Expert: Dianne M. Buxton - 2/27/2011

Question
Hi! Well, I've just recently watched a vidoe on youtube called "the dreaded hooking big toe" and I have what she describes as "a clicking and grinding" at the ankle bone. I'm not on pointes yet, but my teacher is getting someone to look at all our feet to make sure they are ready for pointes, will this grinding stop me from getting my pointes(I really only get the problem on my right foot) and I can't do the exercise she shows on the video by myself, so I try so do it with my thera band, putting it on my big toe and slowly doing that. Is that okay to do? I hope you'll be able to help! thank you so much!
Kiz

Answer
Kiz, I'm glad your teacher is having your class' feet checked before putting you all on pointe.

This grinding may put off you getting into pointe shoes, and should be attended to. For example, if you didn't tell anyone about it, you may not be dancing in pointe shoes for very long.

Clicking or grinding in the ankle joint most commonly means that there is irritation in the tendons. This is a result of not developing the sole of the foot muscles correctly.

Doing pre pointe exercise will prevent many problems that can develop from being en pointe without proper preparation.

http://ballettoeshoes.blogspot.com/2011/02/for-pointe-shoe-exercise-get-big-toe....  is a description of the exercise you see in the video.

After 2 to 3 weeks, I am sure you'll feel improvement in the big toe muscle. Patience is a big part of dance training.

Regards Dianne