Dancing Smart Newsletter: 3/16/08

Dancing Smart Newsletter
March 16, 2008

Announcements:

First, I wanted to announce that I am in the process of creating an affiliate program for The Body Series products. This could be completed as quickly as the end of the week, and when it is ready to roll out, I will send an email out explaining how it works.

My reasons for deciding to try an affiliate program are two-fold. One, I need a way to generate more sales to support and maintain the website and newsletter. Hopefully, I will not offend anyone by saying that. I haven't gone after sponsors and advertising to support the website because I wanted the information to be the primary focus.

Secondly, my purpose behind doing the newsletter and creating the products is to empower and educate dancers and dance teachers in a multitude of ways. The affiliate program could help studio owners, dance teachers, and dancers create an income stream while helping me spread the word that dance can be available to everyone, no matter what your body type of amount of turnout.

I ask you to consider partnering up with me. The program will be straightforward. You will receive a 10% commission on any sales that come through you or your link. If a person that you referred also becomes an affiliate, you will receive 5% commission on any sales they bring in. I want this to be a win/win situation for all of us. Watch for more info!

The second announcement is it has become clear to me that some of the email addresses from The Body Series have been captured by less than scrupulous individuals or organizations and are being used to send spam. I have received emails from store@thebodyseries.com that were NOT from me! I am looking at how to handle this situation – I don't like getting spammed as much as the next person – and – I have never and will never share your email addresses with any other organization.

Onto the question of the week! You might want to reread the last blog post – as there was some great feedback from other readers. Thanks, Nancy (a retired orthopedic surgeon) for your contribution to the conversation about plantar fasciitis!

My daughter is 12 and had a labral tear of the hip three years ago from a gymnastic related trauma. She had arthroscopic surgery 1 and 1/2 years ago and she is still experiencing pain. Her orthopedic says her joint is perfect, though her capsule may be still tight, so we are doing joint mobilization exercises. Her PT says the pain is probably most related to her growth spurt. Do you have any recommendations of how to live through this painful experience? I am considering deep tissue work, topical glucosamine, and/or non-traditional medical options. She is so passionate about dance, and I fear she will be so devastated if she cannot experience peace and a pain-free state soon.

My heart certainly goes out to your daughter. She has come through a challenging situation. Her PT may be right on with the growth spurt connection – and – even if that is why she is in more pain now I believe she can begin to train and reeducate the muscles around the hip joint to move without pain.

I'm not clear whether she has been in some continual pain for a year and a half, or if this just recently came on with a growth spurt, but for both situations I would give the same advice for her pain.

Let me share a very recent experience with a client. I had a woman come to see me who was in significant pain around her left hip. Whenever she stepped down on it she would have shooting pain down her leg. She was walking with a cane and as she stepped onto the left leg she would tilt way over to the left with her torso as she quickly limped onto the 'good' right leg. She was miserable! She did all the right things, went to an orthopedic surgeon, a neurologist, and physical therapy through the pain management clinic at Cleveland Clinic. She wasn't getting better and was feeling really depressed and desperate.

We worked first on my table and then in standing – my instructions to her were to move slowly and smoothly only as far as she did not have pain. When she was standing she had her left foot about 6 -8 inches in front of her right. She very slowly began to transfer her weight onto the left foot and it took almost 10 minutes before she could transfer her weight to the left foot without pain. (she didn't take full weight on the leg because that would give her pain. It took another 10 minutes to discover she could begin to lift her right heel off and start to take the weight onto her left foot. We stopped and felt successful with that much. We spent another chunk of time working with getting herself from her side to a sitting position without pain as she has to do getting out of bed.

She discovered that there were ways for her to move with good anatomical alignment and not invoke the pain. Her pain pattern had become so ingrained with fear as well as compensatory patterns that muscles were in spasm and turned off without her knowing it!

Two weeks later she walks into my office still with cane in hand but totally upright and without pain! I was so inspired! She was so happy – and couldn't believe her pain level had decreased so much in such a short period of time. She still had pain – especially when she tried to move too quickly, but I feel confident, in time, that too will go away.

I share this story with you to describe the potential for somatic education to repattern movement. I was working with her similar to what a Feldenkrais or other somatic practitioner would. I use as a textbook in one of my college classes, Thomas Hanna's Somatics: Reawakening the Mind's Control of Movement, Flexibility and Health. It is a wonderful read – I recommend it strongly. You could explore the following websites to find a somatic practitioner in your area.

http://somatics.org/about or http://www.hannasomatics.com/training/index.php or http://www.feldenkrais.com

It might be that everything with the structure of the joint has been fixed – and now your daughter needs to re-pattern her movement from any less than optimal compensations that occurred from the surgery and pain of the labral tear.

As a side note – I have used successfully used plain MSM cream that I get from richdistributing.com for decreasing inflammation and adhesions – and always keep some on hand.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery for your daughter!

I'll close with a quote from Thomas Hanna.

“Somatic Exercises can change how we live our lives, how we believe that our minds and bodies interrelate, how powerful we think we are in controlling our lives, and how responsible we should be in taking care of our total being.” —Thomas Hanna

Be well!

Deborah


"Education is the key to injury prevention"