Dance Injury:  Enough is Enough!

Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth, PT

You come to class early to warm up, stay late to cool down, stretch between barre exercises and take more than the requisite number of classes per week.  You feel yourself getting stronger, your technique improving and teachers really beginning to take notice.  All of a sudden out of nowhere, tragedy strikes:  you’re injured!  How could this have happened?  You ate, slept and lived for class and rehearsal and now you’re out of commission for who knows how long?  Sound all too familiar?  Going from a very active lifestyle to a more sedentary lifestyle because of an injury can be rough on you physically and mentally but there are some things that you can do for yourself to alleviate the discomfort:

Physical Therapy can help to speed up the body’s natural healing process by decreasing inflammation and swelling with modalities such as ultrasound,  iontophoresis, neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) and manual therapy techniques.  Specific exercises can be prescribed to maintain strength and range of motion.  Most clinicians will see you only with a doctors diagnosis.   Ask your doctor for a referral to see a PT.  Other types of body work include massage therapy, Reiki, craniosacral techniques, accupressure and visceral manipulation.  These specialized services may be administered  by a licensed massage therapist, chiropractor or PT.  Learn more about alternative and complimentary medicines at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/alternativemedicine.html  

Working through an injury is truly just that:  work.  It will take determination and persistence to fully recover.  Sometimes keeping a positive but realistic perspective will seem to be a harder achievement than the physical rehabilitation.  Thankfully, the best support group you can have to keep your spirits up are your fellow dancers who know exactly what you’re going through.  It may take you some time to get remotely close to 100% but just as with anything that’s worth it, it’s important to work through the process.  Having others around you who have been there will help to remind you that, yes, having an injury is not fun and yet with time, this too shall pass.