Man, am I teaching in some awful pain sometimes. I have this problem with my feet that started way back in high school. I was stepping into an arabesque on releve (in flat shoes) during a performance of the Nutcracker and I got this shooting pain through the ball of my foot. For a long time, I had to wear these horrible insoles in my shoes and I couldn't wear anything but sneakers. Well, the problem will just flare up at any given time. It's horrible. It feels like a bone in the ball of my foot is just sticking out through the skin. All the pediatrists I've seen have just told me to keep wearing sneakers and insoles for the rest of my life. Hello? I live in my Chacos and flip flops! Really sucks....