Guest tutuclouds Posted September 5, 2003 Report Share Posted September 5, 2003 Hey everyone, I was wondering if anyone had any ideas to help me gain more flexibility, I can do my left and right splits, but my side splits are tragic and I really need to work on them, also recently my right leg has been sore at the back where the hamstring joins the at my bottom, its really sore when I do my right leg splits, and arabesques etc. does anyone know what might have caused this, im goin to get it looked at tommorrow thanks Link to comment
Administrators Victoria Leigh Posted September 6, 2003 Administrators Report Share Posted September 6, 2003 tutuclouds, the split in second is more difficult because it involves more rotation. If you can do the other splits, the problem is probably more a lack of rotation than flexibility. However, if you are having a problem with the top of the hamstring, where it attaches into the gluteus, then it would be best not to force anything until it is better. One of the ways some of my students have improved their rotation and flexibility in second is to lie with your derrière against the wall and your legs hanging open in second as far as they will go. Just hang out there for a while every day. Read a book (Ballet terminology or history would be good!) Link to comment
Guest penguin Posted September 6, 2003 Report Share Posted September 6, 2003 I've got the same problem as tutucloud. Is it alright to continue class? I've seen doctors, but they gave differing views - one asked me to stop stretching completely, while the other asked me to continue class. I'm really really confused... Could anyone help? Link to comment
Administrators Victoria Leigh Posted September 6, 2003 Administrators Report Share Posted September 6, 2003 Hello penquin, welcome to the Young Dancers' forum here on Ballet Alert! Online Are you saying that your doctor advised you to stop ballet altogether? Can you tell us a bit more about the reasons for this? We really have nothing here upon which to base our advise, so a bit more detail about you, your training history, and the physical problems would be most helpful. Link to comment
Guest penguin Posted September 7, 2003 Report Share Posted September 7, 2003 Dear Ms. Leigh, thanks for your reply. A little bit about my condition. I'm 24 this year, and only started ballet a year ago. I'm currently taking 2 ballet lessons and a pilates class per week. I hurt my hamstring when I did a left split about 2 months ago. I felt the pain particularly at the hamstring that joins at my bottom. I can't do a left split at all now, and I could hardly do a grand battement devant properly. Grand battement a la seconde and derrière didn't hurt that much. After I hurt myself, my teacher advised me to continue stretching. But it didn't recover, so I decided to see a doctor about 2 weeks ago. The doctor advised me to stop all exercises and stretching for 6 weeks, and to let my muscles rest. But when I went to seek a second opinion, the doctor said I should continue with class in order to put my muscles back in place again. So I'm really confused by the differing views I get. I really don't know if I should stop class completely. And if I do, I'm afraid that I might not get back my flexibility and stamina again... Link to comment
Administrators Victoria Leigh Posted September 7, 2003 Administrators Report Share Posted September 7, 2003 Okay, penquin, that's much more helpful. No one is telling you to stop dancing forever, just temporarily With a hamstring pull, it will NOT heal as long as you keep stretching it. It has to be allowed to heal, otherwise you are just reinjuring it every time you force it to stretch. If you can get some PT during the time you are off, that might be helpful in terms of speeding up the healing process. By the way, the Young Dancer boards are age specific, so I would like to ask you to please post your questions on the Adult Ballet Students board in the future. Thank you! Link to comment
Guest tutuclouds Posted September 12, 2003 Report Share Posted September 12, 2003 Hi thanks for your reply, um as i said i went to the psyiotherapist and she said that it was because rather than the hamstring joining totally to the bottom mine (and 10% of the populatin's) hamstring only joins partly and sometimes like when you are working especially hard on dancing or if your pelvis is naturally out of line (like mine) it will just pull and really really hurts, she said its ok to keep up the ballet and continue stretching but only gently, she also said that I will have it all my life and it may take a few months to heal each time it happens Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted September 12, 2003 Report Share Posted September 12, 2003 Ouch! I've had students with that kind of structure, and they had to be extra careful in their work. Given due caution, and understanding as much as possible about your personal putting-together, you should be able to work well with it, once the current injury is healed. I am genuinely sympathetic to your problem. Hope your recovery is uneventful. Link to comment
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