You eat well. You cross train. You try to obey your body’s limitations. You’re still going to get hurt.

Even if you aren’t injured in the studio, there are, of course, plenty of ways to get hurt in everyday life.

When you’re

as physically active as a dancer, your time in recovery can seem infinite. After suffering an injury, it’s important to know what can you do to keep in shape, and make your return to the studio as fast, and safe, as possible.

Get To Know Your Injury

After a hard landing on your right foot, you begin to feel pain and swelling. You visit your doctor, and he discovers an acute sesamoid fracture. Now, while you’re still sitting in the hospital looking at x-rays, is the time to start planning your rehabilitation.

Spell Out Your Goals

First, make sure your doctor knows that you’re a dancer. Tell him about your practice schedule, and explain your goals for returning to dance. If you’re up-front about your expectations, your doctor can help you make the most of your rehabilitation time.

Find the Cause of Injury

Ask your doctor for details about the type of injury you have suffered (does your fracture involve one or both sesamoid bones?) And, try to figure out how the injury happened (was it from that jump off of the school stage at the end of rehearsal, when you were rushing to catch a ride home? Or, was it from chronic overuse?)

Since the damage is done, it might not seem important to know how you injured your foot. But, when you finally resume normal activities, you’ll want to ease back into movements that are similar to the one that caused your injury (maybe landing from jumps, in the case of your fracture).

Make a Rehab Plan

Learn about treatment options right away. Will your doctor prescribe two months in a cast and on crutches? Will he treat inflammation and swelling with steroid injections? Will you need physical therapy? Can you take any supplements to speed healing?

Also ask your doctor about the long-term effects of this injury. Might this fracture affect your range of motion or foot strength? Will you be prone to re-injury? What is the likelihood that you’ll need surgery?

Learn About Limitations

It’s probably the last thing you want to hear about, but find out what you can’t do. If you know your limitations, you can make choices that will help you heal more quickly and completely.

When talking to your doctor about what you can’t do, get recommendations on what you can do to keep in shape during recovery. If you’re wearing a walking cast, find out when you can remove it and what activities you can do. Can you walk or swim to keep fit? What stretching and strengthening exercises can you do to keep as active as possible during your time out of the studio?

During recovery, you need to balance rest and rehab. When you’re frustrated and in pain, you might be the type of person to take comfort in a cup of ice cream and time on the couch. But after several weeks (or more) of this recovery regiment, you’ll be in poor shape to resume dance classes.

Ease Back Into Dance

In discussions with your doctor, you should get recommendations on when, and how, you can return to dance class. How many hours of practice can you start out with? Should you limit the repetition of certain movements until you regain strength? What physical therapy exercises can you perform along with dance practice, without overtaxing your body?

When you reenter the studio, share your rehab instructions with your dance teacher. If you’re prone to working too hard, your dance teacher can remind you to slow down and practice carefully. Although you’ll want to regain the practice time that you’ve lost, you need to take things slowly. Remember that the damage caused by re-injury can be more serious than the damage of your original injury.

If your doctor doesn’t give enough advice on how you should return to dance after your injury, consult a medical professional who works with dancers. Many dance companies employ regular physical therapists, and these professionals would know how to guide you back into a regular practice schedule. An online search for physical therapy and dance in your city should provide the names of some doctors whose services and reputations you can research further.

Sources for More Information:

• Preventing Dance Injuries by Ruth Solomon, John Solomon, and Sandra Cerny Minton. Human Kinetics, 2005.

Image Sources:

• Photo by Oude School on Flickr
• “Radiograph: sesamoid fracture” from Preventing Dance Injuries, page 100
• Photo by Mike Wood Photography on Flickr