As graceful and fluid as many forms of dance can appear they are physically demanding. As dance continues to grow in popularity more people are learning of the many injuries that are common to dancing.
Dr. Michael Huang with Colorado Springs Orthopaedic Group, located on the UCHealth Memorial North Campus is a sports medicine specialist and orthopedic surgeon who knows all too well the toll dance can take on the human body.
“We see a lot of dance injuries. They are usually in the lower extremities. I think dancing is as hard as football and in some regards more strenuous. The reason is because they (dancers) really put their joints in positions that big husky football players don’t get into. Certainly in dance there is not the jarring collisions, but there’s all the pivoting and leaping and landing, along with the joint positioning can really put dancers at risk of injury.”