Chronic metatarsalgia keeps me from dancing as much as I'd like. How do you take care of your feet to maximize dance time?

I have had metatarsalgia........it is very painful. The best thing I did to improve is very simple......I wore a very supportive but lightweight gym shoe (no slippers or bare feet!) around the house. All.....everyday, until I saw improvement. Outside of the house I wore a pair of Clarks shoes....which have alot of support. Shoes with a very cushioned footbed througout for day to day wear have helped me tremendously. I no longer buy cheap shoes.......just cushioning the impact from your daily activies may bring some relief.

I tend to irritate a particular tendon in my feet that causes extreme pain from the arch through the calf, especially when dancing rumba and cha cha.

My chiropractor has advised me do a couple of things: (1) wear flat shoes that don't constrict the toes on days that I dance, (2) pre-warm the tendons in my feet with a heating pad for about 10 minutes prior to dancing, (3) massage my feet and toes afterwards.

My suggestion is you see a physical or sports therapist for your specific case and to make sure you're not causing yourself greater injury.

Remember to warm up, cool down and stretch your toes, feet, ankles and calves. I also use Yoga Toes toe stretchers.
Contrast baths alternating cold & hot water (always end with cold) helps, too. A little epsom salt in the hot water is nice.
Dance shoes that have a wider opening at the front of the toe box might help as well. I wear dance sneakers to some practice sessions and group classes.
Off the dance floor I never skimp on the quality of my footwear. I, too, wear shoes all of the time. In the house I wear Birkenstocks. Dansko or other shoes with a firm, rocker bottom are excellent choices.
My chiropractor also checks and adjusts my feet and ankles.


These tricks help me to manage a number of issues that have come up as a result of a non-dancing injury and surgery.

Knock on wood, I have had great fortune in not suffering too many ankle, foot, knee or leg injuries. Can't say the same about my elbow and shoulder, but that's another issue.
Mostly, I stretch my Achilles tendon a bit before dancing, as that would be one of my greatest fears. It seems that injury can hit any one of us out of nowhere, and that would be a tough one to recover from.
Pain in the heels and arches can be troubling, but with some care, those usually come around. I have noticed an occasional pain along the top of my foot, but only when I have been doing heavy doses of walking in addition to practicing dances that require full extension on the balls of your feet (waltz, especially).

This is the crazy one my Chiropractor gave me, don't know if it applies.

I roll my foot with full weight back and forth on a can, a regular sized vegetable can for ten minutes each foot. It works whatever that tendon is and helps strengthen it as well. I don't know if its placebo effect or real but after an hour or two of grueling Sambas I'm glad to have something to releive the permanent cramp I get in the arch of my foot.

A pro taught me several years ago to put a golf ball on the floor and roll it around with the sole of each foot.



jj