Dancing is a fun activity that many people enjoy doing, but it can also be dangerous. The dance world has seen a lot of injuries from dancers and dance enthusiasts alike. In this article we have compiled some common dance injuries so you know how to avoid them!

Common injuries

1. Sprained Ankles

A sprained ankle is a common dance injury that might happen when you dance too fast or dance on uneven surfaces. A sprain happens when the ligament in your ankle gets overstretched or torn. The sprain can be mild, moderate, or severe depending on the amount of pressure you put on the sprained area. For a dancer, it is important to avoid this injury - especially because it may impact how you dance. For example, if someone doesn't have a lot of movement in their ankle joint, there are things they won't be able to do in dance routine without risking further damage.

2. Wrist and Hand Injuries

A wrist injury is caused by an overstretching or tearing of the ligament in your wrist. It is important for dance enthusiasts to avoid these injuries because dance routines require you to use your wrists and hands often. For example, dance moves that require you to put a lot of pressure on your hands may lead to these injuries if not done correctly.

3. Torn Ligaments

A ligament is a type of connective tissue that connects two bones or cartilages together. These can be found around feet and hands. Ligaments can tear if they are overstretched or overused, which is an injury that most dance enthusiasts experience at some point. The severity of the injury depends on how much pressure you put on the ruptured area.

4. Muscle Strains

A muscle strain happens when the muscle is overstretched or contracted, and the tissue is damaged. This dance injury can be caused by performing dance moves that are too strenuous for the muscles involved.

5. Tendonitis

Tendonitis is an injury that is caused when your feet or hands are overstretched. This can sometimes happen when dancers don't warm up enough, and their connective tissue becomes too loose to allow for effective use of their body parts. Connective tissue is elastic in nature, and stretching it past its limit will cause injury.

6. Bursitis

Bursitis is a dance injury that is caused by excessive pressure being put on the foot or hand. It can be characterised by pain, inflammation, and swelling. The most typical causes of bursitis are: overuse, direct trauma, or infection of the bursa sac.

7. Rotator Cuff Tear

A rotational force on the arm causes the tendons to stretch and tear, sometimes this is caused by dance moves where there is an awkward movement of arm behind the body. The torn tendon will usually need to be repaired surgically with physical therapy exercises following surgery for a full recovery.

8. Frozen Shoulder

This occurs when the rotator cuff tendon or bursa becomes inflamed and symptoms include pain, weakness, and stiffness in the shoulder on one or both sides.

How to avoid dance injuries

Luckily, it is usually possible to avoid these injuries by properly warming up before dance routines. This includes stretches, jumps, kicks and arm movements. This is important because dance routines can put stress on your muscles and joints that you might not have experienced before.

Another way to avoid injury is to use a professional teacher to guide you and correct your movements. Professional dance teachers have gone through the dance training and know what to look for in terms of form, technique, and safety. They can also teach you how to dance without putting as much strain on your body parts that are vulnerable to injury.

It's important to remember not to push yourself too hard when you dance for extended periods of time. If you feel an injury coming on, stop what you are doing and give the area some time to recover, but never let it go untreated either!

At Wessex School of Dancing, we understand dance injuries and the best way to avoid them. This blog post gives a list of injuries that can occur when dancing and how you might be able to prevent them by using techniques like warming up before dance routines or having professional teachers guide your movements. If you're looking for dance classes in Bournemouth, let us know what you need! We offer group dance lessons with fully qualified supervision so that everyone is safe while learning new skills on their feet. If this sounds interesting but overwhelming, contact us today - we'll help get you started on a plan to make sure you're injury-free from day one.

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