Urgent! Help with pointe shoes!

[Happymum]

My DD has an important exam on Wednesday. She has a pair of pointe shoes bought not long ago. They were absolutely fine  yesterday and today all of a sudden big toes in both feet very painful in every single exercise! 

I don't know much about pointe shoes, DD is young so not much experience. Is it possible for shoes to  "die" so suddenly? Both shoes exactly at the same time? 

I'm thinking straight away about buying new shoes on Sunday but she says she can't have new just 2 days before the exam. Help! Her plan is to use lambs wool (normally uses just ouch pouches). Is it a good idea? (Just to say, the shoes haven't been properly used for around 3 weeks during Easter, last couple of days DD had them on for the first time after the break - not sure if it makes any difference). 

Any thoughts? I'll be grateful for any advise.

[sarahw]

Long toenails?? Feet have grown? What a nightmare!!

 

Personally I would get a new pair on Sunday - if she's grown or the shoes are dead she'll need them anyway.

 

Then she can have a breaking in frenzy and see which is best by Wednesday? 

 

Good luck!!

 

[Moomin]

Have you felt them, do they feel soft? How much has she worn them? What brand are they? 

[sophie_rebecca]

I'll try & help, I should explain I'm a trained fitter with about 2 years experience but it's hard over the internet without even seeing the feet so a couple of suggestions.

 

The shoes may be breaking in, if the profile height was too high as the box softens it widens and the foot is able to fall further into the box putting too much pressure on the toe, if she has compressible feet, like a larger space between the big toe & second toe you could try inserting a toe spacer like this http://www.dancia.co.uk/product.asp?strParents=0&CAT_ID=6184&P_ID=202358&sup=0 the ouch pouch goes over the top.

 

Talking of the ouch ouch is it a pro pad or a junior pad (if it's a pro pad only the top side will have any gel padding) 

 

It'd be best to go back to the shop & get her refit, they should have some padding options to try, I've seen instances where even a pinky toe protector makes all the difference! https://www.balletpro.co.uk/products/bunheads-pinky-pads?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=googlepla&variant=17692774087&gclid=Cj0KEQjwxbDIBRCL99Wls-nLicoBEiQAWroh6tHnd5IEeC3UxKP-22l63A14kt-mCTX030JxsdyrDD0aAgxK8P8HAQ

[Moomin]

I was wondering if they'd widened too as this happens to me! I put a box liner in which isn't an ideal fit but would certainly save them this time. I find some brands worse than others for this. If you get her to put them on see how much material you can pinch at the back. If there's none she's probably grown out of them, if there's more than a small pinch she's probably sinking

[Happymum]

Thank you all. 

Yes, she has a very compressible feet, already wears toes spacers. 

These are Russian pointes. 

Feet haven't grown, the shoes were Perfectly comfortable yesterday (well as much as pointe shoes can be!)  suddenly today the pain in the big toes! 

I also thought she's "sinking" though she says the shoes don't feel soft and don't look any different then yesterday. 

I think that whatever she says I'll take her to the shop on Sunday anyway and hopefully they will advise what to do. 

Not a good timing! 

[sophie_rebecca]

Fingers crossed, let us know how you got on.

 

On the life of the shoe I'm probably preaching to the converted here but make sure after each class the padding is removed from the shoes and they are left to breathe, preventing moisture from seeping into the glue is a great way to prolong the life of shoes.

[Moomin]

Yes I love Russian pointes but they always stretch and I end up sinking too.  Same as your daughter it's a sudden thing and they're not soft just a little worn in. I definitely wouldn't want new shoes just before an exam either, I would ask to try a box liner if possible. I've had shoes that have got soft enough on the platform for my toes to start hurting but at that point it was obvious that they were soft and flexible. Russian pointe platforms are really hard though, I've never had them go soft, they always soften in the wings & shank well before then!

[Happymum]

19 minutes ago, Moomin said:

Yes I love Russian pointes but they always stretch and I end up sinking too.  Same as your daughter it's a sudden thing and they're not soft just a little worn in. I definitely wouldn't want new shoes just before an exam either, I would ask to try a box liner if possible. I've had shoes that have got soft enough on the platform for my toes to start hurting but at that point it was obvious that they were soft and flexible. Russian pointe platforms are really hard though, I've never had them go soft, they always soften in the wings & shank well before then!

Thank you Moomin, that's very helpful. 

I wonder if an adult pair of ouch pouch over her usual junior ones is going to do the trick ?

[taxi4ballet]

Could be several things.

 

Over the Easter break if the shoes haven't been being worn, they will have had time to completely dry out and go rock hard again.

Or they have been left slightly damp in the bag for weeks and have gone soft and unsupportive.

Or over the holiday her feet have gone "Aaaahhhh, I'm not being compressed into a small space any more, I'll expand back to normal" (After a few days back on pointe the feet will compress again - this is just my pet theory and is what used to happen to dd).

Or her toenails are ingrowing or need cutting.

Or her feet have grown or changed in shape/width.

 

My money is on the shoes having taken an inconvenient opportunity to die, and her feet have grown a fraction longer as well. 

 

She could soak her feet in a bowl of water laced with a dash of surgical spirit, it helps harden the skin and fight any infection, especially around the toenails., but probably a visit to the shop is needed. 

 

[Moomin]

How about you have her put both toe pads on one foot and then try pointe on that foot? If her foot has grown it's likely to make the pain worse, if it's an ingrown nail the pain is unlikely to subside but if she's sinking it will probably feel better? Box liners are much better to dance in than trying to wear 2 sets of toe pads though imo. Sounds like your best bet is to go to the shop and hopefully they can adjust the shoes that she has otherwise I guess your only option is new shoes ☹️

[Viv]

I came back from a two week break recently and suddenly the shoes that were fine were causing a lot of pain in my big toenails. My teacher thought that because I'd gone from two weeks of nothing to suddenly intensifying my pointe work, my feet had lost some of their strength and were generally out of practice. I read an article that said that you start losing muscle within 48 hours of gaining it if you suddenly go sedentary... And the special muscles in the feet we use in ballet don't really get a work out any other way. Over the break she may have lost strength which is why it is generally more difficult now than it was before.

 

Unfortunately doesn't help her prepare for the exam coming up! But it may be that the shoes are the same as they were and the feet working in them have changed...

[Happymum]

All sorted now! Thank you everybody for your help. 

DD was sinking so too much pressure on big toes. Shoes have (suddenly) softened so got wider. 

New bigger ouch pouches fixed it - no more pain - she could danced in them on Wednesday if needed. But one shoe is definitely dead anyway so she has new pair and will be trying hard to break them in for Wednesday morning. 

Of course I'm so greatful to ladies at Dancique! My DD said today that she absolutely loves the shop and I totally agree with her! So so helpful! They were fully booked today but still managed to fit my DD as an emergency! Thank you, thank you, thank you Dancique! 

[Moomin]

I would also highly recommend dancique. Glad she got sorted!

[Anna C]

Excellent news, Happymum.  Just a thought for the future - if you have Jet Glue/Daniel's pointe shoe glue, you can drip this up and down the wings into the side of the box if the wings on Russians soften too quickly.  Dd does this on some of her Freeds and it can extend the life.