Sprained ankles, twisted hips, accidental elbow to the face (seriously, it happens)... When you learn to move your body in a new way, the occasional injury is inevitable. What's far more important however, is how you treat the injuries that occur.
In university, I had many friends who loved sports - soccer, hockey, running, etc. - but had been told by their doctor they could never play again. We're talking 20-year olds here. And why? Because they'd ignored the injuries they sustained while playing, until it became too serious for them to continue.
On the other hand, we've all seen those videos on Youtube - incredible dancers that know how to move it well into their nineties... or later. How do they do it?
We've covered most of those reasons already, but the one, may the MOST important thing, is that they know how to take care of their bodies when they get injured.
Like I said, injuries are going to happen - but taking control of the recovery process helps ensure our body stays healthy and strong, well into our senior years. And what better way to test your knowledge... Than with a little game?
Missed the previous articles? I've included links at the bottom!
Transcript
Hi guys! My name is Ian Crewe. I'm an instructor at the joy of Dance Center in Toronto, Ontario, and the creator of Social Ballroom Dance, where you can learn your dance, at your place, on your schedule.
Regardless of whether or not you're dancing, playing sports, or doing some other kind of physical activity (wink), the occasional injury is virtually inevitable. But what can we do to speed up our recovery time, and what can we do to prevent those injuries from reoccurring in the future?
It's time to play a game of TRUE or FALSE.
Question number one: When you injure yourself, if you can still move the injured part around, you can get right back to dancing - true or false?
FALSE. If you don't spend the time to understand how serious that injury is, you run the risk of making it more serious and turning it into something that will make you have to stop dancing for longer. So always take some time and get to know what's going on.
Question number two: If you get injured, it's a good idea to gingerly move the injured area around to get a sense of what movements are painful, and how serious the injury is - true or false?
TRUE! You want to get a sense of how bad the injury is, whether this is something you can just slap a bandaid on, walk off, or need to consult a professional, as well as an idea of what types of movements to avoid while you're waiting for the injury to heal.
Question number three: Swelling around the injured area is always a bad thing - true or false?
FALSE. Swelling is actually a positive sign. It's a sign from the immune system that is trying to heal the injured part of the body. A lot of swelling CAN cause more harm than good, and that's why we usually try and keep the swelling down through things like Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation (RICE).
Question number four: If you don't feel pain after a day or two, there's no need to consult a professional true or false?
FALSE. While not all injuries become chronic injuries, there's a lot of things that we've sustained when we were younger that gradually accumulate, and start affecting things like our balance, our posture, and our flexibility.
So when in doubt, it's always a good idea to consult a professional - just to make sure that we haven't created some imbalance that needs to be corrected.
Question number five: You may need to take a week or two off or even longer from dancing in order to completely recover - true or false?
TRUE. Much as I hate to say it (or hear it), taking some time for complete rest is the safest and best way to make sure that injury won't reoccur later on.
Question number six: Stretching an injured area is a good way to relieve some of the pain of that injury - true or false?
FALSE. While it might help the injury, it might also tear it and cause it to get worse - so again, it's a better idea to wait and talk to a professional to make sure that you're following the best practice to help this part of your body heal.
Question number seven: If a doctor tells you that you can never dance again, it's time to hang up those dance shoes for good - true or false?
FALSE. While not everyone will agree with me on this, I believe it's better to get a second opinion. Even the experts mess up sometimes and it's best not to shut a door that you might not have to.
Question number eight: Physical therapy, when recommended by your doctor, is a good way to help recover from an injury - true or false?
TRUE. Physical or movement therapy allows your body to get stronger so it can be prepared to dance again, and that increased strength helps to make sure that same injury does not reoccur in the future.
Finally, question number nine: When you fully recover, it's a good idea to go over the pattern or the technique that caused the injury in the first place, but more slowly to understand what went wrong - true or false?
TRUE! As we talked about last week, good technique is an important part of making sure that you don't get injured, so take the injury as a lesson - a way of changing how you're dancing so you're less likely to get injured in the future.
And that concludes our game of TRUE or FALSE!
I hope you found that helpful. If you have any questions or comments you can message me on my Facebook fan page "Ballroom Dancers Anonymous or you can email me at ian@socialballroom.dance, and next week we're beginning a new theme.
We're going to be looking at dance and motivation - specifically, how to stay motivated through both the good times and the bad, and how to build some positive dance habits so that we can make the most of our dancing experience.
I look forward to seeing you then. Until next week - happy dancing!
Previous Articles on 'Dancing for Life'
Part One: Body Awareness
Part Two: Getting to Know our Bodies
Part Three: Stretchin' Away the Pain
Part Four: Sustainable Dancing