-OaT & ANKLE Copyright © 1982 by the American Orthopaedic Foot Society. Inc. Forefoot Conditions in Dancers

The conditions occurring in the dancer's forefoot can be divided into five categories. The three categories pre-sented in Part I of our study include those conditions occurring from poor training, those from chronic forefoot stresses, and those of static deformity. Five hundred dancers were observed for both symptomatic and asymp-tomatic forefoot conditions. It is most important that a young dancer have at least three years training before dancing en pointe. Many skeletal changes in a dancer's foot occur from use and should not be interpreted as injuries. Static forefoot deformities tend to appear in dancers at a younger age than the general population but seldom require corrective surgery. Dancers who perform classical ballet, modern, or ethnic dance, develop characteristics which constitute several conditions of the feet. 10. 11 They also have problems specific to the category of dance that they perform. These problems are related to the unusual stresses and positions which the discipline of the art requires in order to create the effect of characterizing movement. " In this article the authors present three categories of conditions in the forefoot some of which are "normal " and others of which are considered "disease " states. The skin of the foot is modified in the dancer through use as it comes in contact with the floor and with the constricting and restraining ballet pointe shoe, ballet shoe, and character shoe. A description of these changes is present. Superficial skin problems includ-ing characteristic corns and callouses over points of contact are shown. Disease states such as soft corns blisters, dissecting abscesses, and tears along the skin creases are presented. Conditions resulting from poor training are also presented