For those of you who don't know, I have rheumatoid arthritis in my feet, knees, hips, hands, and shoulders. Fun stuff when you're 26 years old. About a year or two ago, I just stopped wearing my ballet slippers. My feet hurt too bad after even 2 hours of dance class, and I started wearing my arch supportive Merrells instead.

Now I've been able to transition to wearing a special pair of socks designed for dance class, and only wear my Merrells sometimes (I've also been taking Oligo vitamins). But I'll honestly never buy another pair of ballet slippers for as long as I live because dear God these socks are awesome.

Apolla Shocks are called Shocks because they are Shoes + Socks. They have the support and strength that a ballet slipper offers, but the comfort and flexibility of a sock. They have elastic worked into the fabric, so they compress the foot and provide more support to the joints.

There are some advantages, and disadvantages for a compression sock and not everyone should wear them.

I choose to wear them because my feet hurt after 10 minutes of walking barefoot (or in slippers or regular socks). They also last longer than leather shoes, which stretch out and eventually fall apart, and significantly longer than canvas shoes (which tend to get holes in a matter of days with me). They breathe better than canvas, but are nice and warm and don't let my feet get nasty and sweaty. They are washable (don't put them in the dryer though) and you control the traction by spraying more or less E-6000 spray.



Compression socks squeeze the foot with elastic woven into the fabric of the sock. They take a lot of pressure off of your joints. While ballet slippers are just slippers, the Shocks hold the muscles of the foot and help release ankle tension and muscular tension. This reduces inflammation and allows for greater strengthening.


So is it a good idea for everyone to wear compression socks? No. Pre-pointe dancers and beginner/intermediate dancers should continue to wear ballet slippers to fully understand the strength and limits of their natural musculature. 



Personally, I'd recommend Apolla Shocks to the following kinds of people:

• Professional dancers
• Competitive or pre-professional dancers
• Dancers already wearing pointe shoes who train for at least 6 hours a week
• Dancers above the age of 12 who train for at least 6 hours a week and take conditioning/pre-pointe

Check out Apolla Shocks here!