This article explains essentially the most common injuries in dancers, what causes them, and the best way to treat and forestall them.
Despite the lofty nature of the dance and its spectacular movements, injuries are common amongst dancers. It’s not unusual for them to feel sore after long hours of rehearsalsthat require great effort and repetitive movements.
This is usually attributable to the dynamics of the job itself, but it might probably even be a high level of self-demand. The various kinds of dance include activities resembling jumping, spinning, tiptoeing, excessive arching of the back, stretching or spreading the legs. This can result in strain, inflammation, contractures, sprains, strains, wear and even fractures.
Common injuries in dancers are inclined to occur within the lower body resembling the waist, hips, knees and feet.
Causes of common injuries in dancers
within the dance making movements requires strength, flexibility, stamina, precision and coordination. Whether it is a solo, duet or group piece, long hours of rehearsal are required.
However, this causes muscle strain, wear and tear or pain. It can be not unusual for bad traffic to occur.
In this regard, tests shows that when dancers are uninterested in repetitive strain, joint mechanics are more likely to be affected. In that vein, the aspects most related to common injuries in dancers are as follows:
- Hitting or colliding with a partner or some element
- Unsuitable floors (uneven or very hard)
- Wrong move or forced move
- No rest or recovery
- Inadequate training
- No warm-up
The commonest injuries in dancers
The commonest injuries in dancers involve the lower limbs; nevertheless, this shouldn’t be exclusive as additionally they occur within the upper spine. Let’s take a have a look at what they’re.
1. Spondylolysis
They were related to sports practice and dance spondylolysis. It’s a rupture or fracture of the vertebra. This could also be attributable to a birthing problem, trauma, or the stress of repeated use.
2. Disc injury
According tests, prolapsed or herniated intervertebral discs are common injuries in dancers. It is attributable to repeated bending, twisting or lifting of the torso.
3. Tension and contractions
For individuals who dance when bending and stretching the back fairly often there are strains and cramps. It will also be attributable to an imbalance within the muscles between the back and abdomen.
4. Spondylolisthesis of the cross
In spondylolisthesis, there’s one vertebra that moves or shifts relative to the one below it. This can occur in lots of athletes.
The risk to dancers is usually highattributable to aspects resembling overexertion, poor biomechanics, barefoot or inappropriate footwear, and dealing on hard floors.
5. Press studs on the hips
Although it starts as an easy dry crack within the front of the hip, it becomes painful over time attributable to the strain within the iliotibial band. This condition involves the contraction of the tendon in front with the rotation of the hip.
6. Hip strike
As before, hit to the hip involves constant movementswhen the 2 parts of the joint (the acetabulum and the femoral head) collide, causing wear.
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7. Ciatalgia
This is an irritation of the sciatic nerve. For classical ballet it might be attributable to poor technique or overuse attributable to microtrauma attributable to jumps and falls.
8. Sore hamstrings
When lifting the leg to kick, the muscles of the back of the thigh are maximally stretched. Doing so may lead to injuryespecially in case you have not warmed up before.
9. Filament fracture
A fibril rupture is attributable to an elongation or sudden contraction of a muscle or by overuse. It it is not uncommon behind the thigh in dancers and athletes resembling tennis players, soccer players, and runners.
10. Bursitis by friction
Bursitis is inflammation of the bursa, the cushioning area that lies between bones and tendons or muscles. In dancing, the bursa of the patellar tendon could also be affected attributable to knee flexion and extension movements.
11. Inflammation of the patellar tendon
In addition to the above, one other common injury in dancers is inflammation (tendinitis) attributable to the buildup of sudden movements of the patellar tendon.
12. Patellofemoral syndrome or jumper’s knee
This might be attributable to a mixture of things, including muscle imbalances, tight hamstrings or calves, and weak quadriceps. This causes impact of falling on the kneecap while jumping. Pain is felt even when bending the knee and climbing stairs.
13. Meniscus tears
Dancers may feel tears within the cartilage of their knees. The meniscus might be damaged by jumping or twisting the knee with the complete weight of the resting body on this; including insufficient quadriceps musculature.
14. Bursitis or goose foot
It’s named goose foot when the bursa is between the tibia and the three tendons that connect the tailor, semitendinosus, and internal rectus muscles. Goose foot bursitis results from overuse of the knee and strained hamstrings.
Fig. 15. Fibular fracture of the calf
In a fibrous tear of the calf (more precisely, the back of the calf), there’s intense pain, with swelling and difficulty in plantar flexion or standing on tiptoe. It can affect each athletes and dancers with little training.
16. Compartment assembly
It’s a really painful condition attributable to increased pressure within the muscle compartment, in turn, attributable to internal bleeding or inflammation of the tissues. In the case of the tibia and peroneal muscles of dancers, this hypertrophy has its origin in overload and fatigue.
17. Inflammation of the Achilles tendon
As the name suggests, it’s tendonitis behind the ankleoften known as Achilles tendon. It is widely utilized in dance to put the foot on the toes.
18. Ankle sprain
In the event of a poor landing after a jump, lateral movement during a turn, or every other movement that pushes the joint out of its normal range of motion, the cube is inverted and might collapse. Ankle sprains are amongst essentially the most common injuries in dancers.
19. Ankle Hit
Ankle hit it occurs when a sprain shouldn’t be properly treated, although it might probably even be attributable to repeated inverting motion. In dance, positions that require standing on tiptoes are related to acute pain for an individual.
20. FHL tenosynovitis
This is called after the flexor hallucis longusi.e. the massive toe. This tendinopathy can be certainly one of the common injuries in dancers.
This is attributable to the excessive strain on the said tendon. It may cause a variety of stiffness often known as trigger finger.
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21. Crepititis
Despite the moderately strange name, sesamoiditis is probably the most common injuries in dancersa lot in order that it’s also often known as dancer’s finger. This is the results of the buildup of microtrauma during falls middle point.
22. Talalgia
It is an inflammation of the cartilage of the calcaneus. It is manifested by pain within the fat pad of the heel, i.e. the part that absorbs the impact when walking. It is more common in young people who find themselves just starting out.
23. Fracture of the fifth metatarsal
also called a dancer’s fracturethis present in the bone that connects the little toe with the metatarsal. The commonest causes of this injury in dancers are stress and overuse, especially when turning the ankle while standing on tiptoes.
24. Hallux valgus
Although this is taken into account more of a deformity than an injury, one of these lump is sort of common in dancers. This could also be attributable to the early start of coaching, without developed foot musculature and continually loading the identical point with weight.
Treating common injuries in dancers
For minor injuries immobilization, icing, analgesics, and keeping the foot elevated could also be sufficient. Moderate injuries would require an extended recovery period.
For more severe injuries, along with prolonged treatment and rest with complete immobilization, it is recommended to develop a program of rehabilitation treatments. Similarly, it’s advisable to not return to exercise immediately after recovery, but to accomplish that progressively.
Injury prevention in dancers
Some typical dancer injuries are inevitableresembling those related to random circumstances. However, those related to poor technique or fatigue are predictable.
Supplementary training
In some cases, the reason behind injury is the shortage of muscle strengthening. If you notice that you just lack strength when performing certain movements, it is best to work on weight-bearing exercises to develop your muscles.
Strengthen your core to enhance your stability
Another variety of exercise that could be very useful for dancers is those who must do with the core. According teststhis may also help maintain stability and avoid movements that will result in injury.
Wear bandages
There are joints which were injured or could also be vulnerable to injury. Prophylactic functional patches or other varieties of pads could also be used to partially reduce painful movement and reduce instability.
Warm-up
before practice, exercises and movements ought to be performed to assist warm up the muscles. This is a must-read for people attending vocational academies.
Flooring
The flexible floor reduces pressure on the ankle and knee joints. They also prevent the heel from hitting too hard during a fall.
Learn the right technique
In all movements, it is best to all the time make sure of the right form. Practicing in front of a mirror, observing and recording yourself avoiding a flawed move can mean stopping injuries.
Rest properly
It’s not only vital to get the correct variety of hours of sleep each night; This is it’s also vital to take a break from activitywhile avoiding overtraining. Cross-training and energetic rest not only help your muscles recuperate, but in addition allow you to focus your mind.
Be attentive to your body and its signals
Whether you are learning to bounce, practicing professionally, or simply dancing for fun, it’s an activity that brings great advantages. However, flawed movement or an excessive amount of movement can be harmful.
In some cases, it is feasible to forestall injuries. Pay attention when your body starts to warn you that something is flawed. If the pain you’re feeling after dancing or during activity subsides inside a brief time frame (not more than 24 hours), it might be nothing to fret about.
If it becomes continuous or recurrent, even when intermittent, it isn’t any longer normal. You may begin to suffer from an injury.
This means it is time to see your doctor and tell him how you’re feeling address the issue early. The sooner the higher.
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