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It Rains, It Pours

My body has decided to go on strike.  I've been having some pain/aches around my ankle and heel, but its another thing that comes and goes depending on its mood (I assume).  It's only my right foot, which I had sprained (twice) over 10 years ago, so I originally thought maybe it was just not as strong and needed time to get used to all my dancing and pointe again.

 It has continued, so I started thinking maybe my never-ending point shoe saga was to blame--and I'm sure isn't helping things.

 So, since we're on a break from classes (during which I fully intend on just RESTING for once), I made an appointment with a foot/ankle specialist to get it checked out, just to be safe, especially since after break I'm going to that SI.

Good news: not my Achilles.  Also not an os trigonum issue (whew).  Bad news: I have some inflammation/tendonitis in my flexor hallucis longus tendon*. (yea, trying saying that fast...or at all).

Its the tendon that runs from your calf area, up under your foot to your big toe.

(This picture was shamelessly stolen from Wikipedia.)

I'm on a course of steroids for about a week to help the inflammation, and in the future I'll have to be sure to ice myself after dancing.  I told the doctor about my pointe shoe woes (e.g. how all the pressure was on my big toe), and he said that was very likely contributing.  Moral of the story: get a proper pointe shoe fitting, kids!

*My favorite part of that online article I linked for the FHL tendon is the bit that says, "This is particularly common in ballet dancers who spend significant time rising onto their toes."  Um, yes. That'd be me.
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