Do your feet swell or shrink?

[psavola]

This is prompted by something said on the Adult Ballet Students board. Jayo mentioned that his/her feet swell during a class so that shoes fit differently.

 

I however, have the exact opposite condition: My feet get smaller during ballet class. I wear canvas shoes, so originally I thought is was just the canvas stretching during class, but later I noticed it happens with pointe shoes too. I can barely fit my feet into my pointe shoes at home, but after a class my feet slip in with no trouble at all.

 

So I got curious about how other people's feet behaved.

[americanlostinUK]

my feet shrink as well and it's sort of annoying because in a situation that i have to do pointework and i haven't just done a class, my shoes are a bit tight and that can be painful!

[onyx]

My feet usually shrink, casung even more problems in the pointe shoe finding thing( when I am fitted for them, I haven't taken class and then they are oftern too wide in class).

The exception is when I am at the ADC in Ricmod- I don't know if it is because of the the differance in weather conditions( heat and humidity) or the week long all day classes , but my feet usually go up a size there( my pointe shoes are always tiight and more painful after a few days of dancing, and when I have been fitted for them, at night after class, they are a full size too big when I tried to use them at home(NJ).

[Tiffany]

Mine get larger during class. Its easier for me to put on pointe shoes when I haven't been dancing than it is after barre!

[Garyecht]

I would love to hear a physiological explanation of why feet would “shrink” from normal in a ballet class.

[onyx]

Yes. me too- it is really weird- the only thing I can think of is that for the time you are in class lou are wearing slippers that are supposed to be tighter than your regular shoes and maybe that makes your foot be compressed after you take them off( kind of like what the binding did to women's feet in China). Or maybe it depends on the degree of compressibility of the metatarsals in your particular foot.( Mine are very)

[psavola]

Yes, I'd love to hear an explanation for this too!

 

Sometimes I've wondered that maybe all that sitting I do in a computer/desk job makes my feet swell during the day, and then when I exercise the increased blood circulation allows my feet to return to normal size.

 

Or maybe people's feet do not really shrink? Maybe those people who report shrinking only actually perceive it that way because they have compressible feet, and warmed-up tissues are more adjustable allowing for easier compression?

 

I could throw out a dozen other guesses, but I have no idea if any of them are even remotely plausible explanations. I've never had formal training in this kind of stuff.

 

 

Päivi

[Laschwen]

It could be that retaining water during the day and then going to class and sweatting out the extra fluid hs something to do with it. ??? This is just a theory but I sweat like crazy and after the first time I noticed this thread I have been paying attention and my feet certainly are not shrinking.

I'd say "never mind" but we are all different.

 

Laschwen

[dianec]

How surprising that so few of us (so far) have feet that stay the same - does that mean I'm doing something wrong eg not working hard enough?????

[onyx]

No- it just means we all have weird feet!

[Guest deliriousdancer24]

mine usually stay the same unless ive had 5 hours of pointe... then they swell the next day

Edited January 18, 2006 by deliriousdancer24