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SAFETY MEASURES IN DANCING
An active, healthy lifestyle doesn’t
come by accident. You need to work for it.
Your physical activity practicum gives you
the chance to do that by putting you in
charge of your physical activity.
Here are tips to be considered during
dance sessions.
Step 1 - Find suitable and safe place for
dancing
Step 2 - Wear appropriate footwear and
clothing
Step 3 - Do warm up exercises
Step 4 - Choose a Dance style that is
appropriate for you
Step 5 - Provide first aid kit for safety
measures
The range of body movements, repetition
and speed of movement can put you at risk
of an injury, particularly if you are new and
learning unfamiliar steps. You can help
reduce your risk of injury by being aware of
some of these risk factors.
Eight Factors that can Increase your Risk
of Dance Injury:
1. Inexperience – beginners may be
vulnerable to injury because they
don’t have the skills or technique to
meet the physical demands of their
chosen dance style. Make sure you
follow the instructions of your
dance teacher.
2. Poor fitness – weak muscles are
more likely to be injured when
challenged or stretched. Controlled
progressions will improve your
fitness and muscle strength.
3. Poor technique – for example,
bringing your foot down to the floor
with more force than necessary can
injure soft tissue and bone.
4. 4. Poor posture – weak muscles in
the back and abdomen increase the
risk of injury to all areas of the body
including the spine and legs.
5. Fatigue – a tired dancer tends to
lose form. Falls and injuries caused
by sloppy technique are more likely.
6. Hazardous Environments – for
example, worn or ripped carpet,
hard floor, uneven floor, spilt
liquids or fittings close to the dance
area such as stairs.
7. Over training – dancing for too
long or too often can lead to a wide
range of overuse injuries. Shin
splints and stress fractures in the
feet are common dance-related
overuse injuries.
8. Failure to rest an injury –
returning to dance before an
existing injury has healed can
aggravate the condition.
Professional trainers mostly
suggest, warm-up is designed to increase
your body’s internal temperature and warm
your muscles to prevent muscle strains and
joint sprains. The best way is to start off at a
leisurely pace and usually 5 to 10-minutes
warm-up is needed, but this will vary from
person to person and if the weather is cold.
Fitness exercises were created for
cardio-vascular maneuvers. It comprises the
heart and blood vessels and carries nutrients
and oxygen to the tissues of the body and
removes carbon dioxide and other wastes.
While cardio - vascular is operating not in a
normal effort the body needs water.
So, what is the purpose of water to your
body anyway?
Water is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless,
odorless, and nearly colorless chemical
substance. If fluid is not replaced, the
dancer will become dehydrated. Muscle
cramps, electrolyte deficits and muscle
fatigue may be associated with dehydration
and heat cramps.
Dehydration - refers to the excessive loss
of water from the body, usually through
perspiration or sweating, urination, or
evaporation. It is important for dancers to
know that being properly hydrated helps
keep the body from overheating. Helping
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the body promote heat loss when dancing
full out will improve athletic performance
and aid in recovery.
Overexertion or Overtraining – It occurs
when people push themselves too hard
during physical activities like Dancing
causes injury when a person works beyond
his or her physical capacity and tolerances
of his or her body’s soft tissues. Factors
related to overexertion are age, physical
condition, body flexibility, obesity, strength,
and tolerance
Overexertion injuries are generally of
two types:
 Sprains - stretching or tearing of
ligaments
 Strains - stretching or tearing
tendons or muscles
Heat Stress and Heat Stroke
Hyperthermia – Refers to agroup of heat-
related conditions characterized by an
abnormally high body temperature in other
words, the opposite of hypothermia. The
condition occurs when the body's heat-
regulation system becomes overwhelmed by
outside factors, causing a person's internal
temperature to rise
Hypothermia – Excessive low body
temperature, characterized by uncontrollable
shivering, loss of coordination, and mental
confusion. When the body begins to lose
heat faster that it can be produced.
Prolonged exertion leads to progressive
muscular fatigue. As exposure continues
and additional body heat is lost, the cold
reaches the brain. One loses judgment and
the ability to reason. Speech becomes slow
and slurred and control of the hands is lost.
Medical emergency that occurs when your
body loses heat faster than it can produce
heat, causing a dangerously low body
temperature. Normal body temperature is
around 98.6 F (37 C). Hypothermia (hi-poe-
THUR-me-uh) occurs as your body
temperature falls below 95 F (35 C).
DANCE SAFETY TIPS
Here are a few general tips for dancers to
stay safe before, during, and after
exercising.
1. Have your doctor clear you to
participate in an exercise program.
Reasons not to dance until your doctor
clears you include:
 Severe HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
(hypertension):
– systolic (top number) above
200mmHg and/or
– diastolic (bottom number) above
110mmHg
 Illness or being sick
 Any type of injury that would be
worsen by exercise
 Recent heart event (heart attack,
ischemia)
 Recent procedure (bypass surgery, stent
placement, etc.)
 Chest pain or discomfort
 Uncontrolled heart failure
 Electrolyte abnormalities
 Arrhythmia
 Aneurysm
2. STOP dancing if any of the following
occurs:
 Chest pain or discomfort
 Feeling lightheaded or dizzy*
 Feeling unusually tired*
 Shortness of breath*
 Excessive sweating*
 Palpitations or unusual fast heart beat*
 *If the feeling persists for more than 5
minutes after you stop exercise,
 get help immediately.
3. General tips for everyone
 Wear comfortable broken in exercise
shoes with closed toes and cushioned
socks. This will help properly support
and protect your feet and avoid blisters
which can lead to other problems.
 A slow warm-up is important to protect
your muscles and joints from injury. In
addition, sudden starts and stops add
stress to the heart and could trigger a
rapid change in blood glucose levels.
 To properly “feed” your muscles with
oxygen, hold your chest upright and
breathe deeply and regularly.
 Be careful not to get injured by
overextending your muscles with
kicking, swinging or flinging your
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arms, legs or neck further than is
comfortable. You should never
experience extreme pain when
performing any dance move.
 Dance at half time to the music if it’s
going too fast for you. If you think you
can last “just one more song” it’s a
good time to stop. You should not feel
exhausted!
 Be aware of your body “center” to keep
your balance on the dance floor. Keep
your feet about shoulder width apart
with a slight bend in your knees. From
your center you can move up or down,
left or right or front to back and stay in
control.
 End your workout with a slow cool
down. Slowly stretch your muscles
which will help avoiding cramping,
soreness and stiffness later.
 Drink enough fluids, especially if
dancing more than 1 hour or if it is hot
and humid.
After the Dance: Watch out for low
blood glucose for up to 48 hours. Any type
of exercise can improve insulin action and
glucose uptake, especially if you use insulin
or take certain pills to treat your diabetes.
Play it safe and test your glucose levels
periodically during the few hours after you
stop working out. You may need a small
snack or meal with a balance of carbs,
protein, and fat to help prevent lows.
INJURY AND EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT IN DANCING
Across the whole spectrum of dance
there is little doubt that the vast majority of
injuries are the result of overuse rather than
trauma. These injuries tend to occur at the
foot/ankle/ lower leg, low back, and hip.
The foot/ankle/lower leg area is
vulnerable to a wide range of injuries,
including stress fractures, tendon injuries,
sprains, and strains. These injuries show up
with greater frequency in dancers as they
age, so it is extremely important to
emphasize what the young dancer can do to
prevent future injuries
When developing your Emergency Action
Plan (EAP), it’s a good idea to look at a
wide variety of potential emergencies that
could occur in your workplace. It should be
tailored to your worksite and include
information about all potential sources of
emergencies. Developing an emergency
action plan means you should do a hazard
assessment to determine what, if any,
physical or chemical hazards in your
workplaces could cause an emergency. If
you have more than one worksite, each site
should have an emergency action plan.
Fortunately, catastrophic injuries
are an infrequent occurrence in a dance
program. But unfortunately, they do occur;
and often an effective response strategy is
not in place. By establishing and practicing
an Emergency Action Plan (EAP), you and
your staff can be prepared to manage a
severe injury until additional help arrives.
Emergency Action Plan for Dance
Injuries
How you develop an EAP depends
on your dance program's activities. Like a
dancer, your plan should be limber.
The following guidelines can help to
structure your plan:
 Start by recruiting an EAP planning
team of teachers, students (particularly
those with prior medical experience),
parents, and local emergency
personnel, along with anyone else you
feel can benefit your team.
 Develop plans for medical emergencies
that may occur, and specify duties and
responsibilities for your program.
Carefully outline tasks in a simple,
concise written format.
 Identify issues specific to your
business, as well as off-site venues.
Know the location of emergency
medical equipment, communication
devices, emergency exits, shelters,
elevators, alarm systems, and areas to
serve as meeting locations.
 Assess equipment issues. Determine
the type of equipment available and
where it is stored. Designate
someone to inspect and maintain it,
as necessary.
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 Identify who will make phone calls
and in what order. Post emergency
numbers
 and dialing instructions, if the caller
needs to press a phone line number
or other number prior to dialing
"911."
Dance may look effortless, but it
requires a lot of strength, flexibility and
stamina. It also comes with a high risk of
injuries. Whether you are a dancer, a teacher
or a student should be aware of the most
common dance injuries and learn how to
avoid them.
Common Dance Injuries: Includes, Pain
Associated, how to prevent and how to
treat them if it occurs:
1. ANKLE SPRAINS - Ankle sprains are
the most common traumatic (or acute)
injury in dancers. Most dancers will
experience their first sprain by age 13.
This injury is caused by any movement
that forces the ankle outside of the
normal range of motion, resulting in an
overstretching or in tears to the
ligaments of the ankle.
 Pain - Acute onset with pain on the
inside or outside of the ankle,
swelling and bruising may be
present in more severe cases
 Prevention - 4-way ankle exercises,
hip strengthening
 Treatment - Rise, joint protection,
early mobility, physical therapy
2. ACHILLES TENDONITIS -
Achilles tendonitis is an
inflammation of the tendon in the
back of the ankle that connects the
prime mover for pointing to your
foot. As the Achilles is active
during relevé and pointing the foot,
this overuse injury is quite common
in dancers, especially those utilizing
improper technique or participating
in excessive training.
 Pain - Gradual onset of pain and
tenderness just above the heel which
may feel better when warmed up,
but worse with jumping, relevé, or
pointe work
 Prevention - Stretching your
Achilles with your foot in parallel,
quadriceps/hip/core strengthening to
decrease force absorption at the
ankle
 Treatment - Physical therapy
focused on correct training
technique, modalities to decrease
inflammation, calf stretching, and
soft tissue to calf and surrounding
musculature
3. “TRIGGER TOE” (FLEXOR
HALLUCIS LONGUS
TENOSYNOVITIS) - Trigger toe is
another overuse injury that causes
inflammation and damage to muscle
that is active during pointing the big
toe.
 Pain - gradual onset of pain along
inside of ankle and under the foot while
pointing the big toe which may also
feel like big toe is “stuck”
 Prevention - good form with your
relevés and not crunching your toes to
force a pointe, rolling out the arch of
your foot with a ball (but not to the
point of pain)
 Treatment: physical therapy (correct
technique, modalities to decrease
inflammation, stretching, massage),
surgery to release tendon from
surrounding tissues if symptoms do not
resolve.
4. ANKLE IMPINGEMENT - Ankle
impingement is the pinching of
tissues at ankle (tibia and talus) at
either the front or the back of the
ankle.
 Prevention - stretching your
Achilles and stretching (but not
forcing) your pointe
 Anterior (front) Pain - pain at the
front of the ankle with plie and
landing
 Treatment - PT to improve
mechanics and technique (manual
therapy)
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 Posterior (back) Pain - pain at the
back of the ankle with tendu or
relevé
 Treatment - PT to improve ankle
mechanics and technique (manual
therapy), surgery if there is a bone
spur or “extra bone” between heel
and back of tibia
5. SNAPPING HIP - Snapping hip
syndrome often starts as an
annoying snapping sound in the
front of the hip with developed or
battements. However, over time,
iliotibial band (IT band) tightness
and weakness of the outside of the
hip can cause the snapping to
become painful.
 Pain - snapping/clicking sound in
front of the hip with developed and
battements
 Prevention - foam rolling your hip
flexors, quadriceps, IT band, and
glutes as well as strengthening your
glutes
 Treatment - PT with core
strengthening, pelvic stabilization,
modification of class and rehearsal
work until symptoms resolve
6. HIP IMPINGEMENT - Hip
impingement can be caused by
many different factors from
arthritis, labral tear, stress fracture,
muscle strain, snapping hip
syndrome, sacroiliac joint
dysfunction, to piriformis
syndrome. It is extremely common
in dancers due to the imbalance
between the amount of external
rotation (turn out) they have
compared to the amount of internal
rotation (turn in).
 Pain - passé, develop a second, pain
with flexion and internal rotation
(turning in)
 Prevention - foam rolling your hip
flexors, quadriceps, IT band, and
glutes as well as strengthening your
glutes
 Treatment - PT with stretching,
hip/core strengthening, pelvic
stabilization, dance modification
and rehearsals; may result in
surgical intervention as needed.
7.PATELLOFEMORAL PAIN
SYNDROME - Patellofemoral Pain
Syndrome, also known as “jumper’s
knee,” results from the kneecap
“tracking” incorrectly due to muscle
imbalances like tight hamstrings
and calves coupled with weak
quads. The placement of repetitive
forces on the patella, like through
performing jumps or plies without
proper form puts a dancer at
increased risk.
 Pain - pain in the front of the knee
with jumping, plie, or stair
negotiation
 Prevention - core and hip
strengthening; foam rolling hip
flexors, quadriceps, IT band, and
glutes
 Treatment - physical therapy with
focus on core and hip strengthening,
IT band stretching, and re-education
of dysfunctional movement patterns
PREVENTIVE MEASURES IN
DANCING
1. Stretch the muscles of the upper and
lower extremity, including the back,
before and after activity.
2. When landing from jumps, stress
landing in the athletic position. The hips
and legs must be used as shock
absorbers.
3. Balance training should include
stationary and dynamic activities that
progress incrementally.
4. The core is the link in the chain that
connects the arms and the legs. If the
core is weak, injuries are more likely.
The core includes the abdominal, back
and hip muscles. Core exercises should
be done on a daily basis.
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5. Repetitive tumbling activities must be

done in intervals, followed with rest.
These should not be done on and
everyday basis.