Essential Dancer Feet Care

Our family and team at Bella Diva Dance feels blessed as we head into this holiday season and approach a new & exciting year. This past year has been a year of growth, transformation and adventures, all possible because of our incredible team, dedicated students, loyal partners and clients, and everyone who supports us near and far. This is a time of year to give thanks and we couldn’t be more grateful for you! 

Be thankful for your feet and take care of them properly

As dancers, our feet are arguably one of the most complex structures in the body, especially when you consider the purpose it serves for us dancers: support, balance, and propulsion. Much like the musician and his instrument, it is crucial for us dancers that we keep our feet in good working order.
dancing tips

Feet Maintenance for dancer

Here are some considerations for ways to prevent and treat minor injuries, and general care for your feet:

  1. Cut your toenails short and straight across. The nail should be straight across and not curved because curved nails or nails that are too long can lead to ingrown toenails. The length of the nail should be just where the white part begins, with a very small amount of white showing. Use clippers as opposed to scissors to get a clean, straight cut.
  2. Don’t wear toenail polish. Polish prevents you from being able to see under the nail, so you can’t see if you’re developing a problem such as a bruised or ingrown nail. That doesn’t mean you can NEVER wear polish; go ahead and wear it for special events and then take it off before your next class or, wear a clear polish that allows you to see the nail.
  3. If you develop a blister: Blisters are par for the result from skin rubbing in with your shoes. Blisters can occur anywhere on your foot but generally tend to pop up on the surface of the toes, inside or outside border of the metatarsals, or on the heel. Blisters can be painful – even the littlest ones! Below is some advice on how to treat the two main types of blisters:
    • If you develop a clear-colored blister and the skin hasn’t broken, use a sterilized needle to pop the blister and drain out the liquid. Do not remove the loose skin; cover with a Band-Aid and strip of athletic tape. If the skin has begun to tear, use a small pair of scissors to remove any loose skin and cover with a Band-Aid and strip of athletic tape.
    • If you develop a red-colored blister, do not pop it. Blood blisters should be left to heal on their own; cover with a Band-Aid and strip of athletic tape.
    • For painful blisters, you can also cut the center out of a small piece of moleskin to form a donut shape. This prevents the surface of your shoe from rubbing on the blister until it heals. Cut a square or circle that’s bigger than your blister. Fold in half and make a slit. Putting the scissors through the slit, cut an inner circle the size of the blister. Remove the paper covering and stick the moleskin pad to surround the blister.
    • Finally, check the fit of your shoe. Blisters are normal with new shoes, but if you are developing them on a regular basis, you may want to see about a different style that better molds to your foot.

Health tips for dancers

Take Inventory on Your Dance Bag:

Making sure you have everything you need is critical to foot maintenance. Here’s a list of supplies we recommend keeping in your dance bag:

  • Nail clippers
  • Band-Aids
  • Athletic tape
  • Moleskin
  • Extra lamb’s wool or toe pads
  • Needle and thread
  • Small pair of scissors

While these are the essentials, the list of what can appear in a dancer’s bag goes on and on. Over time, as you get to know your feet better, you’ll discover what you really need (and what you should include for rainy day emergencies).

Top 3 Dancer Knee Injuries

As a dancer, your knees are vulnerable to an assortment of injuries. Did you know that when you land a jump, your knees absorb 3-4 times your body weight? The largest joints in your body – your knees – are especially susceptible to overuse injuries. If you’ve ever had pain in your knees, you know how much it can affect your dancing. The following are a few common knee injuries of dancers and how to properly treat and prevent them.

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1. Patellar Tendonitis (Jumper’s Knee)

Does your knee hurt when you land a jump? Do you feel pain in your knee when you bend your legs? You may have strained your patellar tendon, the long tendon that runs from your kneecap to your shinbone. Upon landing from a jump, you may feel a sharp pain at the bottom of your knee cap. You may even be able to pinpoint the exact spot of the injury with your finger. Jumper’s knee is generally considered an overuse injury and will slowly worsen with time.

Treatment Tips:

  • If jumping causes your pain, try taking a break from jumps and leaps.
  • Take a mild anti-inflammatory.
  • Stretch the quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves thoroughly before dancing.
  • If the knee pain is severe, seek medical treatment/rehabilitation.

Prevention: Incorporate strengthening exercises into your weekly routine. Focus on improving strength in your hamstrings and quadriceps.

2. Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS)

Do you feel pain on the outside of your knee after dancing? You could be suffering from iliotibial band syndrome. This injury occurs when the iliotibial band (a tissue that runs from your hip to your knee) becomes inflamed. It is generally classified as an overuse injury and may be caused by uneven leg length or weak hip muscles.

Treatment Tips:

  • Ice the painful area and rest for a few days. Try to limit the steps and movements that increase your pain.
  • Stretch the iliotibial band. Cross your legs with the affected leg behind. Lean away from the painful leg, feeling a good stretch along the side of your leg. Hold for 30 seconds.
  • Stretch your hips by using a foam roller or tennis ball.

Prevention: Increase the strength in your hip muscles. If the pain is severe, consider a consultation with a physical therapist. If a leg length discrepancy is a possibility, a chiropractor may be able to help.

3. Osgood-Schlatter Disease

A painful condition that mainly affects teenage boys involved in sports, Osgood-Schlatter disease can definitely affect young female dancers as well. In this condition, a painful lump can develop just under the kneecap during growth spurts and puberty. Pain can last from weeks to months, or until growth and puberty have ended.

Treatment Tips:

  • Take an over-the-counter pain reliever.
  • Ice the affected area after dancing to reduce swelling and inflammation.
  • Limit jumps and leaps.

Prevention: Limit the amount of jumping you do during major growth spurts. Sometimes, the pain comes and goes intermittently.

2016 Thanksgiving
We will be closed the day of Thanksgiving only, Thursday, Nov. 24th. All other classes will be normal.

 

Top 3 Dancer Foot Injuries

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A dancer’s feet sure take a beating. Whether they are crammed into stiff pointe shoes, bare and providing a soft landing from a giant leap, or spinning around in high-heeled ballroom shoes, your feet are the real foundation of every move you make on the dance floor. It’s no wonder that your feet ache at the end of a long day of training. However, when those aches turn into true pain, it’s time to take a step back and give your feet the attention they deserve. The following are three common injuries of the foot and ways to treat them.

1.  Strains and Sprains

Ankle sprains and strains are among the most common types of foot injuries of dancers. Sprains of the ankle occur when the ankle is accidentally turned or rolled outward.
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Sometimes, ligaments of the ankle are torn, resulting in a lateral sprain. These types of sprains range from first- to third-degree injuries.

Symptoms: You know immediately if you sprain your ankle. If you sprain or strain your ankle, you will most likely suffer pain and swelling around the outside of your ankle. You may find it too painful to stand or walk. Your ankle may bruise within a couple of days due to blood rushing to the injured area.

Causes: Improper landings from leaps and jumps are usually the cause of ankle sprains and strains. Some ankle sprains result from a slight roll of the foot due to a sudden loss of balance.

Treatment: The RICE (Rest – Ice – Compression – Elevation)  treatment should be administered immediately following an ankle strain or sprain.

2.  Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar fasciitis is one of the most common causes of heel pain in dancers.

Symptoms: Plantar fasciitis usually causes a stabbing pain in the bottom of your foot near the heel with your first steps in the morning. You may also notice pain after long periods of standing or sitting.

Causes: A few causes of plantar fasciitis in dancers include improper landing of jumps (not using the heels or landing flat-footed) and pushing off the floor incorrectly.

Treatment: Stretching and strengthening exercises may provide pain relief. If the pain is severe, steroid shots are sometimes administered. Properly warming up and cooling down will also help ease the pain in dancers with plantar fasciitis.

3.  Dancer’s Fracture

Dancer’s fracture is the most common acute fracture seen in dancers. This fracture involves the long bone on the outside of the foot where the little toe attaches.

Symptoms: Pain and swelling usually occur immediately after the injury. Walking may be difficult or even impossible.
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Your skin around the injury may bruise over time.

Causes: Dancer’s fracture usually occurs after landing from a jump on a turned-in foot.

Treatment: Treatment involves a period of rest while the injury heals, and sometimes a walking boot may need to be worn. A period of rehab will probably be encouraged in order to rebuild mobility and strength in your foot and ankle.

Coming Back Safely After a Dance Injury

As dancers, we work hard to train our bodies for the craft. It’s a physically demanding sport that requires extensive practice, dedicated training, and muscle memory formation. While an athlete takes every precaution to stay safe, no physical activity comes without the potential for injury. Read more to find out how to come back to the studio safely after a dance injury.

Recognize When You’re Hurt

A problem for athletes of any discipline is the “walk it off mentality” that tells the injured they need to ignore their pain and just keep going. While tenacity is an admirable trait for dancers to have, ignoring the warnings that your body is sending you can lead to bigger problems. Too many times, dancers will try to push through an initial dance injury because they don’t want to miss out on any practice time. Then, they increase damage to where it becomes physically impossible to continue. They end up making injuries worse and spend more time sitting out than if they had just taken the break they needed in the first place.

While it’s normal to feel sore when you’re pushing yourself through a rigorous workout, there are a few signs that the discomfort you’re feeling is a sign of significant injury. Here are several signs that dancers should look out for when they’re assessing a potential injury:

  • Sudden pains in muscles or any kind of pain in the joints.
  • A sore area that is tender to the touch.
  • Swelling.
  • Decreased range of motion.
  • Greater weakness on one side of the body than the other.
  • Numbness or tingling.

If you start to experience any of these sensations while you’re dancing, you should take a moment to stop and asses the pain before trying to continue with your practice.

Properly Treating a Dance Injury

While you may be able to treat some minor damages with rest, ice, or over-the-counter medications, visit https://www.urgentway.com/online-pharmacy/ some injuries will need professional help in order to heal properly. If the pain is unbearable or doesn’t subside after a day or two, then you’ll need to check in with a doctor.

It’s important to respond to an injury in a correct and timely manner to ensure it will heal correctly. Knowing when to apply cold or heat to an injury is vital, and don’t avoid going to the doctor because you’re afraid of being told something you don’t want to hear. Follow whatever instructions your medical team provides to you and don’t try to take any shortcuts on your road to recovery.

Making Your Return to Dance

You’ll need to be patient with your recovery. Rushing back too soon or jumping right back into your former activity level could just lead to a re-injury and more total down time. Once you’re cleared to go back to dancing, you need to start off small and build your way back up.

Your return to dance should be a slow buildup. Start with simple moves and endurance exercises that restore your muscles before trying complicated steps. If anything feels wrong, you should take a break for a few minutes and reassess. There’s nothing wrong with only completing half of your first class back if you think you’ve had enough for one day.

Don’t just examine how your former dance injury feels, either. If your overall activity level decreased while you were resting your injury, there’s a strong chance that other muscles groups lost some of their strength as well. Pay attention to your whole body and be aware of anything that doesn’t feel right. Dancing safely is all about listening to your body and training properly. Be sure you’re following safe workout habits and taking time off when you need to so you can give yourself a long and successful dance career.

Bella Diva Dance offers belly dance classes in Denver. Our new studio is located in the Glendale Center on E. Mississippi Ave. and Birch St., near Colorado Blvd. Visit us today!

Do You Dance Barefoot? Here’s How to Take Care of Your Feet

Dancing barefoot is a calling card of modern dance training and has often been the footwear of choice for contemporary dancers on stage and in the studio, regardless of the training. Modern dance founders chose to dance in bare feet because it reflects core values like connection to the body and the representation of earthly or human ideas and emotions. So, if you are a barefoot dancer (or plan to be), here are some tips to help you care for your fantastically unadorned feet.

Callus Care

They aren’t pretty but, as long as they are not painfully thick or too dry, calluses for a barefoot dancer are actually a good thing. They help you turn and slide, yet really feel the floor beneath your feet. If they are mostly even with the surrounding skin, you can leave your calluses alone. Use a pumice stone to shave them down if they start getting too big. Just be careful not to file too far. Soaking feet in Epsom salt or using Vaseline overnight can also help to keep the callus pliable and less likely to crack. If a callus does crack, care is similar to that of our next common barefoot dance concern.

Skin splits

The splits are ordinarily something dancers experience; there’s nothing more painful or annoying than dancing on a paper cut.

Splitting skin in and around the toes is difficult to bandage.
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Therefore, splits often tend to reopen and can deepen, or worse, become infected. For this reason, it’s best to do all you can to avoid it and prevent skin splits from happening in the first place. If you are experiencing a split, be sure the tear and surrounding skin are clean. Then, try to place a bandage (or half of one) across the split like a bridge.
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Use medical tape to hold the bandage in place on the top and on the bottom of your foot, if necessary. At a minimum, change any bandaging daily.
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It is usually a good idea to wear some kind of foot covering until the split is fully healed.

Floor burns

Floor work has been a notable characteristic of modern dance throughout the decades. As contemporary dance requires increasing levels of athleticism, scrapes and burns on the ankles and feet of barefoot dancers become more common – so common that dancers may not think much about caring for these rather tame injuries. It’s worth noting that even abrasions like floor burn should be treated with a topical ointment like Neosporin and covered with a bandage to reduce the chance of infection and bacteria growth. You can relieve a painful floor burn by running cold water over the wound, but don’t use ice or lotions, as these can make it worse.

BareFoot Care for Dancers

What are your favorite ways to care for modern dance feet? What do you love (or hate) about dancing barefoot? Tell us in the comments!

Bella Diva Dance offers belly dance classes in Denver. Our new studio is located in the Glendale Center on E. Mississippi Ave. and Birch St., near Colorado Blvd. Visit us today!