Something old, something new, something intuited, something shoe
I was recently visited by a 36 year-old Broadway dancer. She’d danced a particular role on tour for many months. She took a leave of absence to have a son, then returned to the same role, but now in the Big Apple. Like most other pro dancers, she’d had lots of ankle sprains, and she recovered. This time, not even recalling a provoking sprain, a pain started during rehearsal right where her earlier sprains used to hurt. She was able to dance through this pain for the six consecutive months since it started, but it was steady-state, not getting better, despite countless visits to physical therapists, ice, anti-inflammatories, and acupuncture. She’d visited two dance orthopedists and a podiatrist, all of whom had recommended surgery. When she inquired regarding the specifics of the surgery, each was at a loss to offer exact details.
Feeling unsettled, this prompted her to seek my opinion. Were she to have surgery, she was advised she’d be out of dance completely for 6-10 months. This is a very long break for a dancer her age, as it takes more time to regain strength and balance as one gets older. Knowing I’d performed restorative injections (prp and prolotherapy) for various sprains on her dancer friends who’d referred her to me, she was hoping I might be able to give her such a shot and save her from an uncertain surgical alternative.
