DANC 3250 Advanced Dance Science Seminar

Prepared by Shawna Smith

Hypermobility of the foot

http://www.singingpodiatrist.com/podiatry/pronation.shtml
Really basic information that most people will understand.  The information is correct, yet a little sparse.  Works well with people who do not really know much of the terminology.  It goes over biomechanical problems, with a few foot issues, and then ways in which you should go about treating these problems.  It covers everything, uses proper information, yet is pretty casual in nature so it’s not intimidating for the average person.

http://www.balancedmedicine.co.uk/articles/yoga-and-hypermobile-joints/
Even though this article talks a lot about yoga and its relation to hypermobility, the information it gives about hypermobility is well explained.  Many people have misconceptions of hypermobility and the author clears up any mythology or confusion about this topic.  The information about yoga therapy is really interesting and many dancers would be interested in using this method.  At the end of the article she talks about issues and proper alignment techniques with the body that hypermobile people should look out for and correct.  While she does not talk about the foot, she does say some things about the ankle.

http://orthopedics.about.com/od/footankle/a/metatarsalgia.htm
This site has a lot of options.  Again the information is basic and simple.  However, it had a lot of links that jumped you around to different parts of the foot.  You could go from general pain of the foot, to issues associated to pain, to symptoms, to how to buy corrective foot wear and inserts.  It was simple to use as well.

http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec05/ch072/ch072b.html
This site targets ball of the foot pain specifically.  They went over several issues with the ball of the foot, and explained that a few of them have to do with hypermobility of the foot.  This site goes more in depth and uses a bit more terminology.  They do explain, yet it’s not spoon fed to you.

http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/uvahealth/adult_orthopaedics/footpain.cfm
This site is actually very similar to the previous site.  It explains many of the same issues in a different format.  However, it goes over foot solutions more in depth, as well as the anatomy of the foot.  To go with the anatomy of the foot, it also has diagrams to assist visual learners.

http://stanford.wellsphere.com/dance-article/use-of-the-theraband-for-ballet-shoes-and-pointe-shoes/430951
This site is a forum of articles and web pages searches for dancers and dance concerns specifically.  This article goes over a few thera-band exercises for the feet.  The article is written in relation to pointe shoes, and being prepared for pointe class.  However, having strong feet in general is important to proper mechanics and eliminating injury.

http://www.northcoastfootcare.com/footcare-info/foot-problems.html   
This page specifically goes over the biomechanics of the gait, common conditions, and treatments.  What make this site top notch are the simple yet informative information, and the excellent interactive graphics.  One can read about something and then see where it is or how it works.

http://www.northcoastfootcare.com/footcare-info/ball-of-foot-pain-metatarsalgia.html
This site goes over conditions and treatments, all with the great graphics.  However, this site is specific to ball of foot pain and treatments for ball of foot problems.

http://www.northcoastfootcare.com/footcare-info/foot-pain-finder.html
This site is great for dancers with pain in the foot.  This site gives you a few different angles of the foot with rollover circles.  Wherever you think the pain is in your foot you roll over that circle on the diagram and gives you a list of about 2-3 conditions that can produce pain in that area.  It then can link you to more information about those conditions specifically.

http://www.shoeiq.com/how-to-fit-shoes
This article gives you ten tips to properly buy and fit your feet into for general street shoes.  You can use this to buy shoes and avoid getting into situations where you have to wear orthotics all the time because of improper shoes.  

http://www.healthyshoestore.com/shop-by-condition.html
This site gives you brand names, and types of shoes you should buy for certain conditions of the foot.