Horrible pain in my arches??

Hey everybody :)

So... lately (the last couple of months) I've been having HORRIBLE pain in my arches whenever I dance! It's mostly on the outside of my foot, but the inside often hurts too. Usually it hurts more when I'm in softshoes than in hardshoes and it rarely hurts at all when I'm just in sneakers or dance sneakers. I have pretty high arches and insteps and strong feet. It helps if I rest/message it for a few minutes, but after another couple of minutes of dancing it starts hurting again.
From what my friends have said, this is a pretty common problem. I really want to get rid of it quick, though... what is wrong with my feet and what can I do to stop it?!

Replies are appreciated. :)

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Permalink Reply by Lies Van Humbeeck on January 26, 2012 at 1:54pm

I have this problem too, and it mostly occurs when I haven't danced in a while. I, too, have no idea what it is. My doctor just told me that people aren't made for standing on their toes, and that was it.

My fellow dancers have been a better help. Two of them study to become a doctor, and they have given me the advice to try and strengthen my muscles. You can do this by either picking up pens from the floor with your toes (great fun) or rolling your feet over a perfectly round stick (or something like it). I always forget to the pick-up exercises, but the rolling really helps. It relieves the tension that you feel.

Of course, this is what helps for me, and I'm not even sure if it's the right thing to do. But my doctor isn't into dancing, so he doesn't know a great deal about all the problems...

I hope it goes away, because I surely know how painful it can be!

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Permalink Reply by Emily Wilkerson on January 26, 2012 at 2:50pm

Hmm I just had class last night and one of my friends had this little arch roller thing and I tried it but it hurt really bad! It's weird because usually when I message it, it feels better. My teacher said that I should try rolling my foot around on a tennis ball and stretching my arches by standing on a stair step with my weight only on the balls of my feet. I haven't tried it yet but it sounds pretty good.
Thanks for the reply! :)

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Permalink Reply by Vicky Roberts on January 26, 2012 at 11:20pm

Hate to say this Emily, but this sounds suspiciously like Plantar fasciitis (this link has more details :

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0004438/

I had this and I couldn't dance for about 6-8weeks - I had Physio, and now wear insoles in my shoes as I have the opposite problem to you, I have NO arches at all! Basically, the plantar fascia are the ligaments that connect the heel bone to the toes & create the arch of your foot. When it becomes inflamed, you get pain very similar to what you're describing (mine was more to the inside of the foot). Like you, I find an Arch Roller relieves the pain when I feel the ligaments tightening again, & my physio told me to wear sneakers as sneakers have an exaggerated arch in them, thus supporting the arch. I'd recommend going to your doctor (if you haven't already) & ask for a referral to a SPORTS Physio (it needs to be a sports physio as they are better at treating & understanding sport/dance related injuries). You might find it useful to put arch supports into your hard & light shoes (check out Antonio Pacelli's website, look under footcare, they have gel arch supports that are useful). I'd recommend resting your foot, no dancing (if this is what I think it is - it will geet better faster if you're not dancing & thus inflaming it). Hope that helps!

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Permalink Reply by Emily Wilkerson on January 27, 2012 at 3:01pm

I think I'll try the arch supports or something like them before I go to a doctor... (hehe long story short, I had a bunch of problems last year and I'm sick of doctors!)
Thanks so much! :)

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Permalink Reply by Romuald on January 27, 2012 at 12:39am

right relaxing as ballet gymnastics!!!, swimming, yoga, stretching.

good warm up and cool down can also be very helpful, use diddlyi.learn, there is a lot of thing, but you need to make it every time.

and no dance through the such pain

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Permalink Reply by Emily Wilkerson on January 27, 2012 at 3:02pm

Haha thanks. :) I'm usually too stubborn to stop dancing, even if I'm in some pain, but this is definitely good advice.

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Permalink Reply by Romuald on January 28, 2012 at 8:54am

just after week of nodancing because knee said "i will hurt, and you blonde adult will sit home without world", so knee now stopped talking today) did nothing in week just warm up and cool down and make warcry "heels in, arms down... TIMING, knees, feets" and so on)

relax works everytime good, today will dance set i hope, not only teaching my dancers.

how many time per week do you dance and how many hours each time?

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Permalink Reply by Emily Wilkerson on January 31, 2012 at 8:02pm

Because I'm busy with school and my other sport, I can only go to class twice a week for about 2 hours each time. My pain may just be because I'm a bit out of shape! ;)

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Permalink Reply by Aisling on January 28, 2012 at 9:47pm

i know you are sick of docs but you should see a sports medicine physiotherapist... they will help you figure out what you have hurt and how to help , strengthen everything so that you can be better, both feeling better and dancing better!