“I am having knee pain after dancing in heels. What should I do?”
I am not quite used to wearing heels, but for a dance performance I had to wear heels. Now I am having a lot of knee pain. What can I do?
24 Answers
Hi there, thanks for the question. I recommend getting evaluated by a sports Chiropractor. There could be some muscle imbalances that need to be addressed.
Sincerely,
Dr. Morales, D.C.
Sincerely,
Dr. Morales, D.C.
Pain is your body's way of telling you something is wrong. You need to get it checked out.
1. Flex and Extend your knee and ankles before dancing, between sets and as a routine after dancing. Extend your knee, either while standing (hold onto a door for stability) or seated. Rotate your feet in circles, both ways and extend your leg for a extension and bend your knee for a flexion.
2. Place a foam ball on the ground and practice picking up the ball with your feet, this will strengthen your feet and help reduce cramps.
3. Sit on chair, lift foot onto chair and place flat. Gently stretch your toes forward and backwards. Repeat on other foot.
4. Stand straight and bend over and touch the ground. Hold and repeat.
5. See your chiropractor should symptoms persist.
2. Place a foam ball on the ground and practice picking up the ball with your feet, this will strengthen your feet and help reduce cramps.
3. Sit on chair, lift foot onto chair and place flat. Gently stretch your toes forward and backwards. Repeat on other foot.
4. Stand straight and bend over and touch the ground. Hold and repeat.
5. See your chiropractor should symptoms persist.
Chiropractic care will help thereby reducing the pain and discomfort in the knee and surrounding areas.
Ice, rest, and electrotherapy will help.
Try using a slight heel that you can increase gradually; the heels increase your back curvature, putting pressure on the wedging of the disc. You might benefit from specific scientific adjustment to check out the spine and related structures, if using even a slight heel does not help.
Seeing a chiropractor would be a great place to start for those symptoms.
Make sure you aren't locking your knees when wearing the heels. Keeping the knees slightly bent will reduce the force in the knees, not to mention help to build more lean muscle.
Ice the knees for 20 min on and 30 min off. Since you were wearing heels I would recommend being adjusted by a chiropractor since heels shift your center of gravity and can cause the hips to become unlevel.
Due to the biomechanics of the joints in the foot, ankle, and leg, high heels can cause significant amounts of pain. Chiropractic may be able to offer relief through chiropractic adjustments and other rehab procedures focused on correcting the altered biomechanics. You should consult your local chiropractor to discuss treatment options for your specific complaint.
Wall sits before dancing.
Knee pain is mostly due to gluteus muscle weakness, specifically, the gluteus minimus and medius. Wearing high heels if those muscles are weak will lead to damage to the cartilage and inflammation. Having your chiropractor perform ultrasound therapy, electrical stimulation and/or laser will help it to heal faster. To strengthen your glut. muscles, the best thing is to do lunges against the wall. Keep in mind, the knee should stay behind the toes when bending.
Dancing in heels especially if you haven't trained in heels can definitely be the reason you're experiencing knee pain. However most of the time it's not due to a knee problem it's usually due to ankle immobility from tight calf muscle. When you dance in heels the calf muscle shortens and can cause changes in your gait due to the immobility in the ankle. Which you would think would cause more pain in the ankle, however the knee many times due to the change in your gait is over stressed, and is where their pain is felt. I would start with either being seen by a PT or Chiropractor that is FMS (functional movement screen) trained to see how you perform with the screening test.
Get a spine and foot evaluation
Platelet rich plasma works wonders for knee pain.
Seeing a chiropractor will help you improve your posture and minimize the damaging effects of what high heels do to your spine and posture. Highly recommend it.
Don't wear heels for a little while and ice it, 20 minutes on 20 minutes off. Any questions feel free to call my office at (631)462-0917
Please call us back at 951-888-1538 for a consultation. To answer such a question, we need more information, i.e., age, which is crucial and may require X-rays to rule out other musculoskeletal pathologies.
Try not to dance in heels but, if you must, get inserts to wear. For your knees go out and get a support that wraps around the bottom of your knee, good brand is Mueller. Also, find someone that uses cold therapy or light therapy, as a Chiropractor I help by doing extremity adjustments.
I would suggest to start by seeing a chiropractor who specializes in extremity adjusting. If he can't help, then see an orthopedist.
Dr. Cedrick Noel, BSN, DC, FABCDD, DACNB
Dr. Cedrick Noel, BSN, DC, FABCDD, DACNB
Find a Chiropractor that knows how to adjust extremities. Have them check it out and adjust the leg.
Go to a chiropractor and get the knees adjusted---maybe even laser therapy would help
Dr Leonard
Dr Leonard
Due to the angle of heels it will be hard for your body to get used to them when you are not used to them regularly. The angle of the ankle is changed which will in then change the angles and function of the knee and the hips all the way to the neck. Proper stretching after dancing may help to eliminate the knee pain. I suggested getting an exam with a chiropractor that does myofascial (muscle work) and that will perform a chiropractic manipulation. A manipulation of the fibular head, ankle, and the hips may be able to help. With out examining the knees i can not determine the real cause, which is why seeing a chiropractor will be very beneficial to you.
Dancing in heels can cause stress on different parts of the knee than your body is used to. There are a lot of different possibilities when it comes to what part of the knee is injured or inflamed. Generally using a cream like biofreeze can help or simply massaging the knee and surrounding muscles. You can ice the knee within the first 24 hours of injury as well. The best advice is to get the knee examined to determine the exact injury and best course of treatment.
