Professional ballet dancers typically practice between six and seven hours each day, six days a week. It's no surprise, then, that dancers can frequently experience foot problems such as blisters, calluses, ingrown toenails, and foot pain. A dancer’s feet require deliberate foot care to prevent injuries and keep them performing at their best. The following guide offers some ways for dancers to take care of their feet.

5 Ways Dancers Can Protect Their Feet

1. Cushion Them

Wearing proper padding and cushioning in your shoes can shield your feet from pain and abrasions. Bandages can protect skin and prevent blisters from reopening. Placing padding around the ball, heel, and toes can help absorb some of the impact from a dancer’s constant motion.  

2. Tend to Toenails

Aside from being painful, ingrown toenails can become infected. Keeping your toenails cut short will prevent bruising or injuring the nails against the shoe. Take care to cut nails straight across to avoid ingrown toenails.

3. Treat Blisters

Blisters are caused when the skin is damaged by heat or friction, but putting deodorant on your feet can help prevent blisters. If you discover a clear blister, you can use a sterilized needle to pierce the skin to drain the liquid. Then cover it with a bandage until it heals. If the blister is red, it is most likely filled with blood. A blood blister should not be drained. Instead, cover it and let it heal on its own. 

4. Leave Calluses Alone

Calluses are thickened areas of skin that make your foot stronger and provide natural protection against abrasions and blisters. If your calluses are hardened and painful, you can use a pumice stone to file them down. However, it's best to avoid soaking or cutting the callus to remove it. 

5. Relieve Foot Pain

You can alleviate foot and ankle pain by soaking your feet in a warm Epsom salt bath. It's essential to practice good foot care by having your feet regularly massaged by a professional or performing self-massage with a tennis ball or foot roller.

Keep your feet healthy with care from Choice Podiatry Associates in Cincinnati, OH. They've provided expert foot care since 1985, using innovative diagnostic tools and treatments to help people of all ages experiencing various conditions from diabetic foot complications to orthotics and ankle injuries. They value each client and provide treatment plans to suit individual needs and lifestyles. Visit them online for a complete list of services, or call (513) 574-2424 to schedule an appointment.