Dancers and MSI Performing Arts Safety Primer
Musculoskeletal injury (MSI) is the most frequently reported medical problem among classical and modern dancers. The majority of dancers have reported at least one injury that has affected their dancing or kept them from dancing and approximately 50% of dancers report at least one chronic injury.
A musculoskeletal injury is any injury or disorder of the muscles, bones, joints, tendons, ligaments, nerves, blood vessels, or related soft tissues. This includes a strain, sprain, or inflammation that is caused or aggravated by activity.
There are many things you can do to help prevent and treat musculoskeletal injury. An MSI can be painful and can interfere with both your professional and personal life, so it’s important to use prevention strategies. If you already have an MSI, there are treatment options that will help you stop the injury from getting worse and speed up the healing process.
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