Practice and lingering injuries

ChaChaMama

ChaChaMama

Well-Known Member
How do you decide when it is safe to practice or not when coming back from an injury?

I'm coming off a back injury, lumbar region. I'm doing better, and don't feel pain during routine activity. Walking around the house does not hurt, lifting a medium sized bag of groceries does not hurt, etc. I can feel it, though, when I do anything that involves rotation, like latin action or turning around to fasten my child's carseat harness. I therefore have largely been avoiding such activities. (I do buckle her carseat harness, but I actually get out of the car and get in the backseat rather than twisting around.)

I find myself really wanting to practice, but also not wanting to re-aggravate the injury, which I've already done once. :rolleyes: On the other hand, I also worry about getting tight just from not using/stretching certain muscles.

If you've had experience with this, how do you decide when it's safe to dance/exercise again?
 
Heh, well I think Fasc should definitely be contributing to this one today. :)

Definitely varies by the particular injury. Not an injury, per-se, but yesterrday was first time dad got back on dance floor after his knee surgery (only three weeeks, proud of him :) ). That's a bit differnet though, as there's nothing he can do to hurt those knee joints, as long as he doesn't fall on them. So while it's painful, it's not like a normal injury, where the pain is a warning you're hurting yourself. In his case, it's just soemthing that needs to be worked through. With a real injury like yours, that's not the case, of course.
 
it depends on an injury.

i had a knee surgery, and after a month i was practicing (i can say quite hard because of a world championship that we had). well, my doctor freaked out.

stretching is the most important part before any execise.
 
for me, if the pain is remaining the same over the course of the practice time...I tend to ignore it...if it is worsening douring the practice rather tha n just flarig off and on, I will wait...and it also depends on how I feel the next day...and what sort of injury it is
 
I have had lower back problems for many many years. Sometimes it flares up and I need to take a break from dancing. When I'm rehabbing myself and working my way back into dancing, I just start slow and see how it goes.

I definitely stretch very very well, and then I take my time getting warmed up very well before I try to dance "full out". I try to stay even more aware of my center than usual in order to protect my lower back. And if any action in particular hurts my back, I just don't do it.

Key is also to stretch very very well after you dance and before you go to sleep that night. Even if you don't feel it while you dance, you may feel it the next day if you don't stretch afterwards.

Edit: my problems are muscular--disc problems may be very different
 
Pretty sure it's muscular.

The doctor said the only way to be absolutely sure was to do an MRI, but suggested we try heat and medicine first. And they have helped, a lot...but not 100%.

In terms of does it worsen if I do stuff: maybe. I thought I was "better" on the 5th and then re-tweaked it and it felt worse the entire rest of the day and to some degree on the 6th and 7th as well.

I realize the prudent thing to do would probably be to leave well enough alone and give it some extra days. But MAC is coming up really, really soon....
 
Skwiggy, I'd be interested in hearing a description of what stretches you think are best for lower backs, if you have time to describe.
 
though not skwiggy, not only have i had a back injury but I help people at my YMCA with this;...2 good stretces while laying on your bed or a mat are; to bringyour knee into your chest and hold...alternating kness every 20 seconds several times...also, after doing that take the knee across your body toward the floor while leaving shoulders flat...alternating that move likewise...you can also do cat stretches on your hands and knees...or in a standing squatting position
 
Sounds good. I've been doing the knee up the chest one, and some of the knee and rotate across body one, though I feel like I have to be more careful with that one and go realllly slowly.

I've also been doing the cat stretch in standing position.

Thanks, Fascination.
 
There are a ton of them, and I modify them sometimes if I am having a bad spell with my back.

The key is to stretch not just the back, but all of the muscles along the back of the body because it's all connected. And then something I learned the hard way - make sure to stretch the quads too because if you stretch the back of your legs only, then you are more prone to injuring the front. :-/

So a couple of stretches for the lower back itself.

1. Lay on your back, and hug your knees to your chest. If you have knee problems, hold underneath of your knees instead of over your shins.

2. Sit in a chair and hang forward over your legs. Release everything including your head and neck until everything relaxes.

Stretching the hamstrings is VERY important in order to keep the lower back loose.

3. Lay on your back and take one leg straight up into the air with a flexed foot, knee as straight as you are comfortable able, hands on the back of your knee, calf or ankle. The other leg can be lying flat or bent with the foot on the floor, depending on your comfort and flexibility.

4. Sitting on the ground put one leg out in front of you with the other leg bent, and lean forward over your knee reaching for your ankle or foot. The more you round your back the more this stretches the back itself, and the more flat you go the more it stretches the hamstrings.

You should also make sure to open up your hips.

5. Sitting in a chair cross one ankle over the opposite knee, and hang again like in #2.

6. Lying on your back cross one ankle over the opposite knee, and pull your legs to your chest. You can put your hands behind the hamstring of the bottom leg, or over the shin of the bottom leg depending on your flexibility.

And don't forget your b-u-t-t!

7. Lying on your back, pull one knee to your chest on the opposite side. The other leg can be lying flat or bent with the foot on the floor, depending on your comfort and flexibility.

Twists can be very helpful as well.

8. Sitting in a chair, turn so that your hand grasps the back of the chair into a gentle twist. Stretch your spine longer as you inhale and go deeper into the twist as you exhale.

9. Lying on your back, take both knees to your chest, then let them fall to one side. Extend your arm out to the opposite side, and look towards your extended hand. OR, do the same thing but keep the bottom leg straight and the top leg bent.

For more ideas, you can always try some basic yoga as well.

If you have questions or need more, just let me know! These are just some of my favorites. ;)
 
Skwiggy--WOW!

Thanks for that response. Lots of exercises I haven't tried.

I've never had a lower back problem before, not even when I was pregnant and carrying a little extra weight in front (okay, fifty pounds!)

I'm so annoyed with myself. One stupid move and somehow I signed myself up for a ton of pain.
 
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