Thread: Metatarsal Bursitis :(

I have a recurring metatarsal bursitis that visits me for a about a week once or twice a year. I know it is from overuse (performing/teaching) and have tried to cut down on choo-choo shimmies.

I know I should stay off my foot completely until the bursitis heals, but in order to pay my bills, I have to keep teaching. I have the metatarsal shoe inserts, but is there any sort of foot stretching or exercises I should be doing to keep this from happening?

Thanks for any advise :)

My sports medicine doctor has recommended a wooden roller massager or even using a golf ball that you roll your foot over and around on while you're seated.

Originally Posted by crystalllized

I have a recurring metatarsal bursitis that visits me for a about a week once or twice a year. I know it is from overuse (performing/teaching) and have tried to cut down on choo-choo shimmies.

My solution is simple: I refuse to do those choo-choo shimmies. They're more of a samba move than a belly dance move, anyway. When Raqia Hassan teaches them in a choreo, she says, "This is a Brazilian move, not Egyptian, but I use it because I like it." I have plenty of shimmies in my vocabulary that do NOT place stress on my body, and therefore I feel quite comfortable with the idea of "just saying NO" to ones that carry such a risk. And, I can provide a perfectly good dance education to my students without putting myself and them at risk of injury. I consider these shimmies to be a "dangerous" move.

I assume you teach barefoot? If so, I have a suggestion for you. At this link To the Tips of Your Toes: Belly Dance Costuming for Your Feet is an article about footwear for belly dancing. Look at the table of contents, and click the item in the right-hand column that says "Footwear and Health". Scroll down a *little* until you see a picture of a cat with a pair of Hermes sandals on the right. Read the text next to the cat picture under the header "Dance-Related Care", especially the 3rd and 4th bullets about cushioning the shoes.

I usually don't wear shoes for belly dancing, but I wear these cushioned ones whenever I attend workshops that are likely to be footwork intensive, such as folkloric workshops. It makes a HUGE difference in my foot health.

Thanks, I'll have to steal a golf ball from my roommmate :)

[QUOTE=*Shira*;588371]My solution is simple: I refuse to do those choo-choo shimmies. They're more of a samba move than a belly dance move, anyway. QUOTE]

I tell myself over and over not to do them, but in the middle of a drum solo performance, I get excited and just can't help myself. Maybe this pain now will remind me more forcefully to not ruin my foot!

I don't teach or perform barefoot, but do use ballet slippers, which are practically like being barefoot. I tried these Capezio slip ons for teaching Capezio Dancewear , but they twist funny on my feet.

I'll have to try your idea for adding more cusion to my dance shoes.

Great foot article! Thanks for sharing your link.