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Have you noticed that this is a pattern? For lots of people it is. Balance is a fairly delicate thing and responds to how we feel, if we are sick (or incubating an illness) and what our hormones are doing. That's especially true for women who have a much more distinct and graphic hormonal cycling. It's also true for knees.

Knees? Knees cycle?

How your body feels and responds has a great deal to do with hormones. It includes every part of your body: voice, mental acuity, mood, balance, how the joints work, muscle tension, hand writing, appetite, sleep, and so on.

During certain times in the hormone cycle the body takes on water and this affects the entire body, though we might only notice it in the number that comes up on the scale. Cells - joints - muscles - which have a bit more water than usual are not as efficient as they would be at other times. So, your knees might ache after lots of jumping at certain points of the cycle.

For women, there are a couple of different cycles during the month, not just one big up-down. Don't let yourself get all caught up in this, but it should remain at the back of your mind as you assess your body or if you are wondering how come pirouettes were so terrific yesterday and all shot to Hades today.

It's always a good idea when things don't go right, or you get frustrated or injured to try to find the cause if you can - without getting obsessed by it. For instance, if you are doing everything "right" in a pirouette and it comes out all helter-skelter - hormones and/or incipient illness just might be the reason.

And if you get injured try to find out the reason why, as well as getting healed up.

Is there always a reason why one gets injured?

Most of the time, yes. Maybe its overuse - too many brisés might make your knees ache. Or if you fall out of a jump you could check to see if the floor was slick, or your shoes incorrectly fitted (or splitting) but it could also be your preparation for the jump.

Sometimes it’s a series of things. A little slip, then another -the muscle is now a bit strained but not enough to worry about. Next day another slip, and then because the muscle is a bit stressed it doesn't hold you in a landing, so now the ankle caved a bit. One thing leads to another, each having a domino effect and we lose track of when and how it all started.

Did you ever experience this?

Yes, I did. I fell in the street on a slick curb and strained my ankle. Not taking my own advice, I continued to attend classes and rehearsals because I had a big performance coming up. And I made it through the performance. But, shortly after I noticed that occasionally when I’d relevé onto pointe, especially on one pointe of the initially hurt ankle, the entire foot would collapse - no pain - just collapse. I thought, well if it doesn't hurt - I'll just ignore it. Not a good idea. I realized it must be a pulled ligament because when I jumped up on that pointe there was no support - not all the time - just some of the time. No pain - so ignore it. Right? Wrong!

One day soon after I was doing a combination down the diagonal that ended in a petit jeté entournant. When I landed that foot just buckled over and I broke the fifth metatarsal (bone that connects the little toe to the foot). I spent the next six weeks in a cast. Fortunately that not only healed up the break, it also healed up the ligament. Had I paid attention as I should have to the initial symptom of the occasional - but painless - foot collapse, and had it attended to I probably would have had to keep the foot immobile only a couple of weeks instead of the pain and aggravation of six weeks in a cast.

The body always wins. If we ignore it, it just makes more noise until we pay attention.

One of the ways to check things out is to ask: "Why?"

Suppose you ask "why" but you get no answer?

If you are wondering about the cause of a particular problem like hurting knees or aching Achilles tendon, or sore back, or sore ankle, it would be wise to check your technique. Talk to your teacher, tell her what's hurting - ask her to check you as you work. Hurting knees could be insufficient plié or hard floor, aching Achilles tendon could be your shoes, insufficient time spent warming up; a sore back might be caused by pushing back into your arabesque; a sore ankle could be rolling in (or out) on your feet. So, talking to your teacher is a good place to start.

Lots of things to check up on.

Yep. Check the equipment around you (floor/shoes). Check your personal equipment (body-hormones-illness-aches-injuries). Check your technique. It might not be how you are performing a step- but how you prepare for it that could make a difference.

Maintaining a car is a lot simpler.

It is. It's replaceable, too.