Injuries are not good in general. However, for a dancer, they’re nothing short of a tragedy. When you’re a dancer, your body is your instrument, and being unable to use it means you won’t be able to perform or train. For a ballet dancer, injuries can indicate the final curtain call unless they heal properly. Some dancers lose their mobility or discover that they cannot perform at the same level anymore. In the event of severe injuries for which surgical intervention is necessary, the treatment itself can be problematic.
Surgeries can leave ballet performers permanently restricted. Recovery can be exceedingly long and complex, requiring significant mental and physical strength. You might lose the confidence necessary to make a comeback and might feel like, during your time recovering, you’ve lost your form and fitness level. But while injuries are decidedly unpleasant, and all dancers fear them, they’re not the end of the world, and they don’t need to be the end of your career either.
Ballet injuries
According to statistics, professional dancers are more likely to become injured than athletes playing contact sports such as rugby or football. About 80% of dancers become injured once a year, to the extent that their ability to perform is restricted. The figures for rugby players are somewhere in the 20% margin. Younger dancers were more likely to become injured than older and more experienced ones, with muscles and joints being the most common area for injury. Female dancers were found to be more likely to incur wounds as a result of overuse, while male dancers are more susceptible to sudden damage.
So, what makes dancers more vulnerable? The main reason is that the workload is incredibly intense. While ballet has traditionally been seen as a stereotypically dainty pursuit, the truth is that dancers need a lot of stamina and endurance to resist the long, gruelling hours spent rehearsing and performing. Companies perform many times more than football teams play matches. For example, the Australian Ballet scheduled nearly 300 performances in 2019. Meanwhile, the Australian Football League had 23 rounds in a whole season.
Professional help
If you’ve become injured, the first thing you need to do is talk to a medical practitioner. Ideally, you want advice from someone familiar with dance-specific injuries, so you get adequate insight into how you can help your body return to its normal condition. The worst thing you can do is return to performing before you’ve recovered completely.
Although you most likely can’t wait to return to the studio, doing so before you’ve healed you at further risk. You might go back to square one or even make your injuries worse. Working closely with your physician and your teacher will help you recover quicker.
If your injuries have been the result of someone else’s negligence, you can file a compensation claim with How-To-Sue.co.uk. To have a successful case, you need to amass sufficient evidence that proves you weren’t responsible for the injuries you sustained.
The right nourishment
As a dancer, you follow a well-balanced diet that provides you with all the energy and stamina you need throughout the day. However, the food choices you make are well-calculated to avoid feeling too full or bloated and unable to dance at your full potential. Moreover, you probably have different meal plans for both in and off-season times. With this in mind, it probably won’t surprise you to realise that you need to develop a special meal plan to help you recover.
Getting enough protein in your diet is one of the most critical aspects of recovery when you’ve sustained a muscle injury. If you follow a plant-based diet, you can get protein chia seeds, tofu, quinoa, oats, nutritional yeast and lentils. Calcium is also essential, as is getting adequate amounts of Vitamin D to promote its absorption. Phosphorus, iron and magnesium should also be present in your diet in the form of dark chocolate, bread products, leafy greens, seafood, nuts and seeds, eggs and dried fruit.
Train well
One of the most challenging parts of recovery is feeling like you’re gradually getting out of shape. Worryingly, this can take its toll on your mental and emotional health, causing you to act in ways that are damaging to your body. For example, you can start overtraining to compensate for lack of movement and injure yourself more or fall into a state of hopelessness in which you start believing there’s no point in training anymore.
The best scenario is one in which you aim for a balance between the two. Training all areas of your body will help you not only stay in shape but it’ll help boost your mood as well. Getting the right blend between stretching and exercising will help you train in all areas adequately. If there are some spots that are still weaker than others, it’s vital to train them specifically. Doing so can help you minimise or even eliminate your risk of injury in the same area.
Take care of your mind
Even if your injury is physical, it doesn’t mean that you should neglect your mental health during this time. The most important thing is that you don’t live in denial. While injuries are pretty common in dancers, it doesn’t mean that you should neglect their importance. Failing to treat an injury well will cause additional harm and jeopardise your ballet career. Since that’s the worst-case scenario, you don’t want to pretend that nothing’s wrong and have things turn for the worse. You might not want to take time off to heal, and the recovery process can sometimes get cumbersome and irritating. But it’s important to push through to make a full recovery.
It’s tough to become injured when you’re a ballet dancer. You have to take time off from your craft, something that can take its toll on your emotional well-being and leave you feeling restless and impatient to return to the barre. However, failing to keep up with a recovery process will cause your injuries to become worse. Take care of yourself, and you’ll be able to return in no time.
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