Foot Pain During Warm-up

[JustAnotherDancer]

I did a search on the forums, but didn't find anything quite like this...

I get a lot of pain in my feet during the first few dances (primarily west coast swing right now). It seems to be muscular, especially affecting the arches- not quite "cramping", but wow, it hurts! Since our dance instructor has been encouraging more pronounced articulation and use of the feet, it has become a bit worse (suggesting that this is a conditioning/strength issue, perhaps).

This is not plantar fasciitis, but I'm worried that I may be headed that way.

When starting to dance, I don't start cold- walking, some foot stretching and movement. I've recently started to do daily foot exercises which I hope will strengthen my feet. I wonder if my shoes could be contributing- I wear practice/coach shoes.

What more can I do? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[CANI]

Hi JustAnotherDancer - Hopefully someone will be along with some thoughts for your specific situation.

I haven't experienced what you are describing exactly, but I found this book -- The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook: Your self-treatment guide for pain relief by Clair Davies -- to be very helpful with foot pain I was experiencing (Search Title Heel Pain a Suggestion to Help if you want to read it). I also shared the book with two people at the studio who were under a doctor's care for pain (different from the pain I had), and they found it helpful and bought their own copies and copies for another couple who competes with them.

Hope you find resolution to your pain soon. The only other thought that comes to mind is maybe too much too soon? Are doing the foot exercises daily too much -- maybe every other day? If you are going from, in some ways, really not using parts of the foot, to using them every day in an intense way, maybe building up a bit more slowly would allow time for your body to adjust? Just a thought...I am not experienced in any of these topics...

 

[fascination]

hi there...I do think you can help your feet by doing foot exercises...i do them before i go to bed and before I get out of bed...pening and closing toes, pointing and flexing, and rotating ankles....it helps me...it also hleps me to be very careful about what shoe I wear when I am notdancing...proper arch support or just good cushio in general...both of these thigs help me a great deal as well as simply being good to my feet....I soak them a few times a week and take time to massage them......

 

[JustAnotherDancer]

I think it is my dance shoes... for a dance last night, I pulled out my ancient pair of International practice shoes, and the problem was very mild.

The newer pair, different brand, don't seem to have the same sturdy support. Who knew that practice shoes of different brands could be so different!

Thanks for the tips on the exercises