This 50-year-old arts administrator/athletic trainer has been studying tango and ballroom dance for several years. She's had a few aches and pains over the years, none bad enough to stop her dancing. Two weeks ago, a large man stepped on her foot during her dance class. She noticed a lump at the spike spot on her foot. As it doesn't hurt, it's getting smaller, and it has not impeded her motion or ability to walk or dance, we decided to just watch it over the next several weeks.
She has a keen interest in feet. I talked to her about her various aches and pains. After we looked at her structure, checked her strength, ranges of motion and muscle flexibility, and looked at each problem, I was able to give her some advice. I was able to measure the maximum heel height her ballroom shoes should have which wouldn't challenge her bunion. As her tango shoes have to be higher, I advised her to buy tango shoes with the platform sole, to reduce the slope her bunion would be subjected to.
I also have a reliable way to measure a person's ideal every day shoe heel height, which happened to be the height of the shoes she wore to my office, and I also talked to her about a way to tape a recently-loosened and hammering toe, and what exercises to do to protect it, and what exercises not to do, to avoid making it looser. It was a gentle visit, but it was information-packed, and she was thrilled, and I really felt good about being able to answer her questions.