What to do if it hurts?

[janninepointe]

After being on pointe sometimes I mistakingly releve onto my shoes too hard(i'm very enthusiastic) and this results in my foot hurting later. I realise its bad for you and do things to stop it but I wanted to ask if it's better too take a rest for a day if it hurts, or just to practise again but more gently and carefully?

[Mel Johnson]

Jannine, Pointe Shoe Topics deals with the shoes themselves and not usually what goes into them. Usually, that's a technique or even health question, so I'm going to move this.

 

Before you can decide to "work through" an injury, you have to have a fairly good idea of what's wrong. Apply first aid, then decide after a couple of hours whether it's going away, or whether you need the doctor. First aid for this sort of injury always starts with Rest; stop what you're doing and don't continue class. Then apply a cold pack to the affected area. If it starts to recover, then you don't have to proceed on to the next stage, which is Compression (with an elastic bandage) and then to Elevation. We call this whole process the RICE protocol.