I've noticed that my left ankle/achilles area seemed weaker than my right for a while, but I've only recently really paid attention to it (or actually tried to work on rising up higher in my releves ^_^). Anyway, when I'm working really hard on higher releves and such, it starts to hurt really bad.

to describe my problem a little more.... when i'm in first position releve en rise, my right arch/ankle/whatever is higher and can go over more than my left. and my left eventually starts to hurt really badly in the back of my ankle (I'm guessing the achilles area) whenever i work on it a lot.

I stretch out my achilles before and after every exercise and I've been using bands to try and strengthen it a little, but i see no improvement so far, really it seems like its just getting worse...
one of my teachers suggested that i start using leather full-soled ballet slippers instead of my canvas split-sole, but i just got a brand new pair and i dont want to waste them... sooo idk

anybody know what the problem is or how to strengthen it? any info at all would be much appreciated. it is hindering my dancing. big time. i couldn't work on demi pointe on my left foot for half of class tonight... it started hurting badly and i was afraid of further injury. this really stinks

Firstly I'd say get yourself to a doctor/physio as soon as possible. You really don't want to leave these things for too long and wait for something really bad to happen before you get it checked.

I've had a similar problem to what you describe, except that most of my pain was actually in the tibial tendon (which runs next to the achilles on the inside of your ankle). I went to the physio and they said it was tendonitis from over-use. I ended up having to take 9 months off dancing and had to do a whole lot of physio exercises to strengthen it again before I was allowed back.

Yes, it sucks taking time off dance, but in the long run it will be for the best. I can't diagnose exactly what is wrong with you as I am not a doctor or a physio, but I'm just giving you my experience.

So in short, go to a physio and let them tell you what's wrong and what to do to fix it.

Good luck, and I hope it's nothing too serious.

I just read an article on this so I'll chime in. If it is your Achilles the rehab exercise I read about is as follows.

Essentially you're going to do a single leg calf raise in parallel with the affected calf, but do it on the flat ground, so your heel doesn't go below the ball of your foot. Here's the odd part, hold on to a door frame or something so that you can lean back and away from the hurt calf, meaning if your left calf/Achilles is hurt, you would be leaning back and to the right. Keep your knees and hips engaged, and all that good stuff.

Another rehab exercise is to do a two legged calf raise, but then lower on one calf. You can either work one side then the other or alternate.

Obviously there's the whole "see your doctor, bleh bleh bleh" but you're here for some help. Most regular MDs won't do you much good, if you have a good PT or the like that would be preferred. Be mindful that overstretching can cause or exacerbate Achilles issues, but done correctly it can help. I don't know the proper rehab stretching routine to do, so do some research on it.

Good luck

I cannot tell you what is wrong with it, but I can tell you that I tore my Achilles twice. The same one. Twice. I thought it was just my tendonitis acting up, but it wasn't. And if I would have done much more on it, it would have been worse. To be safe, I would probably see a doctor before trying to strengthen it. It might not need to be strengthened. It actually might need to be rested.

Just my two cents. Good luck. I hope it gets better soon.