My Past Dance Injuries

In a past post I mentioned I had suffered from a dance related injury. This injury was greatly overlooked and could have been prevented had I taken supplementary classes. I suffered from Chondromalacia Patella. This is roughening of the articulate cartilage on the underside of the patella. This cartilage can become soft and wear away, causing anterior knee pain. Luckily I was not at this stage and was able to rehabilitate. Chondromalacia Patella is caused by the incorrect tracking of the patella due to a muscle imbalance within the quadriceps. Through my dance training I had become dominant in my vastus lateralis which pulled my patella laterally out of its groove, causing pain with active movement. Through simple Pilates and strength training exercises, by the guidance of my Sports Therapist I was able to strengthen my Vastus Medialis and glutes to correct the problem.

Source - Google

Here are a few of the exercises I used to perform -

Single Leg Bridge

1.       Lie on your back with your knees bent to 90 degrees with your feet on the floor. Arms palm up at your side.

2.       Draw in your abdominal muscles, maintaining this throughout the exercise.

3.       Squeeze your glutes together and slowly raise your bum off the floor until your torso is in line with your thighs. Lift off one leg so that it is in-line with the other thigh. Ensure the hips stay level.

4.       Hold for 10 seconds and lower.

5.       Repeat 10 times on each leg.

Glute band walk

1.       Place the band above the knees.

2.       Keeping the glutes squeezed and the knees pushed out, walk side to side (crab walks) and forwards and backwards (monster walks).

3.       Ensure walks are slow and controlled.

Swiss ball squats

1.       Stand with your back facing the wall. Place a swiss ball at the lower back between you and the wall. Place feet slightly in front of the body.

2.       Hold a light medicine ball between your knees.

3.       Lower yourself until your legs are at 90degrees.

4.       Hold for 10 seconds and squeeze the ball.

5.       Drive up out of the squat to the starting position.

6.       Repeat 3 sets of 12 reps.

Please remember everyone’s injuries are different, therefore each may require different treatment. What worked for me may not work for you. However, these exercises are good, simple strengthening exercises which can be incorporated into your supplementary training regime to help prevent muscle imbalances.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch!

-E