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Note to Self: Injuries can be a sign you're over-doing it.

My apologies for the lack of posts! The foot/ankle is still being a jerk, so I haven't been dancing, and therefore have had nothing to report (except for complaints about being antsy).

I went back to the podiatrist today for a check up to see how/if the injection had helped anything. The pain on the inside part of my ankle has disappeared (hurray!), but a pinchy feeling is still occurring on the outside, sort of back near my heel. It doesn't hurt too badly if I just prop my foot up, but as soon as I put weight on it (a la relevé), it gets all grumpy.

The doc felt around and pushed that area a bit, and I definitely had pain. Turns out that it was my joint (the subtalar joint, to be exact). That made me a little panicky at first, but apparently it's just another inflammation thing (yay synovial fluid!) I likely had BOTH tendinitis AND the subtalar issue, thanks to my crazy dance schedule this past spring. Good times. I got another steroid injection (different side of my ankle this time), and so far it feels tons better (I'm numb and only an two hours in, but YAY).

If it continues to feel better, I can return to dance classes next week when the studio re-opens. I'll have to take it easy--limited relevé, no jumping or leaping. But at least I'll be back!

The bad news is that when the doctor was telling me what not to do (i.e. jumping) he noted that a lot of problems with that joint come from impact. Our studio does not have sprung floors, so I'm sure the combination of that PLUS my drastic increase in dance was not helping matters. (I feel like this combo is also to blame for the shin splints I got last year).

I'm thinking of cutting back a bit when things start up again; at the height of my craziness last spring, I was taking 7+ classes a week, and had drastically increased my time en pointe because of our spring show. Even my mom thought I was over-doing it. I'm thinking of cutting back a bit, but adding in some pilates to work on my strength and alignment. 

Anyone else out there do pilates? Has it helped your dancing? I'm looking into some reformer classes (which I have never done before), and any input or advice would be appreciated!

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