When you hear the words “moderate to advanced arthritis,” at the age of 32, it can be quite shocking news to receive. However, having arthritis at a young age is not uncommon for ballet dancers; MRI studies have demonstrated early first-MTP joint osteophyte development in dancers as young as 19–36 years old (Angioi et al., 2014). In my 20’s I danced in college as a ballet dancer, racking up many hours en pointe, and then progressed to cruise ship dancing in character shoes as

In the world of ballet, we expect our feet, ankles, and toes to perform miracles. As dancers, conditions such as tendonitis tend to appear rather often, especially in the foot and ankle joint. We are often aware of the larger areas such as the Achilles tendon but forget that tendonitis can painfully appear in other tendons such as the flexor hallucis longus. These things do not just appear after one or two times of improper technique or daily habits. They result from a cumula

As a Certified Personal Trainer, Physical Therapist Assistant, and Professional Dancer specializing in ballet injury prevention, I have...