General Nail and Skin Care for Dancers
As a dancer, maintaining the health and integrity of your skin and nails are important to help keep your feet active and pain-free.
Self-care routines are important to keep your feet clean and free from infection. This can be as easy as airing your feet out after a long day of dance, changing your socks regularly (if they get sweaty) and allowing those dance shoes to dry out between uses.
Maintaining the length of your nails is also especially important for dancing to reduce the risk of broken nails, bruised toenails, or ingrown toenails. Nail clippers or scissors can be used to trim the top of the nails straight across. It is important not to rip your nails, cut them too short or try to cut down the side of your nails.
If you find it difficult to cut your own nails or continually suffer from pain in your nails, it is important to consult a podiatrist so they can assess the cause of your pain and treat it accordingly.
Callouses can be useful in dance as they can protect surfaces of your skin and assist with some movements such as turns. It is important however to make sure these do not build up too much as they can actually lead to more pressure and pain! A good self-care routine for this can include regular moisturising of your feet and gently using a pumice stone to smooth out those rough edges.
Corns are caused by too much pressure and usually in combination with some friction. The development of a corn is a normal and natural way for the body to protect itself by increasing the amount of skin in the area so that you don’t rub a hole in it.
When too much skin forms, the increased layers of dead skin cells on the foot form a thick, hardened cone-shaped core, and can develop into what we call a corn. This hard area can feel as hard as a rock and can put extra pressure on the skin below. This can cause inflammation of the tissue beneath the corn and press on nerves leading to pain, discomfort and even bleeding.
If you believe you are suffering from corns it is important to seek help from your podiatrist to help with removing them and aid in getting to the bottom of why they are appearing in the first place. Make sure you bring all your shoes – both casual and dance to the consult so that your podiatrist can work out where extra pressure is coming from and determine the most suitable method for reducing it.
If you are still unsure about the best way to care for your feet or just feel like your feet need some pampering our dance podiatrists Sophie and Kirsti will be more than happy to provide you with a medical pedicure and answer all your questions along the way.
ALWAYS CONSULT A TRAINED PROFESSIONAL
The information in this resource is general in nature and is only intended to provide a summary of the subject matter covered. It is not a substitute for medical advice and you should always consult a trained professional practising in the area of medicine in relation to any injury or condition. You use or rely on information in this resource at your own risk and no party involved in the production of this resource accepts any responsibility for the information contained within it or your use of that information.
