Metatarsalgia and dance

Sponsored Links

Everyone loves to dance to relieve their stresses and to express themselves in an artistic form. Both music and dance have been nurtured over the ages as far as humanity has existed over several cultures, lands and peoples. However, from a medical and human physiology standpoint, one needs to be careful when taking up a rigorous dance routine to avoid painful conditions such as metatarsalgia.

For example, ardent followers of the traditional classical south Indian dance form of Bharatanatyam have to balance themselves on the balls of their feet during several renditions of the art. This is a classic case where one can put one’s self in a high risk category for acquring metatarsalgia symptoms. In addition to balancing, Bharatanatyam dancers are many times required to pound the balls of their feet on to the floor to the rhythms of the drum beats and this is even more risky from the points of view of metatarsalgia, especially when the dancers are older adults and those adults that are somewhat overweight.

In western cultures, during the training and performance sessions of ballet, many a time, the performers are required to put their entire body weight on the balls of their feet; again, this could be detrimental from the stand point of getting affected with metatarsalgia. Dance practices such as waltz or other slow dance movements are generally preferred as they are gentle on the feet.

As in all things, one does not need to stop all dancing; all that is recommended is to pay a close watch to the stress levels that are being put and not to overdo anything in excess. As the old saying goes, moderation is always the best route.