A Day in the Life of a Lunatic
Longing
Thu, April 16, 2009 - 8:16 AMMy doctor suspects that I have a leg length discrepancy and has discovered scoliosis as well as a clear structural abnormality of my lower vertebrae and my sacrum which is causing my sacroiliac joint to lock up on the right side. The result has been stiffness, soreness and muscle spasms in my lower back and pelvic area.
As my new dance teacher had been emphasizing deep, exaggerated movements of the pelvis, I found myself in horrible discomfort during and after my Wednesday dance classes and decided to drop out until I could get all of this resolved.
Now I'm waiting to schedule a standing Xray to determine whether or not I actually have one leg longer than the other. If that's the case, fixing this may be as easy as putting a lift in one of my shoes. In the mean time, I'm doing pelvic exercises three times a day to keep my joint from locking again.
On top of that, I'm having chronic gastrointestinal problems, probably due to job stress, and I have to go for physical therapy for an inexplicably swollen and painful middle joint on my left index finger.
I desperately want to get all of this stuff fixed so that I can get back to dancing. I feel empty on Wednesdays, sitting at home when I know my classmates are dancing and learning and improving.
I missed my troupe's latest dance engagement because I was hurting so much from having my sacroiliac joint adjusted by the chiropractor....and I felt so guilty afterward. And sad...because I missed one of the ladies performing her first improv veil solo :(
Festival season is starting and I want to get out there and dance and put on a good show and I feel like an old woman. I can't even hold a veil correctly because of the problem with my index finger...
Ugh.
Thu, April 16, 2009 - 8:16 AM -
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Thu, April 16, 2009 - 10:52 AM
I feel for you woman, but I hope you don't give up on dancing completely. You might have to accept that you are not going to dance pain free.
I do have scoliosis and yes I suffer with alot of pain and cramping in my lower back. So what I do on the day I have to dance is take alot of Advil. I use to take it before every dance lesson unfortunetly It caused my stomach to bleed. So now I try unless I am having a real bad day to save it for when I perform. What does your doctor say? I know my doctor says the more you move the better it is. I would let your teacher know that your health problems keep you from doing the dance movements in a big manner. She may forget from time to time. I know I told my teacher that I could not tuck my tail bone under as far as she wanted because of the curvature of my spine. But she would still yell at me to tuck my tail under. But over the years my lower back has lengthen a little and I have trained it to somewhat obey me. It is hard when you feel you are somehow lacking. And this will hinder you. I know when I got endotremesis which also causes severe cramping I thought my dancing days were over and that I would not be able to keep up with my fellow dancers. And in some ways I could not. Technically it is difficult for me to do many typical Eygptian moves. Guess what, I stopped doing them when I dance. I still teach them, I just don't use them in my routine. You don't have to pick up a prop to dance. And your only competition is yourself. Don't compare yourself to other dancers and what they can do. You are unique to yourself and if this is something that you love, please don't give it up. You just might have to rearrange your goals. And what being a dancer means to you. |
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Thu, April 16, 2009 - 7:12 PM
Hey you, hang in there. I dealt with foot pain, still a little now and then. It took a bunch of months of more yoga and less walking and dance.
You can always look more into the history of the dance and the music and rhythms when you can't do all the moves, of you haven't already. And like Viviana said, you don't have to do all the moves or use props to dance. |
