It’s no secret that dancers move about a lot regardless of dance genre. While this movement is great, it also puts enormous strain on their bodies. Dancers’ legs and feet, particularly, are subject to incredible pressure and intense strain. This can take a huge toll on dancers’ foot health.
However, there are a few simple things you can do to improve your leg health and give your tired, achy feet a break. In this post, we’ll go over a few common dancer’s feet problems, as well as some of the easiest and best ways to feel better pronto!
Common Foot Problems Dancers Face
If you’re a dancer, you’re no stranger to dancer’s feet problems. Despite being incredibly common among dancers, the foot problems they face aren’t talked about nearly enough.
One such problem is plantar fasciitis—a potentially serious foot condition usually caused by overuse. Foot overuse is prevalent in dancing and should be addressed as quickly as possible; else, it could lead to more severe or long-lasting difficulties.
Another little-discussed foot problem that dancers commonly face is blisters. Blisters are primarily caused by not wearing protection between your feet and your shoes. Moreover, because dancers move about a lot, the constant rubbing of your shoes can lead to blisters.
While everyone gets a blister now and then, dancers get them much more regularly. It may seem a minimal problem, but when your blisters don’t have enough time to heal, they can become infected. Ouch.
Finally, metatarsalgia affects the metatarsals (the bones that connect your ankle bones to your toes) and causes pain under the ball of your foot. Because dancers use this part of their body excessively, metatarsalgia is yet another common problem they may face.
4 Ways to Feel Better Fast
Initially, dancer’s feet problems don’t have obvious solutions. After all, it’s not like you’re going to stop dancing! Thankfully, you can do a few small adjustments to feel a big relief.
1. Compression
Foot use can cause blood to gather and settle around your feet and ankles. While this does happen naturally, it’s exaggerated by overuse.
Wearing compression socks is a fantastic way to help alleviate this blood pooling, as well as the previously mentioned foot problems. Renowned for their improvements to blood circulation between the legs and heart, compression socks for dancers will make a difference you can feel right away.
Improved circulation can also make you feel more energized and minimize the risk of injury. As a result, you can expect to see reduced swelling and soreness in your feet.
Dancing is a sport of balance, elegance, and athleticism, so dancers welcome any improvements to stabilization. Because compression socks help stabilize your body too, they have become very popular in dancing.
2. Be Careful With Foot Soaks
Feet are complex parts of the body, and dancers push them to their limits. It is, therefore, imperative that dancers take care of their feet.
Calluses are a common problem among dancers, and many foot remedies suggest or even encourage soaking your feet to alleviate them. In reality, doing so should generally be avoided.
Soaking callused feet can cause raw, sore areas prone to infection. This can significantly slow down the healing process and potentially lead to more serious problems.
3. Keep Your Feet High
Gravity can cause blood to pool around your feet and lower legs. This, alongside the constant pressure dancers’ feet are under, can cause noticeable foot swelling. In fact, swelling is one of the most common dancer’s feet problems.
An effective way to overcome this problem is elevating your feet, and doing so is incredibly straightforward.
Simply position yourself so that you’re reclined or lying down (making sure you’re comfortable is essential). Then, stack pillows underneath your legs so that your feet are above your heart’s level. If you can’t manage this, just elevate them as much as you can, using cushions or pillows to help.
Do this 3 or 4 times a day, keeping your legs elevated for about 15 minutes each time.
4. Moisturize Like It’s Your Job
Excessive pressure on the pad of your heels can cause them to crack. Cracked heels are a part of dancing. That’s just how it is. Luckily, there are a couple of things you can do to aid your sore, cracked heels.
The best way to help heal your cracked heels is moisturizing. Moisturizing will soothe and remedy your cracked heels. Remember that it’s especially important to moisturize your calluses.
To further help the healing process, moisturize before bed and put on a pair of snug, comfy socks to seal in the moisturizer.
Keep On Dancing
There’s a huge variety of compression socks in many different colors, patterns, and sizes. So, not only will you notice a difference in your dancer’s feet problems, but you’ll look great too!
Crazy Compression is dedicated to helping athletes perform to their max. From dancing to running, the benefits of compression socks are so significant they’re a must for athletes who want to enhance their blood circulation, reduce swelling and soreness, and minimize the risk of injury.
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