My daughter is a mutant

[WriteLife]

Okay maybe not a mutant but definately unusual.

 

One of the advantages of having a dd in physical therapy is you learn things you didn't know before.

We have been informed that dd has one hyperextended leg and one "normal" leg. I thought this was unusal and kind of weird but apparently dd lost the genetic lottery.

 

Anyway, I was wondering how common this actually was for dancers and am looking for some tips for dd when it comes to working with one leg that hyperextends and one that doesn't. As a side note, the PT said that because she is going through puberty her joints are looser and the hyperextension is looking severe. The left (hyperextended) leg is weaker than the right. Before the injury she was sitting in her left hip and having trouble pulling up out of it.

 

As her teachers have never mentioned this before, I'm wondering if they've even noticed. So does anyone know what she should be thinking about? I've read a lot about hyperextension on this list but I havn't read anything about dealing with only one leg having this issue.

 

Thanks in advanced

[Pasdetrois]

OK, I will never call this anomaly 'mutant' as my DD has it! One hyper extended leg and the other slightly bowed from the knee down. She has very pretty legs and has had them commented on and admired for years. For a long time no one appeared to notice but us, everyone else thought and for the most part still thinks, she has two hyper extended legs! Oh, on top of all this one leg is longer than the other but not to worry, in actuality most peoples have legs of different lengths and never know it! She's somehow coped with all of this and adjusted her dancing herself before it ever became a worry or an issue! Once it did we got a medical diagnosis, her teacher was told and after that it really was no big deal and her training moved forward accordingly.

[WriteLife]

Actually my daughter joked that she was a mutant when she found out. She seems to think it's funny.

 

Thank you for replying. I'm glad to hear there are other dancers out there with this anomaly doing well. My dd was happy to hear that she wasn't alone. I had always assumed that with dancers one leg might be more hyperextended than the other but had never heard of only one leg having that issue. And I thought it odd that none of her teachers have mentioned it but maybe they just assumed ( like I did) that both her legs were not hyperextended.

 

I discussed it with the teacher that gives her private lessons and she said that she knew dd was a little hyperextended but didn't think it was much to worry about. She looked at her again and said that it seems to have gotten more severe so she is going to work with her. Also dd will be starting pilates classes tomorrow :>

 

Thanks again,

 

Kandi