Sneaker Tangent

I was hanging on to an old pair of brown, New Balance sneakers, the backs of which were completely chewed up. I decided to be smart and wear sneakers instead of flipflops to 4th of July fireworks since the park was about a quarter mile away and I wanted to be kind to my feet and knees. I ended up getting really awful blisters on the backs of my heels to the point where I couldn't wear shoes for a jazz class that I went to the next day. I wore socks rolled down to the balls of my feet. I was feeling super limber and kicked a leg higher than I should have and ended up falling flat on my ass.


This would not normally be a big deal. I'm pretty clumsy and I trip and fall all the time. Most recently, I bit it walking off of the beach on a boardwalk and skinned both knees. I managed to give myself pretty good bruises on the bones on my knees too, which are still around (from the beginning of August). This time, however, I managed to tear cartilage in my hip because of how I fell -- on the back side of my hip -- and because I have hip dysplasia from stretching too much (this is most common in large breeds of dogs and dancers).

I didn't find that out immediately. At first I thought I was developing tendinitis and went to see a physical therapist about it. She was smart enough to ask me about any recent falls and suggested that I get an MRI. Bingo. I ended up having a labral tear in my right hip and had surgery in January of 2009. Not fun, but I definitely prefer joint surgery to abdominal surgery.