get my splits

Earlier this month I saw an orthopedist in LA, and I was diagnosed with possible mild dysplasia, chronic tendonitis on my right hamstring, and femoroacetabular impingement on both hips. Yaaay.

But, with this diagnosis came a prescription for physical therapy, which starts on Thursday. :)

Whenever I’m warmed up and in a good mood, I definitely feel progress being made in both legs. I’m closer to the ground in my left split, and my left heel stretch is loosening up.

But, does being stressed out affect your flexibility? This has been a hell of a week, and I was definitely not as bendy as I normally am.

Today in ballet class, I was having some pain just having my left femur moved inside its socket. My teacher diagnosed that the joint was inflamed, and gave me some stretches to help it out. She also told me to actually ice the damn joint, which is advice I will use more often now.

Last class she took some time afterwards to help me figure out why my left leg is so borked, and she said that the two sides of my pelvis are now different shapes from each other. Swell. It does explain a lot, though.

A year and change ago, I tore most of my right hamstring from my pelvis. This was quite a painful injury. At the time, I had heel stretches on both legs, a full split on my right, and very close to the ground on my left. After I hurt myself, I had to baby my right leg, and my left became stronger and stiffer to compensate.

But today, I am very close to having my right split again. So much so that I’m the liftee in the split lift my dance troupe is doing this year. But, it’s unreliable on my right, and pathetic on my left.

So I’m going to change that!