Dancing takes revenge on the body.

A few weeks ago I wrote an article about foot care as a result of suffering pressure point problems with my toe.

You maybe pleased to know that by following the hints and tips about rotating the use of my dance shoes I managed to cure the problem.

However!

In curing one problem I may have caused another potentially far more serious....

While I have cured the pressure point problem that my dance shoes were causing the two pairs of dress shoes I have been using haven’t had the proper support.  Effectively the dress shoes just aren’t up to the job of dancing regularly.

The problem I have is something I’m told is called “Plantar Fasciitis”

The Build Up

Over the last few weeks I've been suffering with tight calf muscles and thought it was just a little cramp.  It was suggested to me that I should do warm up exercises to stretch my calf’s etc prior to starting my dancing.  It certainly seemed to help with the tightness during the dance but would sometimes return afterwards feeling rather like cramp.

Last Sunday having been seated on a train for 3 hours I was walking along the station concourse when I felt a sharp burning like pain shoot through the sole of my right foot which pulled me up pretty quickly as you might imagine.  I gave my foot a little stretch and tried to walk on but the next few steps were extremely painful and next thing I felt a sharp stabbing pain in my left groin and I thought I was going to collapse.

For a few moments I just froze! I didn't attempt to move and my friends were marching on oblivious to my predicament. So I stretched again and managed to carry on, all be it limping for a while.  The problem is that since then I've had a constant nagging ache in my right arch and heel.

The Advice

 I danced again on Tuesday but was very careful as I was a bit wary of doing myself more damage.  I spoke to my dance instructor Nikki Rose of Want2Dance Burton, who advised a visit to the doctor and possibly a chiropractor and that is likely to be the next step as the ache still persists!  Meantime I was chatting last night to Facebook friend Alison Pursey, who is not only a keen dancer but also a foot practitioner. On explaining my condition she instantly came back with the words “Plantar Fascia” Ouch! I thought, no wonder it’s painful.

She explained “Plantar Fascia” briefly as being ligaments under the foot overuse has caused repetitive strain and stretching to those ligaments that supports the arch of the foot.  Having been dancing five nights a week since January, I could certainly concur with the overuse theory and I’ll be looking to get some foot supports within my shoes that she suggested. Alison said “I’m always hearing about it with dancers” and she suggested the use of foot supports, heel gels / heel cups for a while to relieve the pressure off the ligaments. She also recommended that the sports versions should be used in order to help with the constant banging and stretching of the foot.

I suppose the moral here is that what just appears to be a little cramp can actually be a precursor or a little warning of something much more sinister.  As I’ve found having tight calf muscles has probably led to my problem with the heel lifting early off the ground causing a greater strain on the Planar Fascia thus resulting in a tear.  Add that to the soft unsupported pair of shoes I have been using and there you go… you can so easily cause yourself damage!

Technical

Anatomy of the plantar fascia  “The plantar fascia is a broad structure that spans between the medial calcaneal tubercle and the proximal phalanges of the toes. There is still some debate as to whether it is deep fascia or an aponeurosis. The Dorland’s Medical Dictionary defines an aponeurosis as:.(i) a white, flattened or ribbon-like tendinous expansion, serving mainly to connect a muscle with the parts that it moves, (ii) a term formerly applied to certain fasciae. Further, it defines the plantar aponeurosis as: bands of fibrous connective tissue radiating toward the bases of the toes from the medial process of the tuber calcanei; also called the plantar fascia. The plantar fascia is made up of predominantly longitudinally oriented collagen fibers. There are three distinct structural components: the medial component, the central component, and the lateral component (see the figure on your right)). The central component is the largest and most prominent.

In younger people the plantar fascia is also intimately related to the Achilles tendon, with a continuous fascial connection between the two from the distal aspect of the Achilles to the origin of the plantar fascia at the calcaneal tubercle. However, the continuity of this connection decreases with age to a point that in the elderly there are few, if any connecting fibers. There are also distinct attachments of the plantar fascia and the Achilles tendon to the calcaneus so the two do not directly impact on each other. Nevertheless, there is an indirect relationship whereby if the toes are dorsiflexed, the plantar fascia tightens via the windlass mechanism. If a tensile force is then generated in the Achilles tendon it will increase tensile strain in the plantar fascia. Clinically, this relationship has been used as a basis for treatment for plantar fasciitis, with stretches and night stretch splinting being applied to the gastrocnemius/soleus muscle unit.”  Source Wikipedia

By Andrew Eldridge. Please be aware I am certainly no doctor and these tips have been gathered from sources available from the Internet, If you have any genuine health concerns you should always refer to your own GP