Dance is a beautiful and passionate art form that allows the body to move in the most incredible and impressive ways. But beneath that grace, flexibility, and beauty lies a potential for many types of chronic and acute injuries. From a jump that lands incorrectly, to the unnatural joint rotation in ballet movements, dancers are one of the most common clients for podiatry practices like Your Next Step.

The following are some of the most common conditions dancers need treatment for:

Skin conditions

• Blisters form from friction against the skin, so they are extremely common for dancers who wear special shoes like ballet shoes, pointe shoes, and dance heels. Protective padding and diligent care is required to prevent infections.
• The constant pressure during dance movements often form corns and calluses on the soles of feet and toes. Especially those who dance barefoot develop thickened rough skin.
• Sweaty, warm feet can lead to fungal infections such as athlete’s foot and nail fungus.

Toe deformities

• Bunions are a common condition that can form from tight footwear, as well as movements that encourage pronation.
• The toenails can become bruised, or become deformed from trauma or nail fungus.

Ankle and muscular pain

• Jumping and other movements often lead to overuse of muscles and tissues to cause conditions like shin splints, Achilles tendinitis, and plantar fasciitis.

Injuries

• Incidents like falls can cause all types of injuries including ankle sprainshttps://yournextstep.net/term/fractures/ and fractures. Fractures can be full breaks, or smaller stress fractures that develop from overuse.

There is no shortage of injuries for dancers as they jump, pointe, turn, flex, and glide on their feet each day. In order to treat these common conditions, and to prevent future complications, it is essential that dancers work closely with a podiatrist. At Your Next Step, we have a team of experienced compassionate foot care specialists, Dr. Eric Ricefield, Dr. Mark Yagodich and Dr. Aliza V. Eisen, to help you regain your foot health. To schedule an appointment at one of our locations (Ardmore, Paoli, and Downingtown, PA), please visit our website today!