“Dancing is like dreaming with your feet”. Have you felt the same when you are dancing to your favorite beats? Well, a simple dance can indeed make you feel on cloud nine. But without taking proper care of your feet, this dream can convert it into a nightmare due to intense pain.

Dance is a form of art which requires a lot of physical, mental and psychological efforts. It requires years of training, motor control and flexibility to maintain extreme dance poses. The training sessions for professional and elite dancers may last for several hours and put severe stress on feet and ankles. Foot and ankle region is one of the most commonly injured area in dancers specially female ballet dancers. These injuries can happen after sudden injury due to improper landing or more frequently, due to repetitive insults during excessive training.

A few common Foot and Ankle problems that every dancer can relate to are

1. Ankle Sprain

All dance forms like ballets, freestyle, jazz, contemporary put emphasis on leg and foot stretch. Every dancer suffers from ankle sprain once in his/her lifetime while practicing some dance moves. Improper training or over-exertion can increase the chances of this problem.

Multiple joints in foot and ankle region help in the movement of the foot in all directions. Many ligaments are present in the ankle joint to hold it in the actual place. An ankle sprain happens when any one or more ligaments are torn and severely stretched.

According to the severity of the condition, one can classify this problem into three different grades. Grade I means mild severity, whereas Grade III involves severe injury to the ligaments on both sides of ankle. You will notice inflammation, swelling, bruising, redness, and rise in temperature in your ankle due to this issue.

Are Ankle sprains serious?

Ankle Sprain should be checked by a medical expert as an untreated ankle sprain can lead to many other problems like:

• Severe pain
• Losing stability leading to recurrent sprains
• Injury to the other foot because of altered gait
• Arthritis

What doctors recommend for healing ankle sprains?

The initial management of an acute ankle sprain involves RICE wherein

• R stands for Rest so that you do not worsen the injury.
• I stands for Ice that can help in the reduction of swelling, inflammation and redness.
• C stands for Compression which can be helpful to keep down the swelling. An elastic bandage is tightly wrapped on the foot to control the blood flow.
• E stands for Elevation so that extra fluid can be soaked by the body

But if the intensity of ankle sprain is severe then the doctor may recommend other treatment methods like brace, cast etc. Once the pain settles down, a period of rehabilitation to combat stiffness, weakness and regain stability of the ankle is needed to get back to pre-injury status.

2. Stress Fracture

Long hours of practice sessions with fast moves puts a lot of pressure on the foot muscles and bones. This habit of over usage and recurring pressure or stress on the bone can lead to stress fracture. It might be a diminutive and minute crack in the bone.

The symptoms that one may notice in such cases can be pain while performing some activity, pain on touching the affected area, and swelling over the region of fracture.

Expert advice on stress fracture

The prime complication with this foot problem is worsening resulting in major fracture. For the treatment, experts may suggest reduction in activity and orthopedic devices like a brace, walking boot, cast etc. to lessen down the load on the bone. In some cases, the doctor may suggest surgery too.

3. Dancer’s fracture

There can be many unfortunate events when the foot gets hit or twisted while training. This can result in a fracture in the outer aspect of the foot (fifth metatarsal bone) and is known as Dancer’s fracture. Awkward landing after jumps and rolling on outer border of foot during demi-pointe position in ballet dancers are the most common mechanisms of Dancer’s fracture. The fifth metatarsal bone is the metatarsal bone below the little toe. The line of the fracture can be spiral-shaped throughout the bone and can cause cracking of bone into small parts.

The patient may experience swelling, pain and bruising at the outermost region of the foot. The treatment procedure for this foot disorder seems similar to fracture and can take 6-12 weeks to heal.

4. Dancer’s heel

Have you ever felt a hard bump at the backside of the ankle? Then most probably you are suffering from dancer’s heel. It is a posterior ankle impingement syndrome that is developed when the tissues and bone present behind the ankle are compressed and form a hard bone-like bump. It is quite common in ballet dancers as they have to practice the pointe technique for prolonged periods. There might be a bony growth at the back of the ankle (Os trigonum or Steida’s process) which may worsen the problem. In such dancers, achieving a full pointe position can trigger pain in back of the ankle on the outer aspect. Many of them may have adjoining inflammation of tendon (muscle) of the big toe. This condition is called FHL tenosynovitis and moving the big toe may reproduce the pain in such cases.

How to get rid of this pain?

If pain in ankle is limiting one’s dance performance or daily activities, one should consult the doctor and get the proper diagnosis. The treatment procedure may include physical therapy to strengthen and mobilize the ankle, medication and avoiding movements and positions that trigger the pain. In non-responders, doctor may suggest surgical methods to cure the problem.

5. Curled toes leading to Hammer toe

After practicing Ballet for years, one may notice bending of the toes. When middle joint of all the toes except big toe bends, then this medical deformity is known as Hammer toe. This deformity is more commonly seen in ballet dancers attempting full-pointe position or those wearing small and tight shoes. This unusual curvature exerts a force on the toes while wearing shoes and this can lead to pain and callus formation on the top of the toe. Initially, hammer toes may go unnoticeable as there are only mild deformations and the toes are flexible but the condition may worsen over time.

Can it be cured?

Yes! This problem is curable. The doctor may treat this foot disorder through non-surgical methods like footwear change, padding and stretching exercises. But untreated hammer toes for long duration can lead to a situation wherein surgery is the final option to cure the deformity.

6. Sudden appearance of Ingrown toenail

Training in misfit footwear can lead to the problem of ingrown toenail. It refers to a medical problem when the nail grows into the skin from the edges and corners, resulting in inflammation, pain, redness, or infection. This foot problem can lead to many complications for people suffering from peripheral vascular disease or diabetes but it can be an issue with dancers with sweaty feet as well. Cutting nails too short, injury, history in the family are some other common causes of an ingrown toenail.

Does it need medical help?

Ingrown toenail can result in some serious infection, so medical help is must to recover from this painful problem. The doctor may pull out the nail from the affected region and apply medication to heal the wound and safeguard it from infection. But if the problem prevails, then toenail avulsion may be recommended. It is a surgical method to remove either part or full nail. In case you are frequently enduring from this problem, then it is advisable to consult a foot specialist to know the treatment options available.

Some foot care tips for dancers

It is important to take care of your feet to prevent foot problems as much as you can. Being a dancer, feet have a higher risk of injury. Dr Anuj Chawla who is one of the best for Foot Pain Treatment In Gurgaon suggests some preventive measures which can be helpful for dancers:

• Make sure to eat well and take enough fluids all day.
• Have a diet rich in Vitamin D and treat Vitamin D deficiency and osteoporosis if detected.
• Choose a dance form that is more appropriate for you.
• Abstain from overexerting yourself and take sufficient rest before practice
• Make sure to train all the organs of the body and not just focus on the legs. This will help to strengthen all the muscles and prevent excessive stress on the feet
• Wear professionally fitted shoes with a good quality sole
• Always perform warm-up exercises before practicing the dance moves.