Expert: Dianne M. Buxton - 12/23/2007

Question
I've been told lots of times that I have very good ballet feet; my arches are extremely high. Recently I injured my little toe on my right foot quite badly. It's sprained and very bruised. The swelling has now gone down enough to get my pointe shoes on, but because of the pain I am rolling onto my instep and as a result my arch has dropped considerably. Do you know of any excercises I can do to improve my arch again, and stop rolling onto my instep? thankyou!

Answer
India, it seems that my answer did not get sent, I'm sorry that you were kept waiting.

You should not be doing pointe work until your injury has healed. You are already creating more chance of further injury. I hope that you know for certain that there is no fracture; if not, you must have this checked out by a doctor. With a sprain, the soft muscle tissue must have time to heal. Using ice a few times a day, a few minutes at a time, will help.

I'm not sure what you mean by your arch dropping - do you mean your foot rests flat on the floor because of this? Or that it is too stiff to point as usual?

There is an excellent book out now with a volume of information on strengthening the feet, and the legs and torso muscles, all aimed at safe pointe work. The link to it is http://www.linkbrander.com/go/54727 The author is a dance medicine specialist and her methodical routines are easy for a dance student to do. The detail is excellent, with photos and lots of anatomical info as well. I heartily recommend it for ballet students.

Please be sure of what your injury is, and do not do pointe work with pain. I wish you a speedy recovery!

All the best, Dianne

A brief follow up - I've recommended to almost everyone to read my articles and blog entries at http://www.theballetstore.com You have to create a user name to log in to see all the blog entries - your privacy is safe! I really apologize that I didn't tell you this - I'm not a technical person!