Most dance companies have doctors that are affiliated with the organization and take care of the physical needs of the dancers. I found out the hard way that it’s probably a good idea to find out what your company doctor’s specialty is. The label “Doctor” doesn’t mean that they know everything.
Stress injuries are the hardest to deal with. That’s an injury that occurs over a period of time. With a stress injury – there’s no clear cut choice. It’s not serious enough for you to take time off and it’s not minor enough to ignore. Trust me they hurt – and working in pain ain’t fun. Plus there’s an added danger – you start favoring other muscle groups and BAM – you actually injure something else. When most dancers that I knew would get a stress injury, they would ignore it and hope that it would heal on its own. It’s not that dancers are stupid – trust me – we know how our bodies function. When you get injured – you’ve entered that delicate realm in the hierarchy of dance management. Injured too much – you’re “injury prone” – get the label and you loose your job. It’s also funny how management never acknowledges their role in the injury – like the choreographer who creates a ballet that works predominately on the left side of your body AND the fact that they have put some significant risk factors into the piece (throwing lifts, etc.) AND the director has decided to rehearse the piece ten times a day AND the company general manager has you performing the piece a few times a week in less than perfect venues (concrete floors). Nope – once you’re injured – you are the perpetrator. Obviously you weren’t working correctly – or you wouldn’t be injured.
I injured my back over a period of several months. After the usual hemming and hawing – I finally accepted that I had a problem and went to see one of the two company doctors. He gave me the usual diagnosis – Strained muscle, take some time off and rest. Now I had to tell the director. The next day I told him the situation and asked for time off. His answer? “No”. No – because the performance season was starting in a week and No – because it would be impossible to replace me on such short notice and No – because “You don’t get hurt, remember?” That actually was true. Out of the entire group, I was the one dancer who rarely got hurt or sick. I was the dancer he relied on when he was in a bind. “Can’t I get off time for good behavior?” I ventured. He shook his head, “Sorry Debbie but you know I never put an understudy under you. They never get a chance to dance because you never get injured PLUS the ballets are too complicated for someone to learn your position in a couple of days.” OK – back to the doctor to see what I needed to do to continue dancing.
For two months my days began with a routine of hot compress packs, ultra-sound treatment and water therapy in the company whirlpool. I was lucky that the company actually had all the needed equipment on the premises. The vacation period finally arrived and I was able to finally rest the muscles. Upon returning, I found that the problem had not gone away. Back to the doctor. Back to therapy. No improvement. On and on and on and on – for five months! One day the assistant director stopped me in the hall and asked me how my back was. “Not any better I’m afraid.” “You know,” he said, “I’m curious. Why are you seeing company foot specialist for your back?” I stared at him confused. “The doctor that you’ve been seeing – he’s the foot specialist…the other doctor is the back specialist”. My mouth dropped open, “Then why didn’t somebody tell me that?” He said, “Well, we thought you knew what you were doing.” “How would I know that?” I yelled at him, “I’m the one who never gets injured, remember? I’ve never been to the company doctors!” I went to see the back specialist. His diagnosis? Strained muscle – take some time off and rest – big difference. He did however make an appointment for me to see a physiotherapist named Rita. Rita took one look at me and said “Oh, your hip is out of line.” She worked it back into place and the back pain disappeared within a few days. My respect for physiotherapists increased three-fold that day – Rita was a miracle worker. Initially I was angry at the two company doctors for not finding such an obvious solution to the back problem. Then again – they did their best and at least they were smart enough to surround themselves with intelligent people (like Rita) and its not like I challenged them.
I lived with another company dancer, Pamela. We were in the middle of a performance season when Pamela developed a bad toothache. Because there really wasn’t any free time for a proper procedure to deal with the tooth – Pamela’s dentist gave her some painkillers to help her get through the performance schedule. We were home when Pamela took her first pill. Within minutes, she was weaving around the room, crying hysterically that she was in pain. I steered her to her bed and got her to sit down. Pamela fell over and hit her head on the adjacent wall. Within seconds, a large bump formed on her forehead. She started howling louder. I panicked. I pulled Pamela up off the bed and practically dragged her out of our apartment building. I threw her into the back seat of her car. As I raced across the city to the hospital where the company doctors worked, Pamela’s screams escalated. My nerves were frazzling. At the hospital, I ran into the emergency room and had one of the company doctors paged. He arrived at a run. I quickly explained what had happened as I led him to Pamela (who was still screaming in the car). He stopped. “Why did you bring her here? I’m an orthopedic surgeon.” “You’re the only doctor I know!” I wailed, “Besides, you went to medical school. Don’t you remember anything?” I must have looked demented because after a quick roll of his eyes, he told an orderly to take Pamela into an examination room. I paced the waiting room while he examined her. After a half an hour, Pamela was rolled back out. “She’s fine,” the doctor said, “She just needs to sleep off the effects.” I sighed with relief. “Look,” he said, “Here’s the address of a G.P. The next time either of you decide you need a doctor – go see him.” He didn’t let me forget this little episode for months. Every time he came to the studio with a new set of interns, he would turn to them and say “Make sure that you keep up on general practice because you never know when Debbie or Pamela will visit you.” Ha, Ha – very funny. A quick note to doctors – please, please, please – pay attention to a person’s body weight when you prescribe drugs! Dancers usually maintain a low body weight and normal doses have a tendency to land us flat on our asses.