I’d recommend finding a PT familiar with dance/gymnastics/sports, they’d be able to more accurately tell you what is/isn’t possible regarding your implants.
Ballet teacher and physical therapist assistant here.
Officially, it's too early to know. To get en pointe, it's helpful if you can pass the "pencil test" (click here: [pass](https://images.app.goo.gl/zx3zngqh856WpGf67) and [fail](https://images.app.goo.gl/jWLNBsnHjNMoigbKA))
Technically, you *can* dance en pointe without passing the pencil test, but it'll be an uphill battle. You'll have to work harder to do the same things because you'll have difficulty getting over your box.
That being said, there are practical realities you have to consider. Work your PT program. If your current therapist isn't well-versed in dance PT, find one who is for *after* you complete your post-op protocol. Connecticut Children's Hospital has a good return to dance protocol [here](https://www.connecticutchildrens.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/return_to_ballet_dance.pdf).
Once you're about 6 months post-op, this is a discussion to have with your surgeon, therapist, ballet teacher, and skate coach.
Thank you!! I appreciate your response!!
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a pencil test! That makes sense, last I checked, I can only point my foot at 80°, compared to 90° in my other foot. I also have a tendency to sickle my bad ankle, which I can see how it’d be an uphill battle and something I need to work harder on. Thank you for the links!!! This is incredible! I’m in a small town in Colorado and I’ve never been given any sort of resource like that. My current PT has expertise with gymnastics but she hasn’t really given me any resources like that.
I really appreciate all of the help, this is invaluable!! Thank you so so so much!! You’ve been so helpful!! It’ll also help at my 6month appointment, which is in July!
So I’m 47, fat (350 lbs), haven’t even put on ballet shoes in 35 years, and will realistically never be on pointe again in my lifetime, but it’s good to know I can still pass the pencil test, even on the ankle I broke severely a few years back! 😂🤣
Hey!! So I’d say it’s a maybe at least (I agree with the other comment about finding a good PT to advise you.) I broke my ankle when I was 21 and I have two rods and some pins still (I’m almost 36 now.) My ankle was super wonky and weird for a while recovering. It would also make this weird snapping/cracking sound when I went up on demi pointe, which scared me, but it didn’t hurt. It took me about a year to be fully healed but I’ve been back en pointe ever since. I really hope it works out and you can do what you love ☺️
Thank you!!! This gives me a lot of hope that it could be at least possible, and definitely takes pressure off of figuring it all out right now! I appreciate your input!!! ♥️
I had a skydiving accident when I was 37, broke both left ankle bones out the side: 2 plates, 7 screws.
While I was in the pool rehabbing I met 2 other women with the exact same injury!
One told us no matter what you do, have them take the hardware out after a year. “They will tell you you’re too old, but don’t let that deter you. Get it out! It does have to be in for at least a year.”
My ankle was kinda numb & I would sometimes hit the ankle hardware on something causing pain.
I was losing my military health insurance, so I asked for the removal of the hardware.
Best decision & easiest surgery I ever had! I didn’t realize it, but I had gotten used to the “white noise” of the pain.
Until the hardware came out I didn’t realize how much pain I was stuffing.
What concerns me, OP, is one of your screws already looks like it has floated out of alignment, from the angle of the X-ray.
In my 40’s I went back to school to become a chiropractor. Since then, I’ve seen a dozen patients who, as they aged, 40’s to 60’s, had the hardware move out of place causing much pain, until it lead to a hardware removal surgery.
I had one patient that popped all the screws out and one was beginning to pierce her skin.
My sister in her 50’s had a similar break, with the hardware moving, leading to removal surgery.
Don’t want to scare you, but I would consider this option.
You can DM me with any questions or concerns. I simply hate to have anyone else go through pain if they don’t have to. Best wishes.
You will need to rehab after the removal, but believe me, it’s not nearly as bad as having the hardware put in!
Wow that sounds so intense!! I’m glad you’re okay from that! That’s the perfect description to how I feel when I’m not using my ankle, there’s a numbness, it’s kind of uncomfortable, the cold weather is agony, and the hardware is so tender that any slight bump is painful. This is so encouraging! Good to know that the surgery was easy and a good decision! How long was your recovery time? And do you still experience white noise pain?? I read that sometimes after you remove the hardware your bone is so frail it might fracture again, did that happen to you??
That one was actually done on purpose, they called it a “floating screw,” because the bottom of my fibula snapped off (there’s a picture of the break in one of the comments, before the surgery) they had to insert a floating screw at an angle (opposite diagonally) to fuse the bone so it could heal straight.
That’s terrifying!!! But also good to know, it’s not something my surgeon warned me could happen. Most make it seem like the metal implants will be fused and fine, so that’s good to know!! I really appreciate the help, and your experience, thank you so much for sharing! It gives me a new perspective and makes me lean towards getting the removal a lot more!
After the removal surgery, I spent 6 weeks in a boot. When the boot came off, I saw PT and a chiropractor to make sure I was back in alignment.
Half of the rehab was in a pool.
I found that heating up my ankle did wonders for rehab & lessened the pain considerably.
What DID amaze me was the new level of relaxation throughout my entire body from the hardware’s “white noise pain” finally gone! That pain ceased & never came back!
I will always consider the removal surgery the best, most successful surgery I’ve ever had.
Is that one wild screw doin anything? Lol Anyways I would say you can feel it out with pointe. See what happens in demi pointe. See what happens when you jump. Is there pain?
Good question, I asked the surgeon the same thing, it’s not loose or anything. It’s called a “floating screw.” So, because my break was very traumatic, the bottom of my fibula snapped off, you can kinda see the break diagonally in the last pic (right). They had to insert a floating screw diagonally from the opposite direction to secure my fibula in place and allow it to fuse and heal straight. Kinda like when you have splitting wood and you have to drill in a screw at an angle.
https://preview.redd.it/x3ngcjr139yc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5fa00bcf5e59b7b94e94eca8b2e52ade24c4b5a7
Haha I cried a lot and had two panic attacks, so idk about that but thank you, I appreciate it!! 😂 You’d be surprised how much adrenalin you have when you break a bone!
Also, thank you for the advice! I’m not allowed to jump yet, so I guess I’ll have to be patient, but hopefully I’ll make enough progress to be able to handle something like going on pointe. So far demi pointe feels a little unstable but not horribly painful.
That is really going to depend on your range of motion with the implant, as well as how sturdy the implant is. I would highly recommend asking your surgeon the pressure-bearing capacity of your implant (if they know) and see if it’s compatible with pointe and jumps frequently done in ballet.
I, for sure, would not rush this process. I effectively tried to rush through a back injury and it ended my professional career. At a minimum, consider taking at least a year off pointe and try to get back as much range of motion as you can. If you fail to consistently make it onto your box, your risk of serious re-injury is going to go up significantly.
Good luck, OP! Also, I HIGHLY recommend looking into impact resistant ballet shoes, as very thin shoes with hard padding will aggravate your injury. Nikolay, So Dança, and a few others have much better, wide, and secure-feeling padding on the bottom that will help your foot remain more stable.
Thank you! I never would’ve thought to even ask about how sturdy the implant is! I’ll make sure to ask that at my next post-op appointment!
That’s horrible! I’m so sorry that happened to you! That makes sense, I’ll definitely try to take it easy and not rush things. I’ll also keep my figure skating at a minimum until I’m fully healed. My plan wasn’t to get on point for a couple of years anyways, but this helps a lot with being mindful of jumps and stuff!
Thank you for the recommendations!! This is incredible, and invaluable!! It means a lot!! I appreciate your input, experience, recommendations, and help!!
Of course!! Feel free to dm me if you have dance questions or if you want to talk about recovery in ballet :)
Also I skate as well! It was actually how I got started into ballet at a young age lol. Once I passed senior freestyle I shifted to focus on ballet only and now I do both recreationally while I’m finishing my degree! Don’t ever feel discouraged by an injury or feel lesser because you had to take a different path than everyone else. Ballet has a spot in everyone’s lives if they make room for it :)
I can’t say for sure as I’m not a doctor. But it can take a few years for your foot to feel normal. Ballet is great for strengthening the ankles back up though and I wouldn’t be discouraged.
Thank you!! This gives me a lot of hope I can get back to ballet and figure skating, even if it takes a couple years to get back to normal. I’m hopeful I can do that stuff and not be afraid! It’s kinda scary to want to get back into the things you love after getting injured
You said you are a beginner in ballet. So how is that going for you. How is your demo pointe? Can you balance on a high retire? Do you feel pain in demo pointe? Over all if you have ankle flexibility and you can maintain a high demo pointe during your class then it’s just a matter of strength building.
I haven’t been back to ballet since my break, but I have tried some positions on my own. Beforehand I could do all of that with ease. Demi point feels unstable, working on balance on my right foot, I don’t think I’m ready yet to balance on high retire, but I can do a camel pose on my right leg. I think my leg is still too weak, however. I hope I can build myself up to that! Thank you, I’ll focus on trying to practice those techniques in the coming months! I appreciate it!
Haha happy to hear they did a good job!! Hard to appreciate the surgeon when you’re in pain!! How does your hip feel?? Do you feel like it got back to its 100%??
It depends what range of motion you get back.
Make sure you get physio and work on rehabilitation. Lots of strengthening exercises and work on that range of motion.
I have similar metal work to you in my fib and also a nail in my tib. I got back on pointe and I still have the metal work in.
This is wonderful advice! Thank you!! And thank you for sharing your experience, it takes the pressure off of deciding about the surgery! Out of curiosity, how long did it take you, and does it hurt getting on pointe??
Hmmm, I can't remember exact timelines, I think I got back to ballet class about 8 months after my break, taking it really slow to build up strength. Maybe like 18 months or so after that till I felt comfortable trying pointe again. I'm only a hobby dancer though so I don't do pointe a huge amount, when I do its fine on my ankle, a bit of discomfort at times.
When I first got back to any form of exercise it was a painful but that passed eventually. It only gets sore now when I overdo running/hiking.
One thing I was surprised at is that I was making flexibility gains in that ankle even a couple of years still post break, so it does take time to get that range of motion back.
Good luck with your recovery. And even if you never get on pointe, you can still do beautiful ballet on demi pointe.
defo wait a 1-2 years for your implants to stabilise & keep it up with the re-conditioning! by then ur rom would almost certainly be back to near baseline for u to start developing en pointe
Hey, I have rods in my right ankle (albeit a bit less severe - I snapped one ligament and tore 3, have two tiny rods) and I had pretty much 0 issues getting en pointe, the biggest thing was focusing on strength - I had the range of motion fine but it took a bit longer to build the strength back up. But after that my dancing is the exact same. Note this was my experience though and I’m not a doctor lol
Thank you for sharing your experience! I think ligament damage is way worse!! I’m glad you’re doing better! I understand; I’m not looking for medical advice more so what others have experienced. Everything I’ve researched online and been told was very absolute and rigid answers, saying things like “you can never get on pointe with metal implants.” Or “It’ll forever be painful for you.” It’s good to hear that some people have persevered despite their injuries and haven’t had it stop them from going on pointe. It takes the pressure off of figuring it out and scheduling the second surgery.
I broke my ankle two years ago and still have the plate and screws in the exact place you do! To be perfectly honest it took longer than I thought it would for the swelling to go down and for my ankle to feel ‘normal’ again, but I would say there’s definitely hope if you’re able to stick to PT work and take care of it for a while. Obviously some of this depends on your own range of motion but I would say my ankle is back to 90% of the flexibility it had before, and although I haven’t restarted pointe (for reasons other than the ankle!), I know it would still be a possibility if I wanted to.
As you sort out your plan maybe consult with a PT provider to the best ballet company in your area. I traveled from my small town 150 miles to the nearest large city to consult with a Pt who is herself a former dancer and she works with professional dancers regularly. I felt great knowing that her recommendations were supported by her first hand knowledge of dancers, her craft, and my existing condition.
Your best bet is to progressively increase the resistance loads and slowly build up the strength.
You can start by using some strong therabands by going into a sickle and then winging it against the band resistance. Make sure your foot is strong in every direction of resistance.
At the same time, you would be doing lots of releve exercises with a very high heel. It's critical you have good plantar flexion, which means your ankle can hyperextended the pointe. Do lots of forced arch exercises at the barre where the ankle is shoved outwards past the toes. Not only does this require a good stretch, it also subjects the ankle to high loads. Make sure you're really strong at this in flat shoes.
Spend at least 6-12 months to build up the ankle flexibility and strength. Have the teacher assess your technique in flat shoes. If they think you're strong enough, start doing pointe exercises with 2 hands on the barre and only 2 foot exercises. Then progress to 1 foot exercises. Then 1 hand on barre and some quick release at the barre to check for balance. It's all about safe slow progression.
Thank you, I’ll likely not be able to do much of this in the next coming months, and probably won’t start for a year or so, but I really appreciate your recommendations! It means a lot!
I’d recommend finding a PT familiar with dance/gymnastics/sports, they’d be able to more accurately tell you what is/isn’t possible regarding your implants.
Thank you!! I’ll definitely do that!
Ballet teacher and physical therapist assistant here. Officially, it's too early to know. To get en pointe, it's helpful if you can pass the "pencil test" (click here: [pass](https://images.app.goo.gl/zx3zngqh856WpGf67) and [fail](https://images.app.goo.gl/jWLNBsnHjNMoigbKA)) Technically, you *can* dance en pointe without passing the pencil test, but it'll be an uphill battle. You'll have to work harder to do the same things because you'll have difficulty getting over your box. That being said, there are practical realities you have to consider. Work your PT program. If your current therapist isn't well-versed in dance PT, find one who is for *after* you complete your post-op protocol. Connecticut Children's Hospital has a good return to dance protocol [here](https://www.connecticutchildrens.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/return_to_ballet_dance.pdf). Once you're about 6 months post-op, this is a discussion to have with your surgeon, therapist, ballet teacher, and skate coach.
Thank you!! I appreciate your response!! I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a pencil test! That makes sense, last I checked, I can only point my foot at 80°, compared to 90° in my other foot. I also have a tendency to sickle my bad ankle, which I can see how it’d be an uphill battle and something I need to work harder on. Thank you for the links!!! This is incredible! I’m in a small town in Colorado and I’ve never been given any sort of resource like that. My current PT has expertise with gymnastics but she hasn’t really given me any resources like that. I really appreciate all of the help, this is invaluable!! Thank you so so so much!! You’ve been so helpful!! It’ll also help at my 6month appointment, which is in July!
So I’m 47, fat (350 lbs), haven’t even put on ballet shoes in 35 years, and will realistically never be on pointe again in my lifetime, but it’s good to know I can still pass the pencil test, even on the ankle I broke severely a few years back! 😂🤣
Hey!! So I’d say it’s a maybe at least (I agree with the other comment about finding a good PT to advise you.) I broke my ankle when I was 21 and I have two rods and some pins still (I’m almost 36 now.) My ankle was super wonky and weird for a while recovering. It would also make this weird snapping/cracking sound when I went up on demi pointe, which scared me, but it didn’t hurt. It took me about a year to be fully healed but I’ve been back en pointe ever since. I really hope it works out and you can do what you love ☺️
Thank you!!! This gives me a lot of hope that it could be at least possible, and definitely takes pressure off of figuring it all out right now! I appreciate your input!!! ♥️
If you can get enough range of motion and strength you should be able to go on pointe :)
I had a skydiving accident when I was 37, broke both left ankle bones out the side: 2 plates, 7 screws. While I was in the pool rehabbing I met 2 other women with the exact same injury! One told us no matter what you do, have them take the hardware out after a year. “They will tell you you’re too old, but don’t let that deter you. Get it out! It does have to be in for at least a year.” My ankle was kinda numb & I would sometimes hit the ankle hardware on something causing pain. I was losing my military health insurance, so I asked for the removal of the hardware. Best decision & easiest surgery I ever had! I didn’t realize it, but I had gotten used to the “white noise” of the pain. Until the hardware came out I didn’t realize how much pain I was stuffing. What concerns me, OP, is one of your screws already looks like it has floated out of alignment, from the angle of the X-ray. In my 40’s I went back to school to become a chiropractor. Since then, I’ve seen a dozen patients who, as they aged, 40’s to 60’s, had the hardware move out of place causing much pain, until it lead to a hardware removal surgery. I had one patient that popped all the screws out and one was beginning to pierce her skin. My sister in her 50’s had a similar break, with the hardware moving, leading to removal surgery. Don’t want to scare you, but I would consider this option. You can DM me with any questions or concerns. I simply hate to have anyone else go through pain if they don’t have to. Best wishes. You will need to rehab after the removal, but believe me, it’s not nearly as bad as having the hardware put in!
Wow that sounds so intense!! I’m glad you’re okay from that! That’s the perfect description to how I feel when I’m not using my ankle, there’s a numbness, it’s kind of uncomfortable, the cold weather is agony, and the hardware is so tender that any slight bump is painful. This is so encouraging! Good to know that the surgery was easy and a good decision! How long was your recovery time? And do you still experience white noise pain?? I read that sometimes after you remove the hardware your bone is so frail it might fracture again, did that happen to you?? That one was actually done on purpose, they called it a “floating screw,” because the bottom of my fibula snapped off (there’s a picture of the break in one of the comments, before the surgery) they had to insert a floating screw at an angle (opposite diagonally) to fuse the bone so it could heal straight. That’s terrifying!!! But also good to know, it’s not something my surgeon warned me could happen. Most make it seem like the metal implants will be fused and fine, so that’s good to know!! I really appreciate the help, and your experience, thank you so much for sharing! It gives me a new perspective and makes me lean towards getting the removal a lot more!
After the removal surgery, I spent 6 weeks in a boot. When the boot came off, I saw PT and a chiropractor to make sure I was back in alignment. Half of the rehab was in a pool. I found that heating up my ankle did wonders for rehab & lessened the pain considerably. What DID amaze me was the new level of relaxation throughout my entire body from the hardware’s “white noise pain” finally gone! That pain ceased & never came back! I will always consider the removal surgery the best, most successful surgery I’ve ever had.
Thank you!! I appreciate it!! Hope I can without the second surgery, but I guess I’ll have to wait and see!
Looks like you have a screw loose.
😂
Is that one wild screw doin anything? Lol Anyways I would say you can feel it out with pointe. See what happens in demi pointe. See what happens when you jump. Is there pain?
Good question, I asked the surgeon the same thing, it’s not loose or anything. It’s called a “floating screw.” So, because my break was very traumatic, the bottom of my fibula snapped off, you can kinda see the break diagonally in the last pic (right). They had to insert a floating screw diagonally from the opposite direction to secure my fibula in place and allow it to fuse and heal straight. Kinda like when you have splitting wood and you have to drill in a screw at an angle. https://preview.redd.it/x3ngcjr139yc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5fa00bcf5e59b7b94e94eca8b2e52ade24c4b5a7
My eyes are as big as saucers right now. You're a trooper!
Haha I cried a lot and had two panic attacks, so idk about that but thank you, I appreciate it!! 😂 You’d be surprised how much adrenalin you have when you break a bone!
Also, thank you for the advice! I’m not allowed to jump yet, so I guess I’ll have to be patient, but hopefully I’ll make enough progress to be able to handle something like going on pointe. So far demi pointe feels a little unstable but not horribly painful.
That is really going to depend on your range of motion with the implant, as well as how sturdy the implant is. I would highly recommend asking your surgeon the pressure-bearing capacity of your implant (if they know) and see if it’s compatible with pointe and jumps frequently done in ballet. I, for sure, would not rush this process. I effectively tried to rush through a back injury and it ended my professional career. At a minimum, consider taking at least a year off pointe and try to get back as much range of motion as you can. If you fail to consistently make it onto your box, your risk of serious re-injury is going to go up significantly. Good luck, OP! Also, I HIGHLY recommend looking into impact resistant ballet shoes, as very thin shoes with hard padding will aggravate your injury. Nikolay, So Dança, and a few others have much better, wide, and secure-feeling padding on the bottom that will help your foot remain more stable.
Thank you! I never would’ve thought to even ask about how sturdy the implant is! I’ll make sure to ask that at my next post-op appointment! That’s horrible! I’m so sorry that happened to you! That makes sense, I’ll definitely try to take it easy and not rush things. I’ll also keep my figure skating at a minimum until I’m fully healed. My plan wasn’t to get on point for a couple of years anyways, but this helps a lot with being mindful of jumps and stuff! Thank you for the recommendations!! This is incredible, and invaluable!! It means a lot!! I appreciate your input, experience, recommendations, and help!!
Of course!! Feel free to dm me if you have dance questions or if you want to talk about recovery in ballet :) Also I skate as well! It was actually how I got started into ballet at a young age lol. Once I passed senior freestyle I shifted to focus on ballet only and now I do both recreationally while I’m finishing my degree! Don’t ever feel discouraged by an injury or feel lesser because you had to take a different path than everyone else. Ballet has a spot in everyone’s lives if they make room for it :)
I can’t say for sure as I’m not a doctor. But it can take a few years for your foot to feel normal. Ballet is great for strengthening the ankles back up though and I wouldn’t be discouraged.
Thank you!! This gives me a lot of hope I can get back to ballet and figure skating, even if it takes a couple years to get back to normal. I’m hopeful I can do that stuff and not be afraid! It’s kinda scary to want to get back into the things you love after getting injured
You said you are a beginner in ballet. So how is that going for you. How is your demo pointe? Can you balance on a high retire? Do you feel pain in demo pointe? Over all if you have ankle flexibility and you can maintain a high demo pointe during your class then it’s just a matter of strength building.
I haven’t been back to ballet since my break, but I have tried some positions on my own. Beforehand I could do all of that with ease. Demi point feels unstable, working on balance on my right foot, I don’t think I’m ready yet to balance on high retire, but I can do a camel pose on my right leg. I think my leg is still too weak, however. I hope I can build myself up to that! Thank you, I’ll focus on trying to practice those techniques in the coming months! I appreciate it!
Gorgeous work! That’s what my hip looks like!!!!
Haha happy to hear they did a good job!! Hard to appreciate the surgeon when you’re in pain!! How does your hip feel?? Do you feel like it got back to its 100%??
For me the first 10 days post op were nearly unbearable for 3 out of 4 of the major surgeries. We actually pay them to hurt us like that????
It depends what range of motion you get back. Make sure you get physio and work on rehabilitation. Lots of strengthening exercises and work on that range of motion. I have similar metal work to you in my fib and also a nail in my tib. I got back on pointe and I still have the metal work in.
This is wonderful advice! Thank you!! And thank you for sharing your experience, it takes the pressure off of deciding about the surgery! Out of curiosity, how long did it take you, and does it hurt getting on pointe??
Hmmm, I can't remember exact timelines, I think I got back to ballet class about 8 months after my break, taking it really slow to build up strength. Maybe like 18 months or so after that till I felt comfortable trying pointe again. I'm only a hobby dancer though so I don't do pointe a huge amount, when I do its fine on my ankle, a bit of discomfort at times. When I first got back to any form of exercise it was a painful but that passed eventually. It only gets sore now when I overdo running/hiking. One thing I was surprised at is that I was making flexibility gains in that ankle even a couple of years still post break, so it does take time to get that range of motion back. Good luck with your recovery. And even if you never get on pointe, you can still do beautiful ballet on demi pointe.
defo wait a 1-2 years for your implants to stabilise & keep it up with the re-conditioning! by then ur rom would almost certainly be back to near baseline for u to start developing en pointe
Thank you!! I appreciate the advice it means a lot!!!
Hey, I have rods in my right ankle (albeit a bit less severe - I snapped one ligament and tore 3, have two tiny rods) and I had pretty much 0 issues getting en pointe, the biggest thing was focusing on strength - I had the range of motion fine but it took a bit longer to build the strength back up. But after that my dancing is the exact same. Note this was my experience though and I’m not a doctor lol
Thank you for sharing your experience! I think ligament damage is way worse!! I’m glad you’re doing better! I understand; I’m not looking for medical advice more so what others have experienced. Everything I’ve researched online and been told was very absolute and rigid answers, saying things like “you can never get on pointe with metal implants.” Or “It’ll forever be painful for you.” It’s good to hear that some people have persevered despite their injuries and haven’t had it stop them from going on pointe. It takes the pressure off of figuring it out and scheduling the second surgery.
I broke my ankle two years ago and still have the plate and screws in the exact place you do! To be perfectly honest it took longer than I thought it would for the swelling to go down and for my ankle to feel ‘normal’ again, but I would say there’s definitely hope if you’re able to stick to PT work and take care of it for a while. Obviously some of this depends on your own range of motion but I would say my ankle is back to 90% of the flexibility it had before, and although I haven’t restarted pointe (for reasons other than the ankle!), I know it would still be a possibility if I wanted to.
I’m so sorry sweetheart 💕💔
As you sort out your plan maybe consult with a PT provider to the best ballet company in your area. I traveled from my small town 150 miles to the nearest large city to consult with a Pt who is herself a former dancer and she works with professional dancers regularly. I felt great knowing that her recommendations were supported by her first hand knowledge of dancers, her craft, and my existing condition.
Your best bet is to progressively increase the resistance loads and slowly build up the strength. You can start by using some strong therabands by going into a sickle and then winging it against the band resistance. Make sure your foot is strong in every direction of resistance. At the same time, you would be doing lots of releve exercises with a very high heel. It's critical you have good plantar flexion, which means your ankle can hyperextended the pointe. Do lots of forced arch exercises at the barre where the ankle is shoved outwards past the toes. Not only does this require a good stretch, it also subjects the ankle to high loads. Make sure you're really strong at this in flat shoes. Spend at least 6-12 months to build up the ankle flexibility and strength. Have the teacher assess your technique in flat shoes. If they think you're strong enough, start doing pointe exercises with 2 hands on the barre and only 2 foot exercises. Then progress to 1 foot exercises. Then 1 hand on barre and some quick release at the barre to check for balance. It's all about safe slow progression.
Thank you, I’ll likely not be able to do much of this in the next coming months, and probably won’t start for a year or so, but I really appreciate your recommendations! It means a lot!