But Isn’t Being a Dancer Supposed to Hurt?

A few years ago, I was working with a dancer who was experiencing knee pain. As a part of her care plan, we had agreed that she would temporarily stop doing the things that most aggravated her pain- specifically jumps and leaps, while we sorted out her issue and helped her get strong enough to jump and leap again without pain.

Then, at one of her follow-up visits, she said that she was having pain again while doing leaps across the floor. I asked her if she stopped leaping when she felt the pain, and she said “No.” No? So, I asked “Why not?” She then shared that she kept going because her dance instructor had said something to the effect of…

“When you’re a professional, you’re just going to have to work through the pain.”

Have you ever heard something similar? I have seen that lots of dancers have- it’s like we believe that pain is a prerequisite for progress. I believe that it is so much a part of our heritage that it is really difficult to listen to anyone or anything that tries to tell us differently.

The pressure that dancers feel to perform at their highest capacity- even if it causes pain or injury- only adds to the intensity of this mindset. Pressure may come directly from instructors or coaches who are looking to have you performance or competition ready, like NOW. However, it can just as easily come from our minds... from the ideas we concoct that say we need to be perfect, beautiful, skilled, artistic, motivated, cooperative, and agreeable at ALL times in order to be successful dancers. Case in point: when I recently asked another dancer client what her definition of success was, she replied, “Dancing full out, all the time, in as many classes and performances as I want, with no pain, ever.” Can you relate?

Here’s the problem: We aren’t actually in charge. Our bodies are. Each time we ignore serious pain… Each time we feel we must be perfect… Each time we believe that we have to hurt ourselves to get better… We are fighting a fight that we can’t win.

Pain doesn’t lead to progress- at least not directly. Dancers who are in pain don’t dance bigger, more beautifully, or more confidently. They actually wither as their bodies try to protect themselves from worsening pain or injury. They get weaker, more unsteady, more fatigued, tighter, and less powerful. Pain is a real signal that something is going wrong- a sign that your body needs some help to overcome a problem. Progress doesn't happen until you face the real problem and address it. 

Now if you’ve been dancing for any period of time, you probably know that I don’t mean that dancing should never be uncomfortable, challenging, or difficult. That muscle burn during conditioning or the soreness you feel in your muscles for a couple for days after a tough class? They are indeed part of the package. The emotional pain of not being placed in a class, intensive,  or performance that you were hoping for? That’s part of being a dancer, too. The personal difficulty of giving your time to classes, rehearsals, and performances when you might prefer to be lounging on the couch or hanging out with friends? You got it. These are all parts of the rigor of dance training. They build you up to be a stronger, better, and more dedicated dancer.

However, severe or persistent pain that limits your ability to dance how you would normally be able to is not normal, not healthy, and not productive.

There may come a day, when your paycheck is riding on it, that you choose to ignore a nagging pain and continue with a rehearsal or performance that is expected of you, despite the danger that you may worsen your pain or get injured. That will be your choice to make on that day. But if that day isn’t here yet- if you are still a student, if you are in training, if you have any flexibility in your life or options, and if you are not ready to give up dancing for the sake of your next rehearsal or performance… please don’t. Please do take care of yourself. Take the time and get the help you need to get healthy and dancing well again.

Don’t spend now what you hope to have in the future. Your dancing is worth more than that… and so are you.

How Do I Know How Much Is Too Much?

How do I know for sure how much is too much? I received this great question at "The Art of Active Rest" last March. This question reflects a real fear of injury that many dancers (and many active people!) have. Injuries are both physically and personally painful because they complete disrupt your ability to do the very thing you love most- dance. If we could know where the line is between just feeling pain and actually becoming injured, it would be much easier to actually prevent injury.

The bad news is that there is no rule, no hard and fast answer, that can protect you from injury. Each person and situation is different. Have you ever been perplexed by how someone can take great care of themselves and still be frequently sick or injured? Or have you known someone that seems to bounce back from just about anything? These disparities between actions and results can be confusing and frustrating.

The good news is that our body gives us clues to help us stay safe. If we listen carefully, we can take advantage of these clues to help us make a good judgement call about how to best take care of ourselves. 

Here are a few signs that your body might need some help staying safe from potential injury:
1. Your are experiencing pain that is not improving or is gradually worsening over time (days, weeks, months). 
2. You are experiencing a set back in your flexibility, strength, balance, or stamina even though you are dancing or exercising often or very intensely.  
3. You are feeling uncomfortable or unsteady with specific movements that are usually not a problem for you.  
4. The normal soreness you feel after dancing is worsening or lasting longer than usual.
5. You are at the end of a long day of classes and rehearsals and your ability to dance well is declining. 
6. You are feeling aggravated, frustrated, or mentally and emotionally fatigued when it comes to dance or other exercise. 

I encourage you to be honest and courageous as you evaluate your body's signals. It's very easy to accept these negative experiences as normal and expected in life and in dance. However, a reasonable expectation of normal is that these experiences come and go, NOT that they come and stay. Your time dancing should be mostly enjoyable, not mostly painful.

So, how do you know for sure how much is too much? The judgement call is yours, but I hope this answer will give you some helpful guidance. Rest assured that you are ahead of the game by even asking the question.

If you'd like to learn more about how to protect your body from injury and how to get the most out of your time and effort dancing, please join me for "The Art of Active Rest" on Wednesday, August 3, 2016. If you have more specific questions about your situation, please contact me at (847) 345-2246 to schedule a free consultation. 
 

5 Ways To Keep Injury From Ruining Your Dance Career

Many dancers fear injury, and worse, avoid fully addressing their pain or injury once it's happened. Unfortunately, this avoidance can escalate an injury and prolong pain, which makes the recovery process even more difficult. Having a focused and thoughtful approach to injury recovery can help you keep injury from ruining your dance career and can even help you become a stronger and healthier dancer. 

As I look forward to presenting at summer dance intensives for both Dancenter North and Millennium Dance Center this week, I am sharing my hands-down best advice possible to help you heal well after injury so you can keep your dancer career alive and thriving. I have seen these basic practices help many dancers get and stay healthy- I hope they will help you, too.

SEEK MEDICAL ADVICE. 

Many dancers avoid seeing a doctor or physical therapist because they fear being told to stop dancing. The problem is, NOT addressing a problem doesn’t make it go away- it makes it worse. If you are injured or in pain, get it checked out and don’t stop until you get the care you need to fully recover. The time you think you might lose from seeking care is nothing compared to the time you stand to lose if you don't get the help you need now. So, go out and...

FIND HELP THAT MEETS YOUR NEEDS.

Find a physician and/or therapist that will listen fully to your concerns and who will address them to your satisfaction. If your goal is to continue dancing, your doctor or physical therapist should do everything possible to help you do that. While finding the right person to help you can take some work, trying to recover from an injury completely on your own is even tougher. Don’t give up on yourself if you can’t get the answers you need- keep asking. 

DON’T OVERUSE ICE.

Ice can be helpful to reduce pain and swelling if you’ve overdone it. However, you should never need ice on a consistent basis. A much safer and more effective method of managing symptoms is to adjust how much and how hard you are dancing to a level that doesn’t cause you pain or swelling. Your dancing will actually progress much more quickly if you don’t have to spend so much time and effort recovering from it. 

STAY ACTIVE.

Movement is a critical part of the healing process. However, movement that puts you in pain or worsens your injury will not help you heal. Work with your physical therapist on ways that you can stay active and as safe as possible while you recover. If your doctor has not recommended physical therapy, ask for it. 

LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. 

While some aches and pains are a normal part of the experience of pushing your body to its limits, pain that is persistent or keeps you from moving and dancing normally should be addressed as quickly as possible. Ignoring pain or thinking that you can just “work through it” puts you on the path toward more severe injury and more time lost from dancing. Your body is smart- it knows how to take care of you. Listen to it. 

The 1 Mindset Change That Can Revolutionize Your Rehab

The foundation of good medicine is in determining a correct diagnosis. Without knowing what we are treating, we can’t possibly choose the correct form of treatment. So, when we have musculoskeletal pain, it’s very important to know exactly what is causing it- be it a ligament tear, a tendonitis, a ruptured disk, etc, right?

Wrong. In fact, focusing too hard on understanding exactly what is causing our pain can drive us to seek out excessive medical tests and to spend too much time treating symptoms, rather than solving the underlying issues contributing to our pain. 

If we understand pain correctly, that it is a sign alerting us that there is potential danger (it does not reliably tell us the type or magnitude of the danger), we can understand that pain does not always equate to injury. What is important is that we rule out the potential for serious injury or illness requiring immediate medical intervention, which can often be accomplished by a doctor or physical therapist taking a complete history and conducting a thorough physical exam. With serious injury or illness ruled out, I believe that there is often very little value to determining the exact physical source of pain. What we know is that there is a movement problem and that’s all I think we need to know. 

With a specific musculoskeletal diagnosis, we sometimes become bound to protocols or site-specific treatments that, if ineffective in alleviating pain, leave us stranded or cause us to chase symptoms. If we simply look at painful movement as a movement problem, we are free to engage in problem solving- in finding and building on movements that are not painful in order to more quickly and effectively restore mobility and function.

As patients with movement problems, instead of injuries, we can let go of the fear of damaging our bodies and feel confident getting back to moving again. 

Letting Up Is Not Giving Up

2011 Marathon

My husband is currently in his 3rd week of training for a marathon he is planning to run in early May. This will be his fourth marathon and is already putting up bigger numbers in weekly mileage than he has ever before. He is feeling great, primed and ready for the long arduous journey that is marathon training. 

Flashback to last month, about mid-December. He was struggling with a back tweak he acquired after sleeping on an uncomfortable bed while we were out of town. He was hardly running at all. He was working on gaining some comfort and movement one step at a time, but was still on the losing end of the battle. As we were talking one afternoon, he told me that although he was frustrated about the pain in his back, he was patient and hopeful about the future. He said, 

“I just know that when I get through this problem, I’ll be stronger.” 

And he has a lot of experience to prove it. He has faced many tweaks, injuries, set backs, and detours in his life and running career. But I have witnessed, over the years, that rather than getting more frustrated or anxious about his ability to run, he grows more patient and more peaceful, more invested in process of running than in the outcome. He knows that each injury, pain, or set back is an opportunity to grow, to become more in-tune with what his body needs, and to get better at doing what he loves to do. Each measure of patience he gives his body and his running pays dividends in his performance, comfort, and happiness as he pursues his goals. 

When someone comes to me with an injury, their current outlook is, quite understandably, dismal. They are usually feeling anxious, frustrated, and fearful that they have not been able and may not be able to do what is most precious to them in life. Their inability to move well is an inability to live well and the effects are often devastating. 

But time and time again, when these individuals take the time to regroup, reset, and dedicate themselves to really getting better, the results are astounding. I have seen many people sidelined by injury and fearing falling behind their peers, only to emerge stronger, more comfortable, more confident, and more capable after their recovery. They have taken time to understand their bodies and how to take care of them. They have taken time to rest (which is an often overlooked component of growth). And they have taken time to work on the fundamental movement qualities that are foundational to their success in their sport or activity.

They have embraced, or at least tolerated, the process of recovery and they are stronger for it.  

So, if you are currently working toward a goal or suffering a set back, please take heart. Take a moment to thank your body for this opportunity to rebuild. Invest in yourself and invest in the process of recovery. Know that letting up is not giving up. And know that when you get better, you will be stronger. 

2015 Training

We Are Not Broken

In a world with the blessings of science and technology that give us medications, braces, orthotics, and MRIs, we have gained tremendous ability to understand and help our bodies when they are in serious need of help. But there is another side to this blessing that motivates me to speak up and to toss away this technology whenever possible. 

It’s the belief that we are not inherently broken. We humans are built exactly and miraculously how we should be.  We are meant to stand upright, our feet are meant to pronate, and pain is not a sign of failure, but a sign of success. Furthermore, it’s the belief that when we do break down, our bodies are knowledgeable and well equipped to lead the healing process.

Although this belief may stand in opposition to many medical and therapeutic practices that are common today, the research is mounting to support it. We are finding that our brains and bodies have tremendous protective and corrective capabilities that, when respected, light the path toward healing and growth. Gary Gray, David Butler, Brian Mulligan, and Barefoot Ted have been onto this for years, and I have learned this lesson time and time again from the patients who have been gracious enough to let me try to help them.

We are powerful. We are meant to move. And we are capable of healing.

When we respect our body’s inherent wisdom, we can more easily step away from tests and treatments that don't work in harmony with our needs. If we make ourselves students of our bodies, and if we listen with humility, we may more readily reach our fullest potential.