Your foot or ankle has started aching, and rising onto your toes, jumping or landing now feel harder than usual. Dancing asks a lot of your feet, from balancing and turning to absorbing every landing. Adapting your footwork for a while can help you keep dancing while things settle.

Why dancing can affect your feet and ankles

Your feet and ankles carry your full weight through jumps, turns and rises, often in thin dance shoes or bare feet. Rising onto the balls of your feet or onto pointe loads the Achilles tendon, the front of the ankle and the small joints of the foot. Repeated landings add to it, especially on hard floors.

Common causes of recent pain include a rolled ankle, an irritated Achilles tendon, or soreness under the ball of the foot or the heel. In most cases, the area is irritated rather than damaged.

Moves to adapt for now

Some ideas for adapting moves that tend to bother a sore foot or ankle:

• Jumps and leaps. Make them smaller, or step or march instead.
• Rises and relevés. Rise only partway, or keep your heels down for now.
• Pointe work or high heels. Leave these out while things settle.
• Turns. Do fewer, slower turns, or replace them with walking turns.
• Quick footwork. Slow the tempo where you can.
• Tap, Irish and flamenco footwork. Mark the beats more lightly, with less stamping, for now.

Moves that often feel comfortable

Much of your dancing can carry on:

• Arm work and upper body styling.
• Moves with your feet flat on the floor.
• Slower routines and technique work at the barre.
• Floor work, if it does not press on the sore area.

Notice which moves feel comfortable and which bring on pain, and adapt accordingly.

Shoes and floors

Some changes to what you dance in and on can help:

• Choose dance shoes or trainers with cushioning, where your style allows.
• Lower or chunkier heels, rather than high, narrow ones.
• Gel or foam insoles in your dance shoes.
• A sprung floor, where possible, rather than concrete.

If you usually dance barefoot, dance trainers or half soles can add a little protection.

Talking to your teacher

If you go to a class, letting your teacher know means they can suggest alternatives. Marking a movement, doing a smaller version, keeps you learning the routine while your foot or ankle settles.

If you rolled your ankle

After a rolled ankle, balance can take a knock, even once the pain eases. Practising standing on one leg, holding onto something at first, helps your ankle feel steadier. Research suggests balance training can lower the chance of rolling it again.

Reading how your foot responds

A mild ache during or after dancing that settles within an hour or so is usually fine. If your foot or ankle is sorer, stiffer or more swollen the next morning, ease back next session.

Warming up

A thorough warm-up helps your feet and ankles feel ready. Something to try:

• Point your foot away from you, then bring it back towards you.
• Make slow circles with your ankle in each direction.
• Rise onto your toes and lower slowly, holding onto something steady.
• March gently on the spot.

Building strength

Strong calf and foot muscles help your feet cope with dancing. Something to try most days:

• Heel raises. Hold onto a worktop or barre, rise onto your toes, pause, then lower slowly.
• Single-leg balance. Stand on one leg, holding onto something if needed.
• Toe presses. Sitting with your foot flat, gently press your toes into the floor without curling them.

If you would like to follow along, VIDA has short videos of heel raises you can use at your own pace.

Outside of dance

Supportive, cushioned shoes during the day, rather than flat shoes or flip-flops, can give your foot a rest between sessions. If your ankle feels swollen after dancing, raising it on a cushion can help.

Building back up

As your foot or ankle settles, you can gradually bring back rises, jumps and turns, one at a time. Your VIDA pain check-in is a good way to keep track of how it responds.

What to take away

• Jumps, rises and landings can load a sore foot or ankle.
• Make jumps smaller and rise only partway for now.
• Choose cushioned shoes or insoles and sprung floors where possible.
• Practise balance if you rolled your ankle.
• Build calf and foot strength and bring moves back gradually.

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