Causes for a Dancer’s Injuries
Throughout a dancer’s career, many will experience an injury. In dance, you deal with a lot of quick movements and you’re dancing on your feet the majority of the time. Dancing on your feet can cause injuries whether they are minor or intense. A dancer’s injury can affect their career by having the injury then have it wear off or it can affect them immensely in their career to the point where they aren't physically capable of dancing anymore.n injury can cause a dancer to either have it to then wear off or it can affect your whole dance career. Injuries can happen at anytime when while a dancer is in class, rehearsal, or even a performance. Dancer’s say most of the time that they do not know what they were what
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There are many muscles in the knee that a dancer uses for movement. One of the injuries that deals with the cartilage in the knee is Moviegoer's knee. Moviegoer’s knee is when the cartilage between the patella(kneecap) and the knee joint wears down . This condition can occur by poor body alignment or turnout. Another injury that deals with the knee is a Meniscus tear. A meniscus tear is when you over turn your knee which creates a tear. A meniscus is the cartilage between the thigh bone and the shin bone. To find out if you have torn your knee you would have to take an MRI test because it is the most accurate test to prove if you have gotten an injury.
On of the places a dancer can get injuries from dancing on their feet too much. One of these injuries is called Metatarsalgia. Metatarsalgia happens on the ball of the foot, this is caused if a dancer’s pointe shoe is too tight in the box, arthritis within the ball of the foot, or if the dancer is being really active on the ball of the foot. One of the ways to prevent and treat this injury is by getting new footwear so that way your foot can have some relief when walking, massaging the area, or taking anti inflammatory so that way the injury can decrease the
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Joint pain is caused by improper stretching, surrounding issues, or a stress fracture. Improper stretching is one of the three main issues a dancer can deal with because if you don’t stress before a class then a pull in the muscle can occur. Your surrounding can be an issue because if the floors have been waxed or you dance on wooden floors the it cause slippage and with slippage you can fall onto one of your joints for example your hip. A stress fracture is when there is a break in the bone and the pain would go from minor to intense pain.
Dancer’s don’t think about their surroundings as being an injury when it can be one of the most common causes to a dancer’s injury. If it’s too cold in the dance studio then it can lead to pulling a muscle because you haven’t warmed the muscle up for them to be stretched. If the studio is too warm then it can cause cramps within the muscle and muscle spasms. Another piece of your surroundings can be the floor. The floor of the studio is the base of a what a dancer dances on, if the floor has been waxed or the dancer has to dance on wooden floors then it can cause an injury because of
The most common knee injury in sports is damage to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) through tears or sprains. “They occur in high demand sports that involve planting and cutting, jumping with a poor landing, and stopping immediately or changing directions” (University of Colorado Hospital). The ACL is a ligament that runs diagonally in the middle of the knee and found at the front of the patellar bone. Its function involves controlling the back and forth motion of the knee, preventing the tibia from sliding out in front of the femur, and providing rational stability to the knee. Interestingly, women are more prone to ACL injuries than men. The occurrence is four to six times greater in female athletes.
Meniscal tears are a common sports injury, and can vary widely in severity and pain. Meniscal tears are very common among athletes playing contact sports, such as Football, Rugby, and Soccer or any sport that involves twisting of the knee. Meniscal tears are more common among men than woman. Meniscal injuries can occur at any age, but factors differ with age. In older people tears are degenerative and usually occur doing daily activities. In younger people the majority of meniscal tears occur primarily by cutting or twisting movements, hyperflexion, or
The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) attaches the femur, which is the thighbone, and the tibia, which is the shin, together (northstar). A torn ACL is one of the most excruciating experiences in an athlete’s life. It is the first thing that comes to mind when they hurt their knee on the field; for many it is their greatest fear. A torn ACL can sometimes mean the end of an athlete’s career. It can mean losing the chance to get that scholarship for young athletes, and it can also mean the end of those million dollar paychecks for those who have gone professional. A torn ACL can result in numerous surgeries, months of vigorous exercise and rehabilitation, and a sufficient amount of pain. It requires complete patience, for pushing too hard can result in further, more painful injury. Even after all that, an athlete is not guaranteed he or she will ever be able to play sports again.
I studied the graceful ballerinas that danced en pointe with ease. Although, holding my entire weight onto two toes is a task that requires stamina and dedication. My feet usually get used to the pain and pressure to some degree, but it doesn’t feels completely painless. There is always one blister constantly nagging me, or one cut that just slightly stings.
Dancers deal with pain or an injury differently than most people because they defy the principles of the human design and have the urge to prove themselves to the company that hires them. One would think that a profession like ballet, dancers would take care of their bodies (instrument for their profession) but with the demands of the director and choreographers, dancers must ignore what their bodies are telling them and go on with the show.
The most common way to tear the A.C.L is by violently twisting the knee. This can happen with or without contact. Most people say they hear “a pop“. It can occur when you‘re slowing down from running, planting and suddenly changing direction, or hyperextending the knee. “When this happens immediate pain results, the knee will fully swell, tenderness occurs around the knee, and the range of motion will be greatly affected.” ( Micheli, Dr. Lyle J. ) The first thing to do if an injury occurs is to use R.I.C.E., which stands for rest, ice, compression, and elevation.
Amanda was in her sophomore year of soccer season when she heard the pop of her knee that cut her season short. The next thing she knew she was at the doctor’s who told her she had an ACL tear, and wasn’t sure if she could play again. From there it was boiled down to two options. One to re-strengthen her knee through rehabilitation, physical therapy and bracing, or to undergo an ACL reconstruction surgery. Although it is costly and some may consider it frivolous, those who have encountered ACL tears should receive the reconstruction surgery instead of attending rehabilitation for the damage to their knee, because it dramatically lessens the chances of meniscal injuries and osteoarthritis occurring later and allows the patient to return back to their sport or physical activity with better knee mobility and less pain in a timely manner.
The typical idea of a dancer is that they are tall, slender, full of energy, and lucky because they dance with all of the “stars”. Much of this is true, however, what many people do not think of are the many hardships that a dancer goes through in order to achieve their high status in the dance world. It takes much hard work and determination along with good direction to become a dancer. However, nothing good comes without a price. Dancers often times have many pressures put on them which can lead to physical and emotional damages. These damages occur through the pressures from the media, parents, teammates, and the stereotype that society has placed on dancers.
The majority of ACL injuries suffered during athletic participation are of the noncontact variety. Three main noncontact mechanisms have been identified planting and cutting, straight-knee landing and one-step stop landing with the knee hyperextended. Pivoting and sudden deceleration are also common mechanisms of noncontact ACL injury. Basketball, soccer, and volleyball consistently produce some of the highest ACL injury rates across various age groups. Other activities with a high rate of injury are gymnastics, martial arts, and running. In most sports, injuries occur more often in games than in practice. Many injuries have occurred during the first 30 minutes of play. One-reason physicians are seeing more ACL injuries in female patients that more women play sports, and they play more intensely. But as they continued to do more studies, they are finding that women's higher rate of ACL is probably due ...
The pain is from the swelling in your heel plates, which allows them to rub together creating the pain (”Sever’s Disease”). Some symptoms of Sever’s Disease can include: “swelling and redness in the heel, difficulty walking, discomfort or stiffness in the feet upon walking, discomfort when the heel is squeezed on both sides, an unusual walk, such as walking with a limp or on tiptoes to avoid putting pressure on the heel,” (“Sever’s Disease”). These symptoms will worsen after physical activity and will get better with rest. Not only is gymnastics a physical activity, but one that requires the constant landing of a heel, making gymnasts more prone to getting this
The meniscus is one of the most commonly injured structures in the knee. Meniscal injuries can occur in any age group, but causes are somewhat different for each age group. In younger people, the meniscus is fairly tough and rubbery, and tears usually occur as a result of a fairly forceful twisting injury. In the younger age group, meniscal tears are more likely to be caused by athletic activity (Sutton, 1999).
The sheer energy of a gymnast alone can be felt by audiences of all ages, but what the spectators lack the ability to feel is the pounding of the bodies that bear the impact of the athletes in action. Gymnastics consists of a mixture of acrobatic performances of four different events for females, and six different events for males (Gianoulis 1). Gymnastics is demanding in a multitude of ways, including: physically, emotionally and mentally. It requires countless hours of dedication. The concerns of most gymnasts are moving up to the next level, or getting a more advanced skill, while the concerns of the doctors, coaches, and parents revolve mostly around the athlete’s health, which is put at stake for the adored yet dangerous sport. Injuries are common among both male and female gymnast alike, but due to the fact a female gymnast’s career peaks at the same time of major growth and development, a female gymnast’s body as a whole is more likely to undergo lifelong changes or affects (Gianoulis 2). Among the injuries of the mind blowing athletes, the most common ones affect the ankles, feet, lower back, wrist, and hands of individuals (Prevention and Treatment 1). From sprains, to the breaks, the intriguing sport of gymnastics is physically demanding on a gymnast’s body.
Bedinghaus, Treva. "Dance Injuries - Treatment for Dance Injuries." About Dance - Learn to Dance - Dance Steps and Tips - Ballet and Jazz Dance. Web. 07 June 2010. http://dance.about.com/od/danceandyourhealth/ht/Injury_RICE.htm
To many, dance is only an art. In reality, dance is much more. It 's an art, a sport, a way to express one’s self, a way to exercise, a way to get feelings out. Since the beginning of time, humans have used different types of dance to express themselves. There are many advantages to dancing, however there are also some disadvantages. Dance is one of the most physically and cognitively demanding sports.
I know that while I dance my heart rate rises and I get exercise. Many of my dance teachers will tell us to keep the right form until we have muscle memory or until we don’t have to think about moving our muscles in a certain way. In one of my dance classes we had a day dedicated to our bodies, seeing what parts of the body are affected by dancing. I found that we use all of our bodies in dance, so it