Pain in Dancers: When to Act?

Dancing is a sport as much as it is artistic expression.  In my experience, dancers frequently assume they will be injured some time during their dance careers and therefore don't always pay close attention to pain that they feel when they dance.  Remember that pain is your body's way of saying that something is not right.  Just like the sensation of hunger tells you your body needs food; or your heavy eyelids and yawning tell you that your body needs sleep, pain is your body's way of communicating that a body part may be getting too much strain.  Follow these guidelines to know when you should seek help.

• Your pain last longer than two weeks
• Your pain is greater than a 5/10 for less than two weeks
• Pain that you cannot make better with self care (rest, ice, compression, elevation)
• If you have a sense of instability with pain or without (i.e. your ankle keeps giving way and rolling)
• Pain that appears to be getting worse or more frequent (i.e. you used to only feel it when you dance, but now you are starting to feel it even walking around at home)
• Pain that prevents you from dancing or doing certain movements in dance

Remember that pain is a warning sign that your body may need attention.  You will be a stronger, happier, healthier dancer if you get your pain attended to quickly!  

Katy Gamelin, PT

Dancers - Six Ways to Prevent Injury

Dancers are prone to injury due to the intensity and difficulty of the activity.  Below are easy ways of preventing injury.

1. Eat good food.  Good nutrition is key both to keeping your body strong and healthy.  Think of food as fuel for your muscles as you would think of gas for a car. 

2. Drink lots of water.  Dehydration is a big risk for injury.  Our bodies are made up of 60% water!  It helps in food digestion, waste transport, helps us regulate our body temperature.  Without enough water it is easier for you to strain muscle

3. Engage in sufficient warm-up.  This is so important.  Dance is so difficult because one minute you are holding a difficult position for a prolonged period, the next you are leaping or turning quickly across the stage.  Dance uses every aspect of our muscles.  You need to warm up to get them prepared to do all the different activities that are required of you.  Younger dancers especially need sufficient warm up due to the quick growth of bone, and difficulty for muscle length to keep up!

4. Ensure good shoe fit.  It was brought to my attention in New York that so many dancers (even professionals) do not have proper shoe fit or try to over extend the life of their shoes.  Be realistic about how often you need shoes and make sure you get a proper fit.  If you have foot pain, consider the fit of your shoes as a possible source of problem.

5. Engage in gentle cross training. Choose cross training activities that are very different from your dance type.  Ballet dancers, focus on things that require your feet to be straight, get our of turn out (i.e. treadmill, bike, etc.); modern dancers, do something that requires good sneakers, get out of bare feet (treadmill, elliptical); Step dancers, tappers and flamenco dancers, choose an activity that restricts pounding (elliptical, swimming). 

6.  Practice good form in dance and outside of dance.  I can't stress this enough.  Form is everything.  Don't lose sight of the basics.  During warm up is a perfect time to check in on your form, especially at the barre.  When you are not dancing, remember that it will only make you weaker if you are not maintaining good posture. 

Katy Gamelin, PT