Expert: Dianne M. Buxton - 10/5/2011

Question
Hi, I was wondering if you have had any experience with people with "too high arches" (pes cavus)? when i stand up straight only the front and heel of my foot is touching the floor. It makes my foot rather stiff (and a little unstable), altho i have a good plantar flexion in the ankle. my dorsal flexion is not so good, and my plies get shallow. Im trying to improve my balance, and flexibility but the bones of my feet wont change. Do think this will affect my chances of ever getting on pointe? Im 24 now. Ive been doing ballet only for a couple of years (twice a week). And a little when i was 6-8 years old, but i love it very much.

Thank you for answers.

Answer
Hi Trine. Here is an excerpt from an article I wrote about releasing muscle tension in the calves and feet:

"Using a pinkie ball (hard, small sports ball) or a golf ball, and rolling it under the arches with gentle pressure, eases the tension out of the muscles. Calf muscles can be massaged the same way. Sitting on the floor, the ball can be eased from behind the knee, down the calf muscles to the ankle area. Also check that you get the extra tension towards the outside of the calf, and the inside area.

The front of the calves, or your shins, can be tense as well. Kneeling on the floor, ease and press your pinky ball ( a golf ball will not work for this one) from just below the knee, down the front of the calf to the ankle, leaning into it to get the tension to release. After this, you may find a significant degree of increased mobility in the ankle joint, and a better line.

Hypo-mobile students are usually less likely to sprain ankles en pointe, but can be predisposed to Achilles Tendon issues, due to how hard they have to work the feet. A wonderful stretch for the calves is: standing on a book, a stair step, or a rolled up towel, rise up and then lower onto one foot, stretching past the level pointe, so the heels are lower. Alternating slowly and carefully, you'll feel a deep stretch."

Lots of massage and soaking your feet in Epsom Salts or magnesium chloride flakes will help as well. After tension release in the feet, and some massage, you can take your foot in both hands and GENTLY twist it both ways, just causing an easy stretch in the many little muscles. This should feel good, never any forcing or strain. Any muscle can get more flexible, with patience and persistence.

http://balletshoesandpointeshoes.blogspot.com/2008/09/how-to-create-more-flexibi  describes two exercises, one a repeat already quoted above, and another, for stretching the ankle joint.

These exercises are from The Perfect Pointe Book, an excellent and huge source of information for training feet, posture, ballet positions and turnout correctly so that you can one day get into pointe shoes (lots of video and photos as well as text)--you can see material about this down-loadable guide at http://balletpointeshoes.info

and a DVD about ball work to release tension in all your muscles can be obtained at http://linkbrander.com/lb/5462 which is dance medicine specialist Deborah Vogel's site. These 2 sources of dance education will give you much material to work with at home in the safest manner.

I think it is very likely that you can get into pointe shoes. You sound well informed and able to work on your own, and I think you'll make good use out of the material described above.

All the best! Dianne.