Injury – the dreaded word.
Most dancers will suffer at least one injury at some point during their career. No one wants to be injured and have to take time off from training or performing. There are so many worries around this… How will I stay in shape? My technique will suffer. I might lose my flexibility. These are just a few of the thoughts that can plague us. But an injury doesn’t have to result in any significant setbacks. In fact, with careful planning and a good rehab strategy, you can come back stronger and better than ever.
Ouch!
First of all, if you think you have an injury, please please please talk to someone who can help. So many dancers are afraid to talk about a potential injury for fear of having to take time off. Or even worse, for fear of losing their job or their place in school/college/academy. The problem is, left untreated, that ache or pain you hope will go away may get worse. In most cases, prevention is better than cure. Seeking help before a recurrent pain progresses to a full-blown injury could prevent having to take time off. Of course, don’t try to ‘dance through’ a sudden injury! Stop and assess the situation. Pain is our body’s indication that something is wrong.
I’m worried I’ll lose my technique or get behind if I take time off
There’s no getting around the fact that some injuries require rest to heal properly. You must allow your body time to repair damaged tissue. However, this only needs to be what we call ‘relative rest’. You only need to rest the area of damage. You can keep training the whole rest of your body. A well-structured rehabilitation plan should help you maintain your overall strength and fitness whilst allowing your injury to heal. For example, if you have a knee injury, a good rehab plan should strengthen your whole leg, hips, glutes and core, rather than just strengthen the knee in isolation. If at all possible, try to find an activity to continue training your cardiovascular system, which will keep your overall fitness and strength up. Make sure you work with your therapist to find safe options that won’t inhibit your recovery.
Unless you were unlucky enough, for example, to get dropped from an aerial lift, most injuries happen gradually, as a result of imbalances in the body or poor technique. You can use your ‘relative rest’ time to strengthen any areas of weakness and address any technique issues. So, rather than getting behind, this injury time can actually help you prevent future injuries.
Relative rest time can also be a great opportunity to focus on other areas you want to improve. If long hours in the studio or other commitments in your life mean you haven’t previously been regularly doing any cardio training, this might be a great opportunity to start! Depending on your injury, you might be able to work on balance or upper body strength. If, for example, you have a foot injury and can’t weight bear, you could work on your hip strength and improving your extensions. Use the time to take stock of your current technique and work with your therapist and teachers to create a few goals to focus on.
Try to enjoy some rest time
Dancers are often keen to push themselves and keep training year-round. Many dancers go straight from classes during school term to multiple summer intensives. However, an injury could be a sign that your body needs some rest and recovery time. Training breaks down your muscles. It is during rest time (and sleep) that your body repairs the damage and builds strength. Improvements in strength and fitness are made after training, during rest time. If you do not have sufficient rest time, your body cannot effectively repair the damage created from training, eventually leading to injuries.
Most professional sports utilize what is called periodized training. This is a weekly, monthly or yearly schedule that rotates stages of intense training followed by rest time. In fact, most professional runners will take a few weeks a year completely off training. Dance is one of the few sports that doesn’t do this. Scheduled rest time allows your body time to completely repair from the damaged caused by intense training. This doesn’t have to mean doing nothing, but significantly decreasing your training load can actually help you improve your performance in the long run. For a very useful guide to periodisation in dance, check out this article.
This constant training ethos in the dance world can also lead to burn-out and emotional and psychological fatigue. You might start to feel unmotivated, bored with class or ‘fed-up’ with training. Maybe you start watching the clock during class or even looking for excuses to skip class. This emotional fatigue can impact other areas of your life, too, causing you to suffer from low moods or depression. You might get irritable with friends and family. When this happens, taking a complete break could be just what you need to recharge and renew your enthusiasm for dance.
Try to find ways to enjoy your recovery time. Perhaps you could focus on another hobby, or use the time to reconnect with friends or family you don’t get to see much. Enjoy putting your feet up and watching the latest box sets, reading a good book and getting some extra sleep. You could continue to connect with dance in other ways, such as studying dance history or exploring music or choreography. Remember, the vast majority of injuries are just temporary. Before you know it, you’ll be back on your feet and back to training!
Top tips
- Don’t ignore the warning signs. Pain is our body’s indication that something is not right. Seek help early on and you could prevent a full-blown injury.
- Get a proper diagnosis. In order to rehab appropriately, you need to get to the cause of the problem. Our bodies are amazing, complex structures, with various things that could be causing pain. Your knee pain, for example, could be a completely different cause from your friends.
- Get a well-structured, full body rehab plan. You need a plan that addresses both the injury itself and the factors that led to the injury. A good rehab plan should also help you to stay in shape and provide guidelines for safe relative rest.
- Focus on other areas of technique. Work on strengthening other areas of your body or improving other aspects of your technique.
- Avoid too much stretching. Many dancers are tempted to spend long hours stretching when they’re not in class. This can cause the muscles to weaken and lead to poor muscle firing, thus increasing your risk of further injury when you return to training. Flexibility training MUST be balanced with strength training. Talk to your therapist about how to safely and effectively include flexibility training in your rehab plan.
- Eat well. Your body needs proper nutrition to heal damaged structures. Avoid cutting calories, as this will significantly impair the healing process and prevent muscle strength gains.
- Don’t try to rush your recovery. Tissue repair and injury recovery take time. Pushing yourself and jumping back into intense training too soon can hinder your recovery, potentially cause re-injury, and leave you back at square one.
- Try to enjoy some time off. Rest, recharge, and get some extra sleep (super important for the healing process). With a good rehab plan, you’ll no doubt come back emotionally and physically stronger than ever!
If you are suffering from any redcurrant pains, or have a full-blown injury, you can contact me to find out how I can help. Otherwise, please contact another suitably qualified professional. The sooner you address the problem, the smoother the road to recovery will be!
Also, be sure to check out my post on Injury Prevention Strategies. Prevention is always better than a cure!
