Don’t Let Your High Heels Fall Short

Salsa dancing (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It’s amazing to go to a Latin dance or Salsa Club and watch the dancers spinning, turning and moving freely across the dance floor. They are doing it gracefully like they are not concerned in the least about falling off their heels. How do they do it? Practice, practice, practice and even that might not be enough.

Dancing in high heels is stately and elegant, but the shoes aren’t the most supportive and accidents do happen. Most shoes considered “high heels” are about 3 inches high and up. Many of them have narrow foot bed and spike type heels, which mean there is very little contact with the floor, and most of that is balancing on the ball of the foot. Too much time raised on your toes will place a lot of stress on that area and can result in ball of foot pain as well as calf pain.

The light, airy strappy sandals are not a good bet for durability. Often times the shoe construction is such that it creates pressure points on the foot, or seams and stitching are not finished in a manner that prevents abrading your foot. If you spend much time in this type of shoe, the fact that they allow your leg a stylish and elegant profile should only be secondary to comfort. For long hours on the dance floor, a 2 inch enclosed pump would offer a more natural foot position and better protection for your toes and more contact with the floor.

Strappy sandal type dance shoes offer no protection against turning an ankle. Sprains are painful and can cause missed time from work and leisure activities. If you do choose these for the dance floor, make sure they are dance shoes. Dance shoes have a metal shank that runs from inside the heel to the mid-sole. This prevents the heel from twisting if you do make a misstep.

Many people laugh at dancers and claim dancing cannot possibly be rough enough to equate to athletics. However, ask any dancer as they suffer the same injuries any other athlete does. Injuries include the following:

• Sprained ankles
• Ruptured tendons
• Repetitive stress injuries
• Pulled muscles

Dr. Boucher is uniquely qualified to assist you in selection of dance shoes and preventing dance injuries. Contact her at (203) 238-3668 and ask her for her dance shoe recommendations. Hopefully you won’t get tripped up while you’re out tripping the light fantastic.

References:

http://www.danceuniverse.co.kr/know/gentlesport.htm
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070426002145AAfwf3o

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Saving Your Ankles, A Saving Grace

Sprained Ankle (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dancers are some of the finest tuned and strength athletes that live. If you don’t believe this, just try dancing around on your toes for as many hours a week as your training, rehearsal and performance schedules require. Not so easy, huh? Strength and conditioning is a major focus of dancers, but that does not mean they are immune from injuries.

Ankle injuries are common amongst dancers, so to stay in the game, so to speak, what can be done to protect this overtaxed joint and surrounding soft tissue? There are strategies for strength development and conditioning meant to reduce the risk of injury. The serious dancer is always in training in an effort to perfect their stance and form, allowing them to perform at the level that is demanded of them.

One of the most unattractive and weakest forms is when the foot is allowed to sickle. Instead of maintaining a straight line from the leg all the way through the foot, the foot is allowed to bend inward. It is unacceptable, unattractive and weak. This weakened position leads to ankle injuries like strains, sprains and breaks of the ankle.

The click on this link to go to a website that shows excellent visual of what a sickled foot looks like. 

In order to prevent injuries caused by weak positions, the dancer must constantly be using exercises to gain strength and control. This is not a quick fix, but needs to be worked on consistently until sickling no longer occurs.

There are five recommended ways to prevent ankle injuries and a dancer would do well to heed the following advice:

• Warm up – the muscles of body, feet and ankles have to be prepared for work.

• Develop strong ankles and skills – dancers must have strong muscles and ankle strength in order to perfect ballet moves.

• Properly fit shoes and proper flooring – properly fit shoes are close and supportive. Too large a shoe allows the foot to come out of pointe and can result in injuries. Proper flooring is padded to protect from painful ankle injuries. 

• The thin physique of the ballet dancer demands proper nutrition to maintain form and strength. Eat healthy and get the proper nutrients.

• When an ankle injury occurs, take care of it immediately with the proper rest and treatment. When you are ready to resume dance, wrap the ankle for continued support.

Dr. Boucher and her staff are ready to help you. Call her with questions and concerns at (203) 238-3668. Her medical expertise and knowledge of dance is sure to keep you in top performance.

References:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/11170-prevent-ankle-injuries-ballet/
http://www.podiatrytoday.com/article/1616?page=1
http://dancers.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=51274

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