Pointe Frustrations
I thought I've been doing so much better with my new pointe shoes, but I'm starting to think I've been poorly fitted again. The place where I purchased my latest shoes were so great, but I'm having a ton of pain in my big toe and I can't get relief. The fitters were right about the aesthetics of these shoes, and how they looked on my feet, but this pain is just too much.
I had class for a couple of weeks in my new shoes and they went from supportive to a little stretched out, and I'm really sinking in the box. Like, all of my body weight is on my big toe. It hurts to the point where I actually had to leave class during a combination in the center so I could go cry in the bathroom. I just went from being confident in the center to completely unable to stand on pointe without immense pain. Something definitely had to be done. No amount of padding will fix this. I had lambs wool in the tips, box liners, toe spacers, tape, and ouch pouches with more lambswool inside them. It helped a little, but it was just intolerable for more than 10 minutes.
I went back to the Google machine and researched like crazy. This is what I learned. Sorry for pictures of my feet, but I need to show you to explain.
My feet look pretty wide. I've got a high arch, a huge space between my first and second toes, and my first three toes on each foot are pretty much the same length. The fourth and fifth toes taper off. From the bottom of my arch to the top of my foot, it gets moderately thick. Another thing I learned that neither of my fitters checked for, is that I have compressible feet. When I squeeze the metatarsal area (where a person would have a bunion on either side of the base of the toes) my foot squishes and compresses. Even though my feet LOOK wide, they actually compress pretty narrow and taper off. When I point my toes, the first three are all the same length and the other two are compressed in. I have very strong feet and ankles, and I need something that will support me that I won't break in two classes.
What does all of this mean? I need a medium width box that is slightly tapered, has a higher profile, has a medium hard-hard shank that is preferably pre-arched and has a smooth outer sole, I'd rather have a little bit of extra fabric in the back than a too short shoe. I really liked the higher/more supportive wings on the Capezio Aria shoe and the higher vamp.
I did several hours of research, reading through shoe descriptions until I found one that matched almost all of my needs. I decided that I really preferred how the Capezio Aria shoe was constructed, and I'd like another constructed in a similar way, just a different shape. I found the Capezio Contempora. It has all of my specifications but one, the shank isn't very hard.
I took a leap of faith, and I ordered what I believe to be my size from discountdance.com. They will arrive in a day or two. I'm kind of at my wits end, and I really hope they fit, but if they don't I'll send them back and try to get fitted again locally and hope for good results. At least now I fully understand my foot type. If all else fails I'll try to order a custom pair of Gaynor Mindens and hope it works.
I just really feel like it's not my fault that I'm struggling this much. I think my teacher thinks I'm just a wimp or whiny, but I was truly in pain and if that's what pointe is going to be for me, it's not worth it. Maybe I'm just too tall, not suited for it, too heavy, I don't know. I think my shoes are severely inhibiting my performance and ability to keep up with my class. I know I can do it.
Hopefully happier dancing coming my way soon. We started to do double pirouettes in my technique class, and I've really started to nail them. I have so much more control and balance than I did when I started. I've lost a ton of weight and gained a lot of muscle. The pounds on the scale haven't changed much, but my body has totally transformed. My stomach is significantly smaller, the fat pockets around my knees are gone, my calves are lean and defined, my butt is much more toned, my thighs are smaller, my arms are stronger and slimmer, although not slimming as quickly as I'd hope. Ballet is truly a total body workout, and it shows with only 2.5 hours of class per week. I've started to practice at home more so I can progress faster, but these pointe shoes are unbearable.
Time will tell I guess. Happy dancing.
I had class for a couple of weeks in my new shoes and they went from supportive to a little stretched out, and I'm really sinking in the box. Like, all of my body weight is on my big toe. It hurts to the point where I actually had to leave class during a combination in the center so I could go cry in the bathroom. I just went from being confident in the center to completely unable to stand on pointe without immense pain. Something definitely had to be done. No amount of padding will fix this. I had lambs wool in the tips, box liners, toe spacers, tape, and ouch pouches with more lambswool inside them. It helped a little, but it was just intolerable for more than 10 minutes.
I went back to the Google machine and researched like crazy. This is what I learned. Sorry for pictures of my feet, but I need to show you to explain.
My feet look pretty wide. I've got a high arch, a huge space between my first and second toes, and my first three toes on each foot are pretty much the same length. The fourth and fifth toes taper off. From the bottom of my arch to the top of my foot, it gets moderately thick. Another thing I learned that neither of my fitters checked for, is that I have compressible feet. When I squeeze the metatarsal area (where a person would have a bunion on either side of the base of the toes) my foot squishes and compresses. Even though my feet LOOK wide, they actually compress pretty narrow and taper off. When I point my toes, the first three are all the same length and the other two are compressed in. I have very strong feet and ankles, and I need something that will support me that I won't break in two classes.
What does all of this mean? I need a medium width box that is slightly tapered, has a higher profile, has a medium hard-hard shank that is preferably pre-arched and has a smooth outer sole, I'd rather have a little bit of extra fabric in the back than a too short shoe. I really liked the higher/more supportive wings on the Capezio Aria shoe and the higher vamp.
I did several hours of research, reading through shoe descriptions until I found one that matched almost all of my needs. I decided that I really preferred how the Capezio Aria shoe was constructed, and I'd like another constructed in a similar way, just a different shape. I found the Capezio Contempora. It has all of my specifications but one, the shank isn't very hard.
I took a leap of faith, and I ordered what I believe to be my size from discountdance.com. They will arrive in a day or two. I'm kind of at my wits end, and I really hope they fit, but if they don't I'll send them back and try to get fitted again locally and hope for good results. At least now I fully understand my foot type. If all else fails I'll try to order a custom pair of Gaynor Mindens and hope it works.
I just really feel like it's not my fault that I'm struggling this much. I think my teacher thinks I'm just a wimp or whiny, but I was truly in pain and if that's what pointe is going to be for me, it's not worth it. Maybe I'm just too tall, not suited for it, too heavy, I don't know. I think my shoes are severely inhibiting my performance and ability to keep up with my class. I know I can do it.
Hopefully happier dancing coming my way soon. We started to do double pirouettes in my technique class, and I've really started to nail them. I have so much more control and balance than I did when I started. I've lost a ton of weight and gained a lot of muscle. The pounds on the scale haven't changed much, but my body has totally transformed. My stomach is significantly smaller, the fat pockets around my knees are gone, my calves are lean and defined, my butt is much more toned, my thighs are smaller, my arms are stronger and slimmer, although not slimming as quickly as I'd hope. Ballet is truly a total body workout, and it shows with only 2.5 hours of class per week. I've started to practice at home more so I can progress faster, but these pointe shoes are unbearable.
Time will tell I guess. Happy dancing.
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