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bethlakshmiSorry this took so long. I was so busy/tired this week that I haven't had the time to blog.
The healing is going fairly well. I'm walking - sometimes without a crutch. The rule is - if I can walk without a limp and without pain, I can walk without a crutch - that happens about 50% of the time right now, but when I get tired, I go back to the crutch. The swelling is way down, but it wasn't until yesterday's PT that it was all the way down.
Here's some of the fun of healing this week...
Lasers
Barry Meklir (www.muscularsolutions.com) is my martial arts practice friend (I call him "my naked oily buddy" :) ), and also my healer. His recommendation was a collection of non-prescriptive pills, plus a laser. The laser is targeted at the hurt ligaments, and it's supposed to speed healing. Barry brought the laser to my place last Thursday, and let me use it morning and night each weekend. It reallye helped reduce the swelling.
Boiling Oil
Anil (my kalari guru) recommended an Ayurvedic treatment, called kiri. They are herbal poultices, heated up with oil and rubbed into the hurt area. After procuring the ingredients with much help from![[info]](https://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
lioritgioret and the New England School of Acupuncture, I went to Anil and Aparna's house on Saturday with a book bag of ingredients and pursuaded Anil to show me how to do the first one, so nothing would be lost in translation. I became a class project, with the whole dance class watching and helping after the dance class was over.
I must say here, that it takes a really special level of trust to stick your hurt ankle in your guru's hand, knowing he's going to hurt you more. The poultice is spices that have been heated in oil, wrapped in cotton, and then heated in oil more. Needless to say - IT'S BLOODY HOT!! And having Anil rub it *hard* into my already sore ankle was not much fun. There was quite a bit of screaming and whimpering. Anil and I have already formed an agreement - I'm allowed to scream if it will help me relax my body properly and he's allowed to ignore me. That's rather how it works -- the guru knows best, the student trusts the guru. If you can't trust your guru, get a new guru.
I think Anil's idea of hot and mine are different. There was some burning - about the grade of a very light sunburn. And the ankle was super-tender after the session. That said, as I've done the massage at home - I do think I'm stimulating the area and doing good for the ankle and promoting healing.
Compression Machines
I went to Physical Therapy yesterday. I'm fairly pleased. I chose CATZ physical therapy, which is part of a big atheletic training center around the corner from my work. They have a big gym there, and a focus on sports therapy. I got extra lucky - Sue, my therapist - specializes in dance physical therapy. She works with the Walnut Hill School on staff and knows a lot about what dancers need to do. She knows nothing about my wierd forms of dance, but she's aware of how hard dancers push their bodies and what level of function they need to restore. She worked on me the first day - doing a massage of the leg, heat, and then a funky compression/icing machine. Its like a boot that goes over the ankle and cools it and compresses it simultaneously and gradually. Last night, all swellng was gone.
Now I have a bunch of exercises - all very light weight, to get more flexibility in the ankle, and instructions to massage it, ice it, and rest it as much as possible. Barry pointed out that this is really my first major dance injury. I had the bad hip problems, but they were a residual misuse of my body, not a sudden and long-ish term injury. I'm not wired for this experience, and it's really hard to continue to keep my expecations adjusted, that I might not be dancing for 2 months.
On other news, I'm not going to Pennsic. I had pre-registered, but I have decided against going. It was a three person decision, where each of us had reasons for not being up to the trek right now. For my part, Pennsic is a chance to be really physically active and to enjoy teaching, learning and performing dance - I can't do those things right now. Right now, setting up my tent and doing my daily chores are going to be about all I can do, and I'll be doing it on uneven ground. I can't risk more injury, and I can't stand the idea of doing all that driving and work and not getting to dance. Also, I know me, and I'm very weak when it comes to temptation. Trying to go and just "be around" dance will inevitably lead to dancing with right now, will inevitably lead to injury.
I'm going to save some of the vacation time and the energy and do something else when I'm feeling better - maybe in the fall.
The healing is going fairly well. I'm walking - sometimes without a crutch. The rule is - if I can walk without a limp and without pain, I can walk without a crutch - that happens about 50% of the time right now, but when I get tired, I go back to the crutch. The swelling is way down, but it wasn't until yesterday's PT that it was all the way down.
Here's some of the fun of healing this week...
Lasers
Barry Meklir (www.muscularsolutions.com) is my martial arts practice friend (I call him "my naked oily buddy" :) ), and also my healer. His recommendation was a collection of non-prescriptive pills, plus a laser. The laser is targeted at the hurt ligaments, and it's supposed to speed healing. Barry brought the laser to my place last Thursday, and let me use it morning and night each weekend. It reallye helped reduce the swelling.
Boiling Oil
Anil (my kalari guru) recommended an Ayurvedic treatment, called kiri. They are herbal poultices, heated up with oil and rubbed into the hurt area. After procuring the ingredients with much help from
lioritgioret and the New England School of Acupuncture, I went to Anil and Aparna's house on Saturday with a book bag of ingredients and pursuaded Anil to show me how to do the first one, so nothing would be lost in translation. I became a class project, with the whole dance class watching and helping after the dance class was over. I must say here, that it takes a really special level of trust to stick your hurt ankle in your guru's hand, knowing he's going to hurt you more. The poultice is spices that have been heated in oil, wrapped in cotton, and then heated in oil more. Needless to say - IT'S BLOODY HOT!! And having Anil rub it *hard* into my already sore ankle was not much fun. There was quite a bit of screaming and whimpering. Anil and I have already formed an agreement - I'm allowed to scream if it will help me relax my body properly and he's allowed to ignore me. That's rather how it works -- the guru knows best, the student trusts the guru. If you can't trust your guru, get a new guru.
I think Anil's idea of hot and mine are different. There was some burning - about the grade of a very light sunburn. And the ankle was super-tender after the session. That said, as I've done the massage at home - I do think I'm stimulating the area and doing good for the ankle and promoting healing.
Compression Machines
I went to Physical Therapy yesterday. I'm fairly pleased. I chose CATZ physical therapy, which is part of a big atheletic training center around the corner from my work. They have a big gym there, and a focus on sports therapy. I got extra lucky - Sue, my therapist - specializes in dance physical therapy. She works with the Walnut Hill School on staff and knows a lot about what dancers need to do. She knows nothing about my wierd forms of dance, but she's aware of how hard dancers push their bodies and what level of function they need to restore. She worked on me the first day - doing a massage of the leg, heat, and then a funky compression/icing machine. Its like a boot that goes over the ankle and cools it and compresses it simultaneously and gradually. Last night, all swellng was gone.
Now I have a bunch of exercises - all very light weight, to get more flexibility in the ankle, and instructions to massage it, ice it, and rest it as much as possible. Barry pointed out that this is really my first major dance injury. I had the bad hip problems, but they were a residual misuse of my body, not a sudden and long-ish term injury. I'm not wired for this experience, and it's really hard to continue to keep my expecations adjusted, that I might not be dancing for 2 months.
On other news, I'm not going to Pennsic. I had pre-registered, but I have decided against going. It was a three person decision, where each of us had reasons for not being up to the trek right now. For my part, Pennsic is a chance to be really physically active and to enjoy teaching, learning and performing dance - I can't do those things right now. Right now, setting up my tent and doing my daily chores are going to be about all I can do, and I'll be doing it on uneven ground. I can't risk more injury, and I can't stand the idea of doing all that driving and work and not getting to dance. Also, I know me, and I'm very weak when it comes to temptation. Trying to go and just "be around" dance will inevitably lead to dancing with right now, will inevitably lead to injury.
I'm going to save some of the vacation time and the energy and do something else when I'm feeling better - maybe in the fall.