How Ignoring Your Injuries Can Get You Into Trouble As a Dancer
For dancers, ignoring an injury can cause serious long-term problems.
As a dancer, you work hard, often pushing past any hurdles to improve your routine.
Most of the time, a relentless commitment to dance is a good thing. After all, the best dancers are driven and motivated. But there is one situation where this unwavering determination could get you into trouble: if you’ve sustained an injury, or are experiencing pain.
Pain is not just a mere annoyance –it is an indicator that something is wrong. When you’re experiencing pain or even mild discomfort, it’s important to stop and address the problem before it becomes worse. Unfortunately, though, all too often dancers ignore the pain and push through it. But while it may be tempting to take ibuprofen and power through it, this is a bad idea, and will often do more harm than good.
If you’ve sustained an injury, it’s important to let it rest, and give your body a chance to heal. Here’s why ignoring your injury can get you into trouble.
Lengthen Your Recovery Time
Many overuse injuries, like sprains and strains can heal with a little bit of downtime, and RICE: rest, ice, compression, and elevation. When it comes to overuse injuries, the longer you wait to rest it –the longer the healing and recovery process will be. The longer you wait, the worse the injury will become and the longer you will be out waiting on your recovery. If your body is giving your ‘warning signs’ that you need to take a break, don’t dismiss them; take a break. Remember, you aren’t being put on bedrest, and you won’t be completely immobilized, just rest the part of your body that has been injured and don’t do any exercise that involves putting stress on the injury site.
Make the Injury Worse
When you ignore your body’s warning signs that it’s time to take a break, you run the risk of making the injury worse. For instance if you don’t treat a stress fracture and keep dancing and putting pressure on the injury site, you will most likely end up with a broken bone –a much more serious injury, and one that will take a lot longer to heal than a stress fracture.
Create Long-Term Problems
Failure to rest an injury can cause serious long-term problems. Even a simple injury such as an ankle sprain, if not rested and given a chance to heal properly can have additional long-term repercussions. If you don’t give your sprained ankle a chance to heal, you can suffer from a weak ankle –increasing the chance of additional sprains in the future. The last thing you’d want as a dancer is a chronic injury. So sit it out for a few classes, and wait for the damage to heal.
As a dancer, it’s important to listen to your body and heed the warning signs. Too many dancing careers have been cut short by injuries.
If you’re experiencing pain, don’t ignore it –take the time to assess the injury and take a break, giving your body a chance to heal itself. While stepping back and taking time off can be difficult, remember: taking a short break when you first sustain an injury can save you a lot of time in the long run.
Love dance? To find dance studios and instructors in your area, visit Dance Hub. Whether you’re an experienced dancer or new to the world of dance, Dance Hub is the place to find a program that’s perfect for you. Visit Dance Hub today to learn more.
Image: Peter Voerman
