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Calf/Shin problems


BalletBloch

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Has anybody experienced a pain just where the calf muscle meets the shin, on the outer side of their leg. It seems to be the muscle that connects the tendon from your ankle to your knee.

It is absolute agony.

When I stop dancing and rest, it goes away .. as soon as I start training heavily again, it reappears and nothing I do seems to help except rest.. but as a dancer, no-one likes to rest!!!! and if I rest, I know it'll just hurt again once I start.

 

Has anyone had this problem before and know what the problem may be, or know any ways of relieving the pain?

:unsure: 

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Hi there. It could be many, many different problems.

 

Ways of relieving the pain - well other than seeing a healthcare professional like a physiotherapist,or sports therapist etc using ice massage in the affected area will help relieve the symptoms. However -  It sounds like you've got a chronic inflammatory condition and once you rest the inflammation disappears, but once you start stressing the lower leg the inflammation comes back. 

 

It is very important that you find the root cause of this problem. The usual causes will be technical or biomechanical - you might be rolling at your ankle, or you might have one leg longer than the other, It might be that you've got some muscle imbalances somewhere in the kinetic chain between the foot and knee (or even hip) which has altered your alignment, putting strain on the outside muscles of your calf. (as an example, I know I have a leg length difference which doesn't usually cause me issues but combined with standing all day in a new job I developed back/hip pain. I saw a physio who worked to reduce the tightness and helped me strengthen my gluteals and problem solved. Early in the spring of this year I started wearing heels a bit more at work, and lo and behold I now have a really stubborn case of plantar fasciitis on the same leg. I'm trying to self-treat it as I know what I'm doing but I imagine that in a few weeks if its still grumbling I'll see a podiatrist). 

 

Find yourself a good dance or sports physiotherapist, asap. In the mean time, ask your teacher to keep a close eye on the alignment of your foot and ankle. 

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  • 2 months later...

My dd had this, this year.

We chose alternative therapy once it was diagnosed.

We used Bowen therapy then osteopath treatment.

Very successful.

We explained to our teachers what the issue was and they worked with my dd.

she would sundown during allegro. Stretch and increase this slowly over a few months.

It was worth it, because now she has strengthened and stretched her calves and the muscles points in her legs.

 

I read a lot about it and used Lisa howell physio in Sydney Australia to bounce several issues off.

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