Dance Injuries: Knowing When to Stop
Today's blog definitely hits home for me a little bit. I am going to be talking about my personal experience with dance injuries and the importance of knowing when to stop.
Injuries often come at the worst possible time, whether it be right before a competition or performance or audition, they just do. Injuries are painful, something no one wants to deal with. At one point or another you will get injured and it won't be fun. Here is my personal story with a serious injury that nearly cost me a season of dancing or even worse, never dancing again.
When I was 13 years old I was playing tag with my friends outside of my middle school during a free period. I was running around, laughing, not realizing that there was a giant hole in the ground near me. I continued to run until I stepped in the whole and twisted my left ankle. I automatically fell to the ground and cried out in pain. My friends ran over to me and 2 of them helped me out while the others got my teacher. They helped me up and carried me to the nurse (I was about 4'10 and like 80 pounds so it was not a difficult task). She wrapped up my ankle and gave me ice. I went home and told my mom what happened and she said just to wrap it up and be careful and if in a week it still hurt then we would go to the doctor. A week went by and I did not dance and had it elevated and resting anytime I could. We went to the doctor and they said I had a grade 3 ankle sprain. I got put in a brace type thing and put on crutches for 2 weeks, no dancing for at least 3-4 weeks. Simple enough, right?
Wrong. 13 year old Julia decided not to listen to the doctor and after about 5 days of no weight baring and resting my ankle, I walked and even ran on my ankle. It felt better, why continue treatment? Well that was a bad idea. A few months later I was still dancing a lot and living an active lifestyle. My ankle began hurting constantly and it was forcing me to not be able to dance. After weeks of insisting I go back to the doctor my mom finally let me go. They told me the sprain never healed properly (surprise, surprise) and there was a possibility for ligament damage. I had X-Rays and MRIs done to determine there were not any tears (thank goodness), it was just the sprain flaring up because it never got the chance to properly heal. I was back on crutches for a week and given a tougher brace and no dance. I also went to physical therapy three times a week for 2 weeks. After that I eased back into dance and had little to no pain. I thought everything was back to normal.
Again, I was wrong. My ankle would sometimes have problems over the next few years, but it was never bad. I knew I had a weak ankle due to this so I had to do my PT exercises often and wore a brace whenever necessary. It never gave me many problems, that is until I reached my junior year of high school.
I am classified as a leaper/jumper since I have muscular legs and can jump very high. It's my favorite thing to do besides extensions. I have always had good leaps, especially second leaps (straddles, whatever you call them!). One day in class in August while we were learning a new dance my left ankle began bothering me again. I brushed it off, it hurt a lot, but nothing that I should actually worry about. It continued to bother me when I pushed off of it to leap, specifically second leaps (my favorite!) and my leaps began to look lopsided because of it. By October the pain became unbearable to the point where I could not dance. It was weird, though. I had never felt this pain before. This did not feel like the typical ankle sprain. Something was off.
I was right. In early November my mom took me to an orthopedic doctor to get treatment. She saw my ankle and knew something was wrong too. I was scared. What were they going to do to me? What if I could not dance? I had already been sitting out of dance wearing my ankle brace constantly the past 2 weeks but it had not helped. It did not take the doctor long to diagnose me with chronic Peroneal Tendinitis. This was basically the worst news to me. The cause of peroneal tendinitis is the repetitive overuse of the tendon, common in runners and dancers. It made sense to me, I could not push off of my left ankle at all without any pain. I constantly pushed off of that ankle and leg and turned on it too. They took X-Rays and MRIs to confirm, but it was pretty clear within the first 10 minutes what was wrong. They told me I had to be in a walking boot for at least 2 weeks to completely immobilize my ankle and clearly no dancing. They gave me pain meds as well to ease it. I also had to begin physical therapy with their office as soon as possible, this time 4 times a week for an indefinite number of weeks. I was so upset. I was about to get my driver's license and struggled to drive with a huge boot that went up to my knee. I'm already tiny, so this was no fun. After 2 weeks my ankle felt good, too good to be true. I went back to the doctor expecting good news and left crying. He said my ankle was doing too well and was worried that as soon as I stopped physical therapy and stopped wearing the boot things would go awry. I had to wear it for another 2 weeks, but my physical therapy sessions went down to 2 times a week. Hey, that was something!
The 2 weeks went by slower than molasses, but finally the day came. It was the beginning of December at this point and I was so over not being able to dance and being in a giant boot. We went back and he let me out of the boot! Finally! I still had to wear this big ankle brace and unfortunately, no dancing yet. I was allowed to begin marking my jumps and turns and doing other things full out the following week. Basically I began dancing full out in January after our Winter Break, 3 months later. It was a very rough transition and I had many, many setbacks. I went back to my doctor every month through the end of the year to track my progress. I was so mad at him at first for not letting me dance, but now I am grateful for him and making me wait. Two years later I am so happy that the process took a while because I am virtually as pain free as I can be and am dancing full out often!
The bad thing about any form of tendinitis is that it never goes away. You always have to deal with the pain coming back or having a weak ankle because of it. Physical therapy and rest helps immensely, but it cannot make it go away. Since then I have had days where I'm dancing all day and am constantly on my feet and it hurts a lot. I've learned to control it and accept that that's the way it's going to be. Luckily it is manageable. I do my physical therapy exercises, I rest it, ice it, elevate it, wear a brace, and am smart. I do not want to go back to where I was years ago and not be able to dance.
The whole point in me telling this story is to hopefully let this not scare you, but make you realize that at some point you have to stop. Your health is way more important than dance, I promise you! Your body lasts you your whole life, take care of it wisely! I definitely did not and at 13 I never would have thought not listening to my doctor would come back to bite me, but it did. It can happen to anyone. Sure, I am able to dance now, but what if I had torn something or completely broken a bone? There are certain injuries you cannot come back from. So please, if you did not learn a single thing from this, try to take this away:
1. Know your body. If something hurts, stop!! Listen to it, it knows what it's doing!
2. Know your limits. It is ok to tell your coach or teacher you need a break or to stop. They may not be happy, but it is better to be safe than sorry!
3. Listen to your doctor! Your doctor went to school for years to diagnose you, trust them! If you want a second opinion then go ahead, but do not think that you are smarter than a doctor!
4. Do not rush back into things after being injured. Slowly ease back into things, you will thank yourself later!
5. Stay positive and always remember things will get better! I can honestly say I was in a very, very rough spot while I was injured. I was awful to be around and hated doing anything, especially go to dance because I simply could not dance! Surround yourself with your family and friends, they're there to uplift you! Let them!
Please, know when to stop. Injuries are not to be taken lightly by any means. Make smart decisions for yourself and you will be better off!
~Julia
Injuries often come at the worst possible time, whether it be right before a competition or performance or audition, they just do. Injuries are painful, something no one wants to deal with. At one point or another you will get injured and it won't be fun. Here is my personal story with a serious injury that nearly cost me a season of dancing or even worse, never dancing again.
When I was 13 years old I was playing tag with my friends outside of my middle school during a free period. I was running around, laughing, not realizing that there was a giant hole in the ground near me. I continued to run until I stepped in the whole and twisted my left ankle. I automatically fell to the ground and cried out in pain. My friends ran over to me and 2 of them helped me out while the others got my teacher. They helped me up and carried me to the nurse (I was about 4'10 and like 80 pounds so it was not a difficult task). She wrapped up my ankle and gave me ice. I went home and told my mom what happened and she said just to wrap it up and be careful and if in a week it still hurt then we would go to the doctor. A week went by and I did not dance and had it elevated and resting anytime I could. We went to the doctor and they said I had a grade 3 ankle sprain. I got put in a brace type thing and put on crutches for 2 weeks, no dancing for at least 3-4 weeks. Simple enough, right?
Wrong. 13 year old Julia decided not to listen to the doctor and after about 5 days of no weight baring and resting my ankle, I walked and even ran on my ankle. It felt better, why continue treatment? Well that was a bad idea. A few months later I was still dancing a lot and living an active lifestyle. My ankle began hurting constantly and it was forcing me to not be able to dance. After weeks of insisting I go back to the doctor my mom finally let me go. They told me the sprain never healed properly (surprise, surprise) and there was a possibility for ligament damage. I had X-Rays and MRIs done to determine there were not any tears (thank goodness), it was just the sprain flaring up because it never got the chance to properly heal. I was back on crutches for a week and given a tougher brace and no dance. I also went to physical therapy three times a week for 2 weeks. After that I eased back into dance and had little to no pain. I thought everything was back to normal.
Again, I was wrong. My ankle would sometimes have problems over the next few years, but it was never bad. I knew I had a weak ankle due to this so I had to do my PT exercises often and wore a brace whenever necessary. It never gave me many problems, that is until I reached my junior year of high school.
I am classified as a leaper/jumper since I have muscular legs and can jump very high. It's my favorite thing to do besides extensions. I have always had good leaps, especially second leaps (straddles, whatever you call them!). One day in class in August while we were learning a new dance my left ankle began bothering me again. I brushed it off, it hurt a lot, but nothing that I should actually worry about. It continued to bother me when I pushed off of it to leap, specifically second leaps (my favorite!) and my leaps began to look lopsided because of it. By October the pain became unbearable to the point where I could not dance. It was weird, though. I had never felt this pain before. This did not feel like the typical ankle sprain. Something was off.
I was right. In early November my mom took me to an orthopedic doctor to get treatment. She saw my ankle and knew something was wrong too. I was scared. What were they going to do to me? What if I could not dance? I had already been sitting out of dance wearing my ankle brace constantly the past 2 weeks but it had not helped. It did not take the doctor long to diagnose me with chronic Peroneal Tendinitis. This was basically the worst news to me. The cause of peroneal tendinitis is the repetitive overuse of the tendon, common in runners and dancers. It made sense to me, I could not push off of my left ankle at all without any pain. I constantly pushed off of that ankle and leg and turned on it too. They took X-Rays and MRIs to confirm, but it was pretty clear within the first 10 minutes what was wrong. They told me I had to be in a walking boot for at least 2 weeks to completely immobilize my ankle and clearly no dancing. They gave me pain meds as well to ease it. I also had to begin physical therapy with their office as soon as possible, this time 4 times a week for an indefinite number of weeks. I was so upset. I was about to get my driver's license and struggled to drive with a huge boot that went up to my knee. I'm already tiny, so this was no fun. After 2 weeks my ankle felt good, too good to be true. I went back to the doctor expecting good news and left crying. He said my ankle was doing too well and was worried that as soon as I stopped physical therapy and stopped wearing the boot things would go awry. I had to wear it for another 2 weeks, but my physical therapy sessions went down to 2 times a week. Hey, that was something!
The 2 weeks went by slower than molasses, but finally the day came. It was the beginning of December at this point and I was so over not being able to dance and being in a giant boot. We went back and he let me out of the boot! Finally! I still had to wear this big ankle brace and unfortunately, no dancing yet. I was allowed to begin marking my jumps and turns and doing other things full out the following week. Basically I began dancing full out in January after our Winter Break, 3 months later. It was a very rough transition and I had many, many setbacks. I went back to my doctor every month through the end of the year to track my progress. I was so mad at him at first for not letting me dance, but now I am grateful for him and making me wait. Two years later I am so happy that the process took a while because I am virtually as pain free as I can be and am dancing full out often!
The bad thing about any form of tendinitis is that it never goes away. You always have to deal with the pain coming back or having a weak ankle because of it. Physical therapy and rest helps immensely, but it cannot make it go away. Since then I have had days where I'm dancing all day and am constantly on my feet and it hurts a lot. I've learned to control it and accept that that's the way it's going to be. Luckily it is manageable. I do my physical therapy exercises, I rest it, ice it, elevate it, wear a brace, and am smart. I do not want to go back to where I was years ago and not be able to dance.
The whole point in me telling this story is to hopefully let this not scare you, but make you realize that at some point you have to stop. Your health is way more important than dance, I promise you! Your body lasts you your whole life, take care of it wisely! I definitely did not and at 13 I never would have thought not listening to my doctor would come back to bite me, but it did. It can happen to anyone. Sure, I am able to dance now, but what if I had torn something or completely broken a bone? There are certain injuries you cannot come back from. So please, if you did not learn a single thing from this, try to take this away:
1. Know your body. If something hurts, stop!! Listen to it, it knows what it's doing!
2. Know your limits. It is ok to tell your coach or teacher you need a break or to stop. They may not be happy, but it is better to be safe than sorry!
3. Listen to your doctor! Your doctor went to school for years to diagnose you, trust them! If you want a second opinion then go ahead, but do not think that you are smarter than a doctor!
4. Do not rush back into things after being injured. Slowly ease back into things, you will thank yourself later!
5. Stay positive and always remember things will get better! I can honestly say I was in a very, very rough spot while I was injured. I was awful to be around and hated doing anything, especially go to dance because I simply could not dance! Surround yourself with your family and friends, they're there to uplift you! Let them!
Please, know when to stop. Injuries are not to be taken lightly by any means. Make smart decisions for yourself and you will be better off!
~Julia
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