jade Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 Hi my dd has hurt her foot and I'm wondering if any one has had a similar problem. The pain just came on all of a sudden when doing pointing exercises with her foot , she didn't fall or anything. She can walk and put weight on her foot but the pain is across the top of her foot and only when she points her foot. This is not helpful for ballet! Slight bruising has just started to appear 2 weeks after the injury. We have been the doctors who said its not broke as she wouldn't be able to walk and to just rest it. She has been off it for two weeks now and no better still hurting to point her foot. We are going to go back to doctors next week as I'm not happy think she needs an xray ? She never misses dance or complains and we are worried as she is due to start dance college in September. This is her first ever injury . I am just after any advise as I'm sending myself mad with worry ! As I say we are seeking medical advice next week, just wanted to know if this is a common problem?? X Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahw Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 Hi Jade, I'm sorry to hear about the injury. From my experiences of injuries in my dd I would say seeing a physio (if you can afford it) is better than seeing a GP as this is more their thing. A lot of these injuries are soft tissue (muscle, tendon, ligament) and this is not shown on X-rays. An X-ray is an exposure to radiation which is why they should be used carefully. On the whole scans are more useful but not as freely available. Of course after 2 werks you do need to seek help. In the meantime alternating ice/heat for 2 minutes each 3 times helps several times a day. You both have my sympathy - my dd is in a second lay off due to injury in just over a year and it's awful. If you take the correct precautions to sort it out now hopefully your dd will be all ready for September. Good luck. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jade Posted May 23, 2015 Author Share Posted May 23, 2015 Thank you Sarahw I think a physio would be better also , our doctor just was like she can walk it's fine just rest !!!! Hard to do when you dance ! Thinking its ligament so will try the ice and heat you suggested and back to doctors next week. Fingers crossed it's sorted soon . Hope your dd recovers well xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzysue Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 My Dd had a similar injury, no specific injury just a painful and swollen foot. Had some time of dancing but carried on walking to school etc as had been advised. Swelled on and off for 3 months. Then we all has flu at Christmas and barely moved except bed to sofa, this cured it! They told us muscle damage caused by doing weird and unnatural things with her foot, sounds like it's the same thing if it's the pointing and stretching of her foot that causes problems. I think absolute rest is probably what she needs, then it should be ok for September xxx 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anon2 Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 I would seek advice of a dance physio, no need for GP referral. Or ask for her to be seen by NHS dance clinic - they have been discussed on here before. The pain and bruising mean there is something going on. If she is going off to dance college in September she will be doing more hours than ever and needs to know she is fully fit as they all tend to push themselves beyond the limit. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picturesinthefirelight Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 Something similar happened to dd when she was younger but it was caused by school shoes that were too big for her and they sort of collapsed in on the top of her foot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duck Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 Pretty much the same happened to me when I was walking on the pavement after a ballet class a few months ago. I didn't jump or twist my ankle, etc., and suddenly the pain came on at the top of the foot close to the ankle. I had done lots of foot stretching before class that day though and maybe this was too much. Walking was fine after the first week, pointing and standing or turning on demi point hurt. I rested and used exercises that a physio gave me to loosen up the ankle. As with others above, I suggest seeing a physio. Maybe just one session will be sufficient if the exercises can be shown by the physio and then be done at home (this is what I did). I also found carrying as little as possible in my bag useful as it reduced the weight on the ankle when I did need to go somewhere. It did take a month to get better and I still have it on and off so patience is really needed. Starting too soon to dance again while it is not fully healed, and it will take even longer to clear. Good luck to your DD. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jade Posted May 23, 2015 Author Share Posted May 23, 2015 Thank you everyone for your helpful posts ! My husband took our dd to the local hospital today to get looked over , better safe than sorry and Tuesday seamed ages to wait till doctor ! They done X-ray to out rule stress fracture and it was all clear. The doctor thinks it's ligament / muscle damage like mentioned !! She has booked her in to see their physio on 4 th June ( straight after GCSE maths !) fingers crossed it will get sorted. She is resting as much as possible and no dance this week , ice and painkillers and lots of patience !!! I will let you know how we get on x 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 Good luck to your poor dd, Jade. She must be chafing with impatience as well as being in pain. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahw Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 Good luck with the exams as well. Hopefully they may distract from dancing a bit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballettaxi Posted May 26, 2015 Share Posted May 26, 2015 Hi Jade DD had a pain similar to this appear overnight a couple of years ago. X-ray's ruled out stress fracture, however our Doctor referrred DD to a podiatrist. She recognised that DD's arches had dropped (collapsed may be a better description!). She recommended a couple of week's rest and provided DD with shaped insoles for her shoes - nothing too drastic but enough to support the foot in the 'proper' position. The pain stopped as soon as she started wearing these. Two and a half years later DD still wears insoles in her shoes, however her feet have actually shrunk due to the development of an instep (was a 4.5 now a 3.5) which we can only attribute to these insoles giving her the support she needed for the foot to develop properly. It might be worth checking your DD's day shoes - is she getting enough support outside of dancing that is causing this? Good luck getting this resolved. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jade Posted May 26, 2015 Author Share Posted May 26, 2015 Thank you ballettaxi my dd sees physio next week I will mention this to them it could be the same , an hopefully insoles would help my dd too. I am going to buy dd new shoes to make sure while her foot heels she is in a full supported shoe ! Willing to try anything ! She has noticed slight improvement last few days using ice and pain killers , she has had complete rest not gone out and no dance ! It's just hard finding the balance of rest and then when better building back up again to a normal full week of dance . I don't want her to rush it and be back to square one !! Thanks for posting I'm glad your dd got better x 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Yes, it definitely sounds like soft-tissue damage, especially if it's at the toe end of the foot. That reminds me: are toes in some sort of sheath down at the base where they meet the foot? I was doing some stretching on the barre a few weeks ago, pointed my left foot and suddenly got a really sharp pain just round that area. It does feel very much as though it is extending around the base of the toe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jade Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 Hi just an update, my dd seen physio today and they said it is like an ankle strain. This is because her feet are over flexible and can do things that most people's feet can't ! He said this has lead to a weak ankle so when she points / flexes her foot there is not enough support resulting in pain across the top of her foot?? Not heared of this before. He has given exercises and a foot band to build up the muscle in her ankle. We go back in two weeks to see how things are going. Will do the exercises given and hope to see improvement. My dd still off dance for now . I'm not sure what to think it was just a general physio so not sure If a dance physio would say the same. He however was very nice but a little confused as to how my dd could only feel the pain when she pointed her foot and not when balancing on that foot !!! Hope to report good news in two weeks then ! X Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drdance Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 Was that an NHS physio you saw? I know I shouldn't generalize but the majority of hospital-based physios have very little training in musculoskeletal problems especially in very active people. They're expert in getting people back walking/active in terms of 'normal living' following surgery, illness or severe injury such as bone breaks but tend to lack the experience of sportspeople, dancers or musicians. If you can afford to, I'd recommend seeing a private sports (or if you're lucky, dance) physiotherapist or if you're near Birmingham, Bath or London ask your GP to refer you to the free NHS dance medicine clinics (see www.nidms.co.uk for details) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jade Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 Hi drdance it was an nhs physio my dd went to , he was good but in general terms . So we have now taken her to see a podiatrist as they speacialise in feet ! They were very good , gave lots of good advice and exercises to do. The lady my dd saw also said the same as the nhs physio in terms of that my dd should build up ankle strength as her feet are so flexible . She also picked up on a pocket of fluid that had built up on my dd foot causing pressure that the nhs physio had not mentioned . We have been given massage exercises to remove this. She also said this injury is common in ballet dancers going up and down on toes a lot , repetitive movement. We have been told no slip on shoes only full shoe with small heel. Funny enough my dd has an odd small boney part on her foot causing no pain or problem , hard to see really and the podiatrist even noticed that saying oh you have kind of grown an extra bone ! We see this a lot in ballet dancers !!! So back to nhs physio in two weeks , both told my dd to rest a further two weeks . Exercise and ice and fingers crossed x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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