Foot injury-second opinion

[Janice]

Hi all last Thursday dd came out of class saying she had broken her toe,on closer inspection it was not her toe that was hurting but the side of her foot close to her big toe. She had no dancing over the weekend but after class yesterday she said it still hurt during rises ,I had told her not to do pointe. So this morning I called our doctor with who you have to speak to on the phone before he will give you an appointment. He thinks dd has an immflamed tendon and has said to rest and prescribed anti-imflamatory gel as she can't have tablets as it would play up her crohns. I am concerned because he did not look at her foot just diagnosed over the phone. She will of course rest the foot but has some important performances coming up in a couple of weeks.

[drdance]

Hi, as with any injury when people ask for advice on here I recommend that you visit a sports/dance physiotherapist or a podiatrist asap. In the meantime, plenty of ice (use an ice cube to massage the sore spot) and avoid any weightbearing activity that will put the joint under unnecessary strain, so avoid pointe or anything going onto demipointe (including full plies), as well as all jumps. If standing is causing pain then it might be a good idea to have a couple of days off class completely, and focus on floor barre and other non weight bearing conditioning exercises. A few days off the feet and focusing on core, turnout and technique can actually be a blessing!

[Tulip]

That is unacceptable, how can anyone diagnose over the phone. How can the doctor presume you are giving the correct information. Is there any way you could get your daughter to a physiotherapist? How bad is her foot, if her foot is really bad I would insist on the doctor seeing her properly. Gosh what is the NHS coming to?

[taxi4ballet]

Take her to A & E pronto, say she is a talented ballet dancer and you think she has broken a bone in her foot. That's what we did, and they were really helpful, x-rayed it, and got the consultant orthopaedic surgeon and about 3 others to look really closely at it. Fortunately there was nothing broken but they gave her crutches anyway, which she used for about a week. Don't bother with the GP - IMHO the are useless when it comes to this type of thing!

[Julie 2 Milner]

That does sound crazy diagnosing over the phone. Must admit with dance injuries I often used to see a physio first. Dr always just said "rest". Physios are more realistic. They tell you if it's a must rest or risk further injury. They understand sometimes important things are happening. Even with my non dancing son it was a physio who picked up a serious concern in his hip that was causing huge issues whilst fencing. But make sure it is a physio who understands dance. Trouble with feet is intense pain can be mildly serious or indication of something more problematic. So I'd definitely see someone if it is still hurting. Rest may be the only answer as it often is.

[Anna C]

I would agree with all of the above, but would definitely recommend getting the foot X-rayed, either through your GP or A&E. At least then you can give a Physio the results of the X-Ray. Hopefully there is no fracture but it's always worth ruling it out. x

[Anjuli_Bai]

Until you can get a responsible professional (doctor/PT) to see it - rest it.  Since she shouldn't be rising, jumping, or turning on it - she might as well rest it completely. 

[Janice]

Thanks everyone. DD is on a cat scheme and I believe this gives her access to a physio so I have e-mailed them, the next cat session is not for two weeks but hopefully they can sort something out for DD to see a physio. She can walk on it with no pain, it only hurts when doing things like rises , but she will just watch class for now. Our towns minor injury unit is staffed by the doctors from the surgery and they only have x-ray staff in on Mon and Weds , so I will take her to A&E in the next town.

[Spax]

When ever my ds or dd had and injury I would go straight to Shirley Hancock (use to be physio at Royal) £55. I found the longer I left it the more £55's it cost me! She is 2 min walk from Marble Arch.