What’s the distinction between an injury and the normal “wear and tear” of being a dancer? This can be a question that dancers and dance teachers face on a daily basis. We must consider the body’s messages always and make decisions either to rest or to keep going.
Seek the advice of a qualified medical practitioner if unsure. Err on the aspect of caution in case you have any question regarding the therapy of a potential injury. Dancers should be taught to believe the body’s messages. Nonetheless,
it takes time and expertise but it pays off.
Here are some pointers to help consider whether or not you might be dealing with an injury.
1. Pain that gets progressively worse during class, rehearsal, work out, etc.
2. Pain that comes after your class, rehearsal, or exercise and comes back the following day after less movement is done.
3. Pain that develops when executing some actions
4. No real sense of “Pain” but a particular restriction of movement.
The Best Way To Deal With An Injury
If the Injury is acute and you can pinpoint the occasion that triggered it (whether or not you fell out of a leap, your partner elbowed your ribcage, or you felt one thing snap) apply ice, cease moving, and get a doctor. If your injury is not considered acute, the following information applies to you.
The emotions on your injury when moving can inform you a lot. If going back to class helps the injury really feel somewhat better or much less sore, great. Respect your body’s limitations throughout class till you are feeling one hundred percent okay. If shifting causes irritation in the injury or makes it feel worse, get smart. Most injuries can be brief circuited within the early stages. Dancers, usually, have a high pain tolerance and have to be given permission to care for themselves either by taking off from class, sleeping, getting a massage, or by answering any other of the body’s requests.
Generally a dancer will start to feel chronic pain in either the muscle tissue or a joint. It's brought on by extreme tension and this stress is brought on by skeletal displacement (poor alignment). Because of this, the muscular tissues must work consistently to both move and help the dancer. Chronic pain within the joint is usually attributable to constant irritation caused by muscular pressure or a mechanical misalignment within the joints. One’s ability to move effectively and be “injury free” fully underlies on the said alignment.
Injuries especially related to dancing usually start in small ways. Most dancers with chronic accidents are not the ones who sprained their ankles while being lowered from a lift. Their complaints are less clear: “My arabesque isn't as excessive as it was”; “My hip is clicking when I lower from a front developpe’”; “My lower back is aching. I’m not sure when it began, however now I can’t do my port de bras backwards”. These are the more regular, chronic “overuse” injuries and to be respected before they grow to be more debilitating.
For instance, you're in a performance scenario that calls for a certain workload or in a demanding schedule that is hard to change, chronic injuries are tougher and frustrating to work with. This is the time to have an individualized guidance from a dance medicine specialist. Over time you will start to see patterns in how your body feels, and you can be better able to avoid chronic strains and injuries.
First of all, listen carefully and honestly to your body. If recurrent patterns of strain are noticed or if you happen to really feel the same type of pain in an area while doing several types of motion, write them down. Jot down which movements create a painful response. See if you'll find any similarities among the movements so as to determine a cause. Contemplate questions such as: Are you consistently getting injured through the performance season? Is the choreography you are dancing repeating the same or similar movements on one side of your body? Are you demonstrating the same side all the time when teaching? Let your instructor or another professional to watch you execute these actions to see if you're making a compensation that might cause pain. If pain free adjustment to the motion is just not accessible by yourself, see a dance medication specialist and bring your notes with you. Provide a whole picture to make the evaluation more beneficial. Don’t deny what the body is experiencing. The purpose is to learn how to evaluate and work with your own unique set of kinesthetic feedback. Your lecturers can provide guidance; however ultimately, it is the dancer who will create the required changes to dance effortlessly and gracefully, without creating pain or damaging the bodily structures of the body.
It's a challenge for dancers to admit that chronic problems can simply turn into acute ones. Generally, acute injuries are obvious ones. For example, if you rupture your Achilles tendon, you are not going to rise up off the ground and dance. Nevertheless, when you have Achilles tendonitis, you may still have the ability to dance (although most likely not at 100% capability). Furthermore, if you aren’t careful with your rehab, you run the chance of rupturing the tendon.
Acute injuries include tendon ruptures, dislocations (patella and shoulders generally), ligament sprains, and inflamed bursa. These develop from “overuse” injuries that have not been rehabilitated appropriately. For example, a stress fracture is considered an “overuse” injury because it may take a period of time to develop. Nevertheless, a stress fracture ought to be considered an acute injury that needs quick consideration once it has been diagnosed by a medical practitioner.
The bottom line is both the acute and “overuse” injuries are accidents and needs to be treated. Take note of the warning indicators of an injury to be able to avoid more critical repercussions of an acute injury. One of the simplest ways to avoid injuries is to get to know the body’s patterns and muscular imbalances after which addressing those imbalances.
