During any repetitive weight-bearing activity, such as dancing, pressure is continuously applied to specific areas of the foot, rather than being equally distributed across the entire foot. All dance steps — whether you are ballroom dancing, swing or square dancing — cause tremendous forces to be applied to the balls of the feet, toes, arches, and ankles, and these structures are not constructed to bear these forces. Compounding these problems are inherent biomechanical abnormalities a dancer’s feet might have, such as pronation (a rolling out of the foot, so that you walk more on the inside border of the foot), supination (the opposite of pronation), a short leg, heel spurs, flat arches, very high arches, etc.
WITHOUT ORTHOTICS |
WITH ORTHOTICS |
During midstance, the ankle and heel are misaligned, and your foot has no arch. |
At heel contact, orthoses limit the swing of your heel so your heel strikes the ground correctly. During midstance, your orthoses support your foot so it can regain its arch, allowing the ankle and heel to align. |
Together, the abnormal stress dancing causes along with biomechanical abnormalities will eventually lead the bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and protective fatty pads of the feet to break down, work less efficiently, or cause pain. This will cause the feet to perform less efficiently, reducing one’s ability to dance comfortably.
Custom-made orthotics, and more specifically Dance Orthotics, protect the feet from abnormal stress, and comfortably correct any inherent biomechanical foot problems which may be present.
These orthotics will distribute body weight evenly across the entire foot, thus relieving stressed and strained areas. Muscles will no longer be painful, blisters will disappear, and calluses will be reduced or will disappear completely. The results are feet which will function efficiently, allowing pain-free enjoyment of dancing.
What are they made of?
Depending on your shoe style, width, and heel height, Dance Orthotics are made of state-of-the-art semi-flexible or flexible thermoplastic materials, which are very comfortable. Your orthotics will last for many years. These materials have a "memory," so that as you apply weight to the foot there is a certain amount of "give," which allows these orthotics to be extremely comfortable. When your weight is removed, the orthotic returns to its original shape and height. This provides shock absorption to the feet (especially to the balls of the feet), ankles, knees, and lower back.