Expert: Dianne M. Buxton - 12/30/2008

Question
Hello.  I used to take pointe at my old dance school.  At that school they let most girls start at 10 and 11 years old.  The school I'm at now doesn't start them until 13 or 14, and now that I think about it 10 does seem young.  I started right after I turned 11, and I never hurt myself or had any problems.  However, I've noticed for quite a few years now that my feet haven't grown since age 11.  I wore a size 5 in shoes back then and I still wear a size 5 now at 17 years old!  I was reading a few days ago that going on pointe before your feet are finished growing can cause them to stop growing.  Do you think this is what happened?  And if so should I be concerned?  Because so far my feet have been fine- they haven't hurt or anything, they're just really tiny!  I am really short, so I guess I wasn't destined to have large feet, but I would still think that they probably would have grown at least some since then.  Do you think that 11 was too early to start pointe, or do I just naturally have really small feet?

Answer
Hi Hannah. This is not going to be a medical or clinical answer - however, since you have not had injury, pain or deformity, I would say that the growth of your feet was probably not influenced by pointe shoes.

Pointe work done badly by 10 and 11 year olds would result in some kind of discomfort, if not injury and arthritis. But done well, with good postural alignment, pointe work does not damage the feet in any way.

(I once worked with a podiatrist who treated many ballet dancers and dance students, as well as the general population. It was his professional opinion that most people wore shoes at least one size too small, and he always stated when asked, that your toes should never touch the end of your shoes. I just thought I'd mention that because 5 might not be your real size).

You can ask a podiatrist if you still have curiosity about this. Sorry I couldn't help further.

All the best, Dianne