Do Pointe shoes affect the nerves in your feet?

Hypothesis:  If sensitivity of your feet is related to going on Pointe, then people who go on Pointe will have less sensitive feet then people who do not go on Pointe.

Materials: Pins- short and not very sharp

             Construction paper

             Notebook Paper

     Feet- 1 pair on Pointe, 1 pair not on Pointe

             Pencil- preferably #2

             Computer- with excel, scanner, and word

Procedure:

1. Collect all of the materials together (look above for a list).
2. Cut out 12 small pieces of construction paper with measurements of about 1 inch by 2 inches.
3. Then draw 2 dots on each one with a pencil.  On the first one the dots should be 1mm apart.  They then should go up by increments of 1mm until the biggest distance is 12mm.
4. I poked a pin through each dot until each paper had 2 pins in it with a labeled distance between them.
5. Then, lightly poke someone’s toes with the pins.  Start at a random distance between pins.  Then gradually choose smaller or larger increments.  Find the greatest increment where the person feels only one point when two are touching.  
6. Do this for the rest of the toes.  Try this on someone who is en Pointe and someone who is not.

Data:

Analysis:  The data received from this experiment was very interesting.  There was much less sensitivity from feet that are on Pointe then from feet that are not on Pointe.  All of the data followed this consistent pattern and there was no data proving anything different.  Since there was no other information on experiments similar to this, it was assumed that no other experiments have been done on this topic.  But there were many limitations during this experiment.  For one thing, it was not possible to receive data from other sources.  This data came from only two sources (Justina Coe and Sylvia Dziewulak).  That is one way this experiment could have been improved.  Another way is if more time was allowed.  Then it would have been possible to test the two people involved in this experiment several more times to make sure that there were no errors in the data.  Another experiment that could also be done on this topic is whether the nerves are damaged from the pressure from Pointe shoes or if the calluses are just preventing the full feeling of the pins.

Conclusion:  Pointe shoes do affect the sensitivity of feet.