Sprained ankles, sore feet, pulled muscles. Dance injuries are, unfortunately, going to happen. While some minor bumps and bruises can be resolved at home with rest, ice, compression and elevation, other more serious aches or pains may warrant a trip to a doctor. But can your primary care doc help or do you need a […]
For an aspiring professional dancer, an unexpected injury can feel like a death sentence to a career that hasn’t even started. The recovery process following an injury can be one of the most grueling and heartbreaking experiences a performer will ever face. In times like these, dance teachers have the power to boost or weaken […]
In the lead-up to competition season, “Again! From the top!!” can be overheard in studios across the nation. As students rehearse their routines ad nauseam in the final push to get ready, longer hours can sometimes mean that warm-ups get lost and increased repetition can create overuse injuries. Plus the extreme tricks and greater demands […]
It’s news that Dr. David Weiss doesn’t like to give. Sometimes dancers see him thinking they have shinsplints, when they actually have a stress fracture, a more serious injury that requires a longer recovery. “When dancers come in with stress fractures, I see a lot of denial,” says the NYU Langone Medical Center orthopedist. “They […]
Like any dance teacher, Christopher Busbin witnesses his students’ popping joints and often experiences his own. “My shoulders were always cracking, and I thought it was from torn rotator cuffs,” he says. Busbin, who teaches at Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Birmingham, Alabama, saw a massage therapist, who discovered that the stress in his joints […]
Is chiropractic a long-term solution or just a quick fix? When Richmond Ballet dancer Cecile Tuzii was a student, she repeatedly injured the same ankle and couldn’t find a solution. A friend suggested she see a chiropractor, who discovered that her lower back and sacrum were misaligned, putting stress on her ankle joints. After regular […]
A study shows dance-related injuries in kids and teens increased a whopping 37% between 1991 and 2007. Most injuries were caused by falls or sprains/strains. Researchers theorize the spike is due to young dancers logging longer hours in the studio and advancing more quickly. We want our dancers to work hard and learn as much […]