the world. 

The Foot Thread

This is NOT to be construed as medical advice, but it is a forum for talking about injuries that came about as the result of dancing - dancing too much, dancing in incorrect shoes, injuries during competitions from running into other dancers (or other dancers running into you!) and what you did (or did not do) to fix it and/or avoid further injury.

The theme of my dance injury tale is "There are ACHES and there are PAINS" - and as I'm writing this my right foot is iced and elevated :) I've always had good knees, good feet and overall fitness. For six years my feet have taken a pounding and never complained...until three weeks ago. I got back from the Pink Jukebox Trophy competition in London ready to kick into full gear for April Follies. I had several hours of lessons on a Sunday - three of which were doing one dance over and over.  Then Monday three hours of lessons - no problem. By Tuesday I felt like someone had stepped on my foot, but no one had. I kept up my usual classes and lessons. By Friday when I was teaching a Samba at a dance I was in incredible pain. So much that by Saturday morning I couldn't put any weight on my foot. I started icing, elevating and taking ibuprofen. Then Monday I had it x-rayed. No broken bones, but still it wasn't healing - at least not fast enough for me:) I had my Physical Therapist (and good friend) Sandy look at my foot - she told me I have a fallen metatarsal arch - the bone in the ball of my foot fell. Googling this told me it's a common injury for basketball players and to continue what I was already doing - icing, elevating and ibuprofen and that I could benefit by support of the arch with a shoe insert. And...it says not to "play through the pain"...meaning give it time to heal!!

I've now entered the "Orthopedic Phase" of my dance career :) foot inserts...start a casual conversation with a dancer who has danced longer than five minutes and you find out these excellent dancers are held together with "smoke and mirrors" in the form of surgeries, ace bandages, splints and shoe inserts. And, apparently, we should all invest in pain relief medications. Ok...now it's your turn :) ~ Cindy

 

Cindy,

I'm sorry about your foot Cindy, but I'm glad you brought up the topic of injuries to the group.

It's a good idea to think about preventing injuries, and preventing additional injuries if an injury has already occurred. ~Louie Valour-Gonzales

Here's some of the things I do.

I have not experienced any knee or foot injuries, but I wear ace bandages on my knees while dancing to prevent knee injuries. I always wear 2 pair of socks to prevent calluses on the feet, and I wear air cushion inserts in my shoes.  It's a good idea to have an exercise routine that helps build stamina and helps prevent injuries. Warm up exercises can help prevent some injuries. Stretching exercises can help keep dancers flexible, and help prevent some injuries.  Outside exercise (other than dance) can tone muscles so the stresses of dance steps can be absorbed by muscle, and not by the joints. Swimming is a good sport to help build stamina. Kayaking, hiking, etc are also good in building stamina. In hiking however, it's a good idea to protect the knees from added stress especially while hiking down hill.

I hope this helps, and I'd be interested in hearing what anyone else does to prevent injury and build stamina for dance.~ Sue

 

 

Here are a few things I have learned:
Shoes with half metal shanks in them, like the practice shoes with holes many people wear, are great for people that have low arches. Jazz shoes have no support and don't work for me.
Ibuprofen is a wonder drug, as are ice and elevation. (Okay so the last two aren't drugs, but they are very helpful.)  Being lifted (especially in the abdominals) supposedly makes less pressure/impact on the feet, which I believe, but have yet to experience for certain.
Gel inserts especially under the ball of foot are a must!
I try to be kind to my feet and wear very comfortable shoes with orthodics whenever I'm not dancing, which. It's a hard choice, but sometimes I have to sacrifice fashion for the sake of my feet.
I'll send more things I've learned as I think of them. - Citabria

Hi all, For those of you with foot pain, arch issues etc., I would highly recommend getting some custom orthotics (ones you can use in dance shoes *do* exist). Mine have made a world of difference, and aligning my feet actually helped my knees significantly as well. Icing is really important, too, and I should do more of that, but I'm sure you agree that sitting around in cold weather with ice on your feet isn't the most pleasant feeling and encourages creative excuses.

I take Ibuprofen (Vitamin I) as needed but haven't needed it nearly as much since I started wearing orthotics in my dance shoes. I've also got some natural pills called Pain Relief. They work really well. (I don't remember the brand, but it's a white bottle with blue lettering...I can look it up if anyone's interested.)

I also get my feet adjusted. It's crazy how much better they feel after they get "unstuck" (I'm sure that's the technical term.) I typically go from hating to put weight on them because it's so uncomfy to "ahhhhh" although sometimes it just takes the edge off. Depends on how messed up I've let myself get. :)

I've got "athletic" cushy orthotics for my casual shoes and then a pair of other ones for my dance shoes. They fit my standard shoes and I even wear them in my latin shoes. They are a half-foot kind and so they barely compromise my point. It's so much more comfortable to dance with them in. I wear guy's standard shoes and guy's latin shoes. I don't think the inserts would work in open-toed high-heeled latin shoes, but they'd probably be fine in the lower "teacher" shoes with the air-vent holes and other close-toed shoes.

Anyway, as most of you know, Tara (my partner) is a chiropractor. She does custom orthotics (did mine) and so I know a little about the process. One thing I know is important is make sure to go to someone who does casts while the foot is in a neutral postion, rather than having you stand and taking an impression while you are weight-bearing. (This is because when you weight-bear, your feet go into the postion you want to correct, so you want to get a neutral postion of the foot for the best result.) I've had both kinds and I can attest to the difference; it's dramatic.

Tara's office is in Pleasanton, but if you want to go see her to check into orthotics, I'm sure she'd be happy to help you. She's fixed a lot of dancers up (feet, backs, necks etc.).

Oh and one other thing that helps: for knees, I use chopats. (Here's what they are: http://www.alimed.com/ProductDetail.asp?style=6513&source=google&adgroup=patellarstrap&adtext=price&gclid=CK2-6vrujJICFRYoawod_E4MfA) They're good for a variety of knee issues; if you go to the link, it will spell out which ones. Good luck, folks!! wen

 

Hi Cindy..sorry to hear you are aff your "feed"/"feet". My tendon or calculus in the fith metatarsal bone (depending on which doctor)over a year ago, almost two now has kept me off the floor, not walking easily, even with the $320 orthotics..remember I twisted my foot in the Samba..No big news..just a pain..would rather have an ache.- Barbara T.

 

Besides the great suggestions already given...TRAUMEEL is your friend.
Traumeel is a homeopathic analgesic / anti-inflammatory in tablet, ointment (more like a cream than an ointment), gel, and liquid form. As someone who tries to avoid taking the usual oral analgesics including asprin, tylenol, and ibruprophen, this stuff has worked wonders for me at times. I had once been bothered by a strained achilles tendon for weeks and it wasn't improving. I applied Traumeel ointment to it before I went to bed and it was ~80% better the next morning! Of course, your mileage may vary. Since it's homeopathic, you don't have to worry about drug interactions or adverse side effects. Another nice thing about it is that it is odorless / scentless. ~Lisa

Hi Cindy,

On top of all the great suggestions I would add in a foot bath with water, epsom salts, peppermint oil and ICE in it. Not for the faint hearted but it reduces inflammation in the feet after dancing. I do it every day I dance. I also had great results with warm water epsom salt soaks too for sprains. Use a lot of epsom salts. ~ zoe

 

Hi all - thanks for the feedback. I appreciate that we all come from different athletic backgrounds and I just wanted to know your thoughts whether it's a forgone conclusion that injuries will happen or can certain types of injuries (like mine) be prevented. Should we all be wearing shoe inserts from our very first dance steps? Cindy