Hints and Tips: Staying healthy

• Articles by Keith Grant that will help you take care of the body you dance with. They are presented here in pdf format, and are readable with the assistance of Adobe Acrobat.
  • Dancing Our Feet Off Without Injuring Them, by Linking Our Warm-Ups to Kinetic Chains
  • Imagery, Movement, and the Dynamic Dance of Life
  • Tender Loving Care for Dancers' Legs
• Looking after your feet.

Looking after your feet

(Collected from postings to the Strathspey mailing list).

• Posted by Martin Sheffield, Grenoble, France

  I recently found the following sites that gives plenty of info about foot pain and foot care, and are designed for the layman. Seem to be serious.

  • http://chiropractic.about.com/health/chiropractic/

  led me to :

  • Plantar Fasciitis and Heel Spur Syndrome.
  • Dr. Harvey articles: foot and ankle pain.
  • Foot Leveller's foot problems page

  Hope you may find them useful.

• Posted by Cole Pavey, Maberly, Ontario, Canada

  I've been compiling some info on plantar fasciitis and have come up with the following summary.

  • 75% of people show recovery within 6 months and 98% within a year with non-surgical treatment - a somewhat discouraging time frame.

  Things that help:

  • heel cushions
  • stretching the calf muscle
  • arch supports
  • rest
  • heel massage speeds healing
  • taping the heel (tensor bandage as an alternative?)
  • aspirin or ibuprofen
  • ice pack for 15 to 20 minutes before bed
  • 90º foot splint at night to prevent contraction of the plantar fascia
  • lower leg cast for 3 weeks to rest the heel and plantar fascia

  I also think that the above information implies that if you allow the heel to hurt you are aggravating the condition. One can alleviate the pain and its associate inflammation by rest, massaging the calf and foot, wearing boots laced tightly to prevent foot movement, ibuprofen and ice. The general absence of dancing in the summer seems to be an ideal time to attack plantar fasciitis with a view to eradication.

• Posted by Tim Harrison, Austin, Texas

  My case of plantar fasciitis lasted 18 months. It was unusual in that instead of the typical tearing of the plantar fascia from the heel, the length of my plantar fascia had hundreds of small tears in it (called distal plantar fasciitis). For distal plantar faciitis, recovery is typically 12-18 months. Unfortunately, I took 18 months. That was a long time to watch others dance and not be able to join in.

  I attribute my injury to improper warm-up. In my classes, I now strongly emphasize the need for proper warm-up and begin with undemanding dance exercises.

  I began treatment by using a 90º foot splint nightly for several weeks. It took 2-3 nights for me to learn how to sleep all through the night with my foot flexed. I started using heel cushions and arch supports all the time. I still use these in my dancing ghillies, today. I took naproxen daily (better than ibuprofen for inflammation). I applied an ice pack nightly. At the end of my disability I got a weekly lower leg and foot massage. After several weeks of massage I had recovered. It made me wish that I had started the massage sooner.

• Other foot links:
  • MyFootShop - source for feet and ankles.

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See also the other hints and tips sections:

• The root page
• Dance-floor etiquette
• What to wear and how
• General dancing hints and tips.
• Hints on dance technique.
• Being beginner-friendly.
• Dancing with children
• Compiling a dance programme
• Running a Dance
• Calling/Recapping (talking a dance through)
• Devising new dances
• Performing
• Hints on teaching
• Looking after your body/injuries.
• Sports Massage as it might apply to dancing.
• Where to find books, recordings, equipment, ...
• Articles by Keith Grant that will help you take care of the body you dance with. They are presented here in pdf format, and are readable with the assistance of Adobe Acrobat.
  • Dancing Our Feet Off Without Injuring Them, by Linking Our Warm-Ups to Kinetic Chains
  • Imagery, Movement, and the Dynamic Dance of Life
  • Tender Loving Care for Dancers' Legs

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This page is maintained by Ian Brockbank
ian@scottishdance.net
Edinburgh, Scotland