Recovery update

In my post 'Knowledge is power' I discussed some of the injuries I'm dealing with currently. I wanted to update you on how my recovery has been going. My high ankle sprain was doing spectacularly. I had no pain. I was able to walk long distances with no kind of ankle support. I even began taking ballet class again, 3 times a week. No pointe shoes and no jumps yet but all was heading in the right direction. I also started working out in the gym with a new trainer trying to get my whole body stronger, so it would be easier to dance more.

I have the stage 3 sprain

Then about 2 weeks ago, I started having pain in the same spot I tore my ligaments. It was after a day of dancing in the morning and training in the afternoon. I didn't feel pain as I was dancing or training, only after. It hurt to walk more than a block and it throbbed. I followed the RICE protocol. And I spent about 5 days not doing too much until I felt the pain subside somewhat.

I went to see my physical therapist who did some physical tests to determine what is causing pain. He concluded that the ligaments that had previously been stable seem to be loose now. The instability is what he thinks is causing me pain. He recommended I go back to see my doctor. This setback has made me feel very frustrated. I literally had my foot in the studio finally after 7 months of no dance and now I have gone backwards in my recovery. I had a set a reasonable goal of being back to work by late August (when our fall season begins) and now I'm not sure that will be possible. I have already been out of dancing for the past 8 months. I'm anxious about what the doctor might say. He could say I need surgery (which would likely have me out for an additional 6-8 months).  I'm trying not to think of the worst case scenario until I actually go see the doctor. There's no point in getting worked up without knowing, but it's still a struggle sometimes.

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The other injury I discussed was the osteoarthritis in my right knee. I left off with just having gotten the Monovisc injection. The injection was supposed to help alleviate pain and reduce the amount of crunching, clicking and locking my knee was doing. Doctors say it takes about a month to start feeling any effects. It has been a month now and I can't say it feels that different but I also haven't been able to dance as much as I normally do. I do feel that the crunching and clicking may be slightly reduced now. I can say that it doesn't feel any worse. I may have a better read on it when I'm further along with my high ankle sprain.

However, there is this weird phenomenon where if one area of the body starts hurting more than the other area, that was previously hurting, you suddenly stop feeling pain in the old area. Many dancers will say this happens often to them, but if it's not one it's the other. There's always something.