Chelsea Hoy, associate artistic director and performer at Trinity Irish Dance Company, has battled shin splints throughout her career. The symptoms, which manifest as pain in the front of her calf, were most bothersome during the two-hour show on the company’s multi-city tour, she said. “You’re soaring through the air in Irish soft shoes, and then you’re laying down thunder in hard shoes,” she said. “The combination of these things makes the form very intoxicating for the audience. It also takes a toll on the body. Very unique pressure.
Although shin splints have posed challenges for Hoy, she said she has learned ways to manage the condition and suppress attacks so she can continue to perform. Through a conscious, prevention-focused approach, dancers can stay ahead of shin splints so they don’t get in the way of dancing.
What are shin splints?
Shin splints, or medial tibial stress syndrome, refers to “muscle pain in the front of the lower leg, below the knee, and along the shinbone,” says Joshua Honrado, DAT, an associate professor at NYU Langone Athletic trainer working with dancers in dance academy. Dancers are particularly susceptible to shin splints, especially if the number of rehearsals or performances they perform suddenly increases, e.g. nutcracker season. “Exercise naturally increases blood flow to the muscles, causing them to expand,” explains Honrado. “This is a natural phenomenon, but if the body cannot heal effectively after continuous strenuous exercise, intramuscular pressure will continue to increase, making it difficult for the body to heal properly.”
get the right treatment
Honrado said shin splints are typically easily diagnosed by a health care provider, but it’s important to seek professional guidance to ensure you don’t suffer a more serious injury, such as a stress fracture. Bone pain, numbness, or tingling may indicate a larger problem.
For dancers with shin splints, doctors may prescribe X-rays or a ventricular pressure test (which measures the difference in intramuscular pressure before and after physical activity). For shin splints, the first step in recovery is usually rest or adjustments. “Reducing training volume, whether it’s jumping less or jumping less often, will help reduce intramuscular stress,” Honrado explains, adding, “This doesn’t necessarily mean moving away from dance altogether.”
Hoy said icing before and after performances and using tape to “provide a little extra safety” are keys to her management of shin splints. She also recommends finding a health care practitioner who specializes in dry needling to help relax the muscles in the shin area.
Prevent future outbreaks
For dancers who are prone to shin splints, anticipating stressors can be helpful. When dance-related demands increase, such as a busy performance season or learning a new choreography that requires a lot of jumping, Honrado recommends slowly building up your workouts to prepare your body. “It’s important to gradually add plyometrics about two to three weeks before increasing dance reps to gradually build muscle endurance and flexibility without the shock of a rapid increase in intramuscular pressure,” he explains.
If jumping or long jumps are exacerbating shin splint pain, Honrado recommends starting with a very basic jumping program (he recommends parallel, scramble-and-change in first and second positions, and parallel leaps) for about five minutes, three times each Week. For those who have access to a Pilates reformer, using a springboard is also a good option. Honrado says high-intensity interval training (HIIT) can also be an effective way to combine muscular endurance and cardiorespiratory exercise, but he tells dancers to be mindful of intensity because shin splints may be aggravated if these exercises are not performed. part.
It’s also important to be honest with your teacher, choreographer, or artistic director when you’re struggling with shin splints. As a dancer and an artistic member of Trinity Irish Dance Company, Hoy encourages dancers to be honest about their feelings. “We want to protect [dancers] In the long run,” she said. “As an organization, we need our dancers to stay as healthy as possible, but it’s also about their lives because these injuries are going to continue whether you’re still in your career or you’re retired.”
