Making the Comeback After a Setback

My Injury Part 11

As a follow up to my post ‘Sticks & Stones May Break My Bones but Dancing Does Too’, where I wrote about how my stress fracture came about and dealing with returning to work, I wanted to share my ongoing experience with the physical side of the recovery to help anyone else who is struggling coming back from an injury.

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My routine of exercises to strengthen my foot

I have to say it has not been easy, as I am sure no injuries are, and it took much longer than I first expected for me feel like I am dancing as I did before the injury last May. Originally I came back feeling good, thinking I had done everything needed to have a fully healed foot but since then numerous problems and pains have bothered me, with days where my foot still doesn’t feel ‘right’, even after a year.

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Sticks & Stones May Break My Bones, but Dancing Does Too.

My Injury Part 1

I have so much to share with you about my injury and the journey it took me on, that I decided to dedicate a few posts to it. It was a significant time for me where I learnt a lot and hopefully, by sharing my experience I can help other dancers, athletes or anyone see what one can get out of a bad situation. Enjoy.

Last weekend I sadly missed the first performance of our season due to pain appearing where I was previously injured. I was very disappointed to find out I needed a weeks rest after only being back two weeks from summer. The workload having gone from nil to intense was just too much for my foot.img_3686

My injury occurred last season in May. I was having pain in my right foot for a while, with it feeling tight and ‘crampy’ most days. After a sudden change of cast I had to dance Taming of the Shrew with only a few days notice and from the increased work my foot started reacting to it. I saw our Physiotherapist to try  release it, but the pain kept returning. I was told to take care and rest when I can.

It is always hard to hear these words. As dancers, I believe we have a very high pain tolerance, and when told to take it easy I always find it hard to step back. I love to do class each morning, and even on the days I don’t think I can manage I push and try to finish, which is not necessarily the right thing to do.

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Morning ballet training

Continue reading “Sticks & Stones May Break My Bones, but Dancing Does Too.”