Signs Of Injuries And Ways To Prevent Them.

As the weather is getting colder i always find that injuries within the dance industry occur more often. It was only when i was at Tring Park that i fully began to understand the importance of doing everything to prevent becoming injured. Once i found out and researched different things i should be doing i found that i become more aware of how the body works and ways in which i could help avoid injuries.

Prevention tips for dancers
1. Proper training and teaching are essential to allow dancers to develop their skills by taking risks in a safe environment with a good teacher at hand to offer suggestions. Don’t try and do a new lift without someone there to ‘spot’

2. Always leave enough time for rest, this time allows the body to heal itself from what a dancer has put it through during the day. (warm baths help!)

3. Eating and drinking enough of correct things will help maintain energy levels and help prevent fatigue (becoming tierd and weak) . It also help repair damaged tissues

4. The leg muscles need to be conditioned and strengthening. The muscles that help the arch in the foot also need to be rested and conditioned. Especially for people who do pointe work.

5. Try to avoid dancing on hard or uneven surfaces, which could cause injury.It is best to dance on a ‘sprung’ floor.

6. Take care of your shoes-if shoes are ill fitting it can cause the alignment of the foot to be incorrect and cause problems further up the body.

7. Dancers should try out new techniques and styles carefully as the body could not be used to a new style and could get injured easily. Remember to cool down after these new movements/techniques as the body will have been put under added pressure.

8. When the dancer is off stage it is best to wear supportive footwear, and if you need to wear specialised shoes/feet protection, wear them as often as possible.(Ugg boots are an example of bad footwear!)

9. If dancers perform excessive pointe or demi-pointe work one day, they should focus on other types of work during the next lesson.It is important to let the body recover. It will also help the dancer to improve.

10. Knowing the symptoms is important. Stop activity if pain or swelling occurs. If the pain persists after a few days rest, consult a sports-medicine physician, and remember R.I.C.E. ( rest, ice, compression, elevation.)

It was when i began to research dance and safe practice i realised the importance of the warm up and cool down.

Warming up for exercise, and why?

By warming up before exercise you increase blood flow to muscles and other soft tissues. This is extremely important especially to dancers as it helps avoid damage to ligaments, muscles and tendons, including sprains and strains –all common dance injuries.

A warm up should include cardiovascular exercises to increase your heart rate (jogging around the room) gradually and stretches to prepare muscles and increase flexibility. It is recommended that a warm up starts with approximately 5 to 10 minutes of a light cardiovascular activity - fast walking, slow jogging on the spot or skipping, (adding an upbeat songs allows the mind to become distracted and makes the time more enjoyable) However the amount of time spent on the warm up is different depending on the demands of the dance/ lesson and also the age of the performer. Also a dancer should spend more time on an injured part of their body, (when I had a back injury I always spent longer warming up my back).

A correct warm up should raise your body temperature and increase your heart rate and bring you out in a slight sweat.

Then stretches are usually done to prepare muscles in your body for things commonly done in a dance lesson (e.g. high leg extensions) Stretching should be a gentle movement. These movements should not cause pain.

Important reasons for doing a warm up.

  

• Increases body temperature. Warming up reduces the potential for muscle and connective injuries
• Increases blood flow to exercising muscles. The more blood that reaches the muscles, the easier the delivery of nutrients required for energy production
• Help promote sweating. Sweating reduces the amount of heat stored in the body. Your body spends more energy cooling itself than through any other activity.
• Enhances the speed of transmission of nerve impulses. Motor faculties improve greatly when you're warmed up.
• Increase supply of blood to the muscles, the more blood reaching the muscles, tendons and ligaments, the better the elasticity of these tissues. Which means better performance and reduced chance of injuries.
• Helps the heart and blood vessels adjust to the body's increased demands for blood and oxygen
• Release of adrenaline
• Increased heart rate
• Enables oxygen in the blood to travel with greater speed
• Increased production of synovial fluid located between the joints to reduce friction
• Allows joints to move more efficiently, essential for dancers to prevent injuries.
• Allows the dancer to become focused on the dance class/routine