Thecatsmother

Too late to ask I guess????

A male driver just complimented me on my masterly parallel parking skills. He was with his wife and not begging on the street! Seems there are a few men who respect women drivers after all.

A comfortable shoe with a small heel will definitely take the strain off your Achilles' tendon which would seem to be the purpose of the strapping. If you are at home a lot I would suggest wearing the shoes with a heel in the house. No stilettos though????????

No pun intended. Do you have a walk in clinic near you or an A & E? They may have more rapid access to scanning equipment? If it is swollen then ice is best.

Thought it might be interesting to start a thread on what makes a beautiful grande jete? We see so many performed on stage or in class but some linger longer in the memory than others. A few questions to stimulate discussion. Which dancer comes to mind when you think of beautiful grand jetes? What is needed to perform this step with elegance and style? What imagery, exercises or technical advice can help dancers improve grand jetes? I personally do not think that excessive hyper mobility necessarily generates the best jete. For me, so much of the key to this step is in the preparation and line in the air. Be interesting to hear the views of others....

Lots of ice in the meantime michelle. It may be you need a scan. If there is inflammation of the Achilles' tendon or indeed a small tear then do proceed with severe caution with anything that stretches it whilst fully weight bearing as you risk further inflammation through repeated motion or tears. The best prognosis re injury rehabilitation can often come if help is sought early. It's always easy to look back and say 'if only' and I have done this myself in the past. The best chance of the most rapid recovery is to rest and then rebuild. I have a family member who ruptured whole Achilles whilst dancing(it shot up back of leg!!) so I always think this is an area of the body which pains should be listened to very carefully as should be the case with any injury really.

The chemist where I slipped on a wet floor and am still suffering with an injury 18 months later!

I have always liked this Danish film about young dancers too.

A friend alerted me to an old royal ballet school documentary which is now on you tube. Not good at posting links but if you type in 'a place to dance-royal ballet school documentary' you will get a documentary screened many years ago when Monica Zamora was at the Upper School.

ENB now have five different levels of classes from complete beginners to an advanced level so you will most definitely find one that meets your needs. It is a friendly environment.

So pleased to hear your news Anjuli. Let's hope next year brings continued progress. I had my first social outing this evening for some time. No walking plaster although it feels a bit strange having got used to it. A glass of champagne to celebrate as no pain for two days. The prospect of foot healing after 17 months is all I want for Christmas and new year. I could manage another glass of champagne though maybe????

Are you able to get feedback from auditions? If your daughter's aim is to use any foundation course as a stepping stone to more vocational training then my sense is it would be best targeted around what would meet her needs best in terms of areas for development. A strategic choice would be wise even if this means holding off and doing additional classes to boost technique for a year before auditioning again. Probably useful to think about how courses like BTEC's would be viewed by vocational schools. Could she look into auditioning for some kind of youth company to augment training?

Dr Dance. I would be really interested to know what exactly dance scientists do in terms of training modules and the career path post graduation. To be honest I am aware that it is an expanding field but I do not know very much about it and how your work differs from other professionals within the dance world like physios, performance psychologists, dieticians, Pilates instructors etc. Would be interesting to hear the typical route into the career and in your experience what tends to draw people to this area of study. I am wondering how the profession situates itself within dance schools and companies. Purely personal interest really as think it is good to know about all aspects of dance.

I would try talking to the schools in advance of audition to explain. If this is a short term problem this may not be an issue

I personally think this needs to be considered in context and on a case by case basis. There are times especially during injury rehab or when preparing for certain roles where it may have uses. The need for increased stamina can be highlighted by the ENB Swan Lake in terms of the large space that needs to be covered by the corps when dancing in the round. Dancers are very good at listening to their own bodies and I think can draw upon research findings and integrate this into training when they need. I know that studies have been done to look at whether vibration plates can increase jump height but not sure what the findings were. Ultimately the dancer is probably best equipped to make judgements around what they need at different times and why.

Congratulations for sticking at your goal. I hope you can let your shins heal now. Have you seen a Physio?

I do agree with your comments Janet re dancers in general as most by their very nature are hugely self critical. I guess it comes with the art form and constantly striving for what always seems just out of reach. Perhaps that is part of the allure.

Does anyone know who the person is doing the assessment? I hope that children are assessed more as children nowadays. I do remember some quite unpleasant tales during my time at ballet school and doing competitions.

Tentative promising news. Seen the surgeon and I can try progressing to trainers when pain subsides enough to get out of boot. I seem to be expert in the unusual experiences as the consultant thinks that what I have been suffering from is complex regional pain syndrome triggered by cortisone injections. At least I hope it is going the right way and will be so nice to get back to wearing 2 shoes.

Given the time of year, I thought a thread on what you would like to leave behind in 2013 and what you would wish for 2014 might be a fitting topic. I would like to leave behind pain from my injury, legal action hassle re my injury, my walking plaster, crutches, fears of surgery, memories of the explosion/fire in flat opposite mine and abusive bosses. In return, I would like 2014 to bring happiness, relief from suffering to those in mental and physical pain, a chance to get back to dancing, much laughter, a bit of sunshine sometime between June and September, the companionship of friends/family and the opportunity to make a difference in life.

I am a bit confused. My understanding is that Achilles tendinopathy is a term which has now replaced Achilles tendinitis but that the terms can be used interchangeably. I think this was changed because the 'itis' in tendinitis implied that there was inflammation present but this is now not considered to accurately capture the source of the problem hence the change in term to Achilles tendinopathy. I believe it is viewed as degeneration within the tendon. All I will say having had a relative rupture her Achilles' tendon is to listen to your body. Sadly she did not and ended up having surgery. For this reason I always urge particular caution when there is pain in the Achilles' tendon but I am sure a good Physio will advise.

Slipper socks are most definitely the way forward or TX Maxx do thermal ones which I think are intended for skiing but I have used at night to keep my foot warm as circulation impaired with swelling.

I would agree with the comments made above. One can have a great idea of the recipe to make an exquisite cake but if the ingredients are not of reasonable quality and put together following the recipe then the cake may not turn out as defined. Put it in an oven that cooks too quickly then it will not be baked faster..it will just burn.

I have had major problems with cold feet, not in the metaphorical sense which has definitely impacted the rate of reduction of swelling. Since adding this in twice a day it has helped a lot. There are two free webinars with Liza Howell when she is talking to dancers with stress fractures. She recommends this then lying with your feet up the wall for drainage. Can I add if it's anything like my boot if she has circulation issues some extra warm socks might come in handy in the Xmas stocking as I find my foot gets so cold when outside in the boot and then it is hard to get it warm again.

Contrast bathing is recommended to aid circulation particularly when healing foot injuries as circulation not as good at extremities. Always finish with cold. It helps a lot with swelling in my experience.