first class after surgery

[ondine88]

DD is taking her first class this morning after os trigonum surgery at the end of Nov.............hoping for a happy phone call but realistically bracing myself for a teary or at the very least a frustrated one

[tzbutterfly]

That is a giant step for coming back, wishing her having more up_days than down_days. I heard a lot about the type of injuries/surgeries for dancers. I am alway wondering how could you prevent it. Did your DD have a broke-off bone? How long did she feel dis-comfort before real pain started?

[ondine88]

Thank you ......... actually it was a positive experience she did about 3/4 of the barre yesterday. (she had tried class prematurely a couple weeks ago and left in tears). Her PT is really making a difference - she is working with a place that knows how to work with dancers -they also have aqua therapy which is very helpful.

 

She has had trouble with that ankle for about 6 years - of course it always flared up during heavy rehearsal times - sidelining her a couple times from performances. Finally saw a couple specialists and had a couple mri's to get a definite diagnosis on the os trig. We made the 10 hour trip to have the surgery done in Boston after much research of who to go to.

 

This couldn't really be prevented as it wasn't actually an injury. The bone was still attached - her surgeon also removed a lot of scar tissue in the area.

 

I did take pictures and notes along the way with the idea of putting together a type of blog - something I wish we had had when we were doing the research - haven't gotten that far yet though!

[jmh4]

I'm so happy to hear that your dd is on the road to recovery ondine88! I hope she will progress smoothly. I know how difficult and frustrating the situation can be. Best of luck to you and your dd!

[2kids2]

So happy she had a positive experince! One dance step at a time! Wishing her all the best!

[albq]

Wow.. that seams a little too soon to be taking barre but I know everyone is different. DD has been through it twice. It has been over a year and a half and is finally pain free in that ankle. But 11 months since the last one.. is still in pain. She thinks she went back too soon with the first one and the company PT was irritating it. No PT on the second one and can dance but no pointe and only with daily time anti-inflammatory meds.

 

Just saying please don't push it. Because at the beginning DD was doing better than expected but in the long run it seemed to hinder full time recovery. But I know others have had very quick recoveries.

 

Best wishes!

[vagansmom]

Ondine, a friend's daughter underwent os trigonum surgery in Boston (a surgeon on Dr. Micheli's team), did PT either through their group or at home using the recommendations of Micheli team's PT (I can't remember which anymore) and was back to dancing ballet professionally in a matter of months. That was several years ago and she's still a professional ballet dancer. Hope that gives your daughter a emotional boost!

[ondine88]

Vagansmom - thank you! It was actually Dr. Micheli that did the surgery - we can't be more pleased with him and his team. He has basically "written the book" on this kind of surgery in particular for dancers. One thing that has made her rehab smooth is that for dancers in particular he puts a drain in the incision to prevent scar tissue from forming after the surgery. Fortunately she has a place she can stay in Boston so she is able to do her PT under his guidance.

 

Hoping for the best - we know there are no guarantees - thanks for your encouragement!

[Mom'sJoyOfDance]

We just had an x-ray to confirm the presence of an Os Trigonum in my 13 yo DD's ankle. It started bothering her about 2+months ago. Of course, she is determined to attend her first away SI next month. We're easing up on classes until then to allow for a proper rest, but she is also concerned about getting some conditioning to prepare for the SI. We've been doing some foot stretches. We're going to try 2 weeks of observing ballet and pointe classes with a weekly private lesson focusing on upper body corrections as well as a weekly floor barre class. Then she'll add 2 ballet classes and 1 pointe class per week with ibuprofen and ice. It's a lighter load than she'd like, but we have to manage the pain and swelling somehow. Would welcome any feedback on this plan.

 

From what I've read, going back to barre 2 months post-surgery can be expected under ideal conditions. I'm shocked that any dancer could manage the symptoms for 6 years based on my DD's experience so far. Maybe she'll get used to the discomfort.

 

Can anyone who has gone through it elaborate on what type of Os Trigonum surgery was chosen (open, arthroscopic, entry point, etc.) and the recuperation period? We're thinking that the surgery is probably inevitable. We're just biding our time so that she can learn some lessons from the 3 week SI. Are there any exercises/stretches that she could try?

[diane]

There is no longer a forum here for medical issues, but there are still the old ones which one can read through.

 

Here is a link to a very long one (14 pages!) in which many different scenarios are discussed:

http://dancers.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=8167

 

My DD had the surgery at about age 15; she is now dancing professionally. Sometimes she has pain, but probably due to other things, as those pesky little bones are gone.

 

-d-

[vagansmom]

Here is another BT4D thread about os trigonum. One dancer on the thread had both ankles done (two separate surgeries) while dancing ballet professionally. She continues to dance professionally with the same ballet company she was with at that time.

 

http://dancers.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=32513&hl=%20trigonum%20%20syr&page=1