The Dangers of Overstretching

Written by Becca Sigmund

With focus, dedication and training, young dancers are capable of amazing technical feats.  I have seen so many dancers, just 5 or 6 years old, achieving their splits, full 180-degree heel stretches, and the coveted “scorpion.” Because young dancers have such malleable joints, it seems safe and easy to train them at this age, but just because there is no pain now, does not mean the effects of this kind of training will not affect them later in their lives, especially if pursing a career as a professional dancer.

To understand the long-term effects of this type of training, one must first understand the adolescent hip and pelvis.  Most people know that infants have more bones than adults, because not all of their joints have fused yet.  Similarly, the bones in the hips and pelvis are separated as well.  The biggest difference in these two examples is the age of fusion.

Age 2.5

Pelvis is not fully formed and femur and femoral head are separate.

Age 9

Pelvis still has a large separation in the acetabulum (hip socket) and the femoral head is still ossifying.

Age 14

The femur is now fully formed, but the acetabulum is still developing.

Adult Pelvis

All growth plates in the hips and pelvis have fused.

 As you can see from the photos above, at the ages of 2.5 and 9 years old, the head of the femur is completely separated from the femur itself.  This makes for moldable bodies, but it does not come at a cost. Although young dancers’ bones have a large capacity for movement, pushing into stretches and achieving extreme flexibility can cause pressure and damage to the joint capsules and ligaments surrounding the hip.  Young dancers are also at a high risk for spinal fractures that can cause instability of the spine and decrease shock absorption down the road. 

 Between the ages of 12-16 (in females) or 14-19 years old (in males), the bone will ossify.  Right before this age, you will often see a significant decrease in flexibility as their bones begin to fuse.  If there is pressure at the joint during fusion, it can cause bone deformation.  Think of it like trying to glue together a small stick and a ball with glue.  If you apply the glue and only move it a minimal amount before letting it rest, the glue will have a strong hold and will not leave a mess.  If you are constantly moving the stick around, the glue will eventually dry, but it will most likely dry with clumps of glue in some places, and thin layers of glue elsewhere.  Well, the same will happen at the hip and a “lump” of bone may result that can cause bony hip impingements down the road that could require surgery, osteoarthritis, and even hip replacements as young as 30. This is something I am personally familiar with. 

As a competitive gymnast until age 13, I did a lot of flexibility training into extreme ranges of motion.  Although I was never pushed into my stretches, we did hold our over splits for long periods of time.  I never experienced any pain in my hips, beyond tight muscles periodically, so at the time it seemed fine.  Down the road, when I was entering into what should have been the peak of my performance career at the age of 24, I suffered from intense pain in my hips and spine.  The pain was at times, so intense that it hurt to walk, stand, sit and do basically anything but lie down in one position.  This pain was as bad, if not worse than what I experienced when I was in labor with my first child and experiencing back labor.  I found out, through a series of doctors, physical therapists, x-rays, and MRI’s, that I had a bony posterior impingement in my hip.  If I were to continue dancing at the professional level, I would be at high risk of needing a hip replacement BEFORE age 30.  My options were to change my lifestyle and stop dancing or have surgery on my hip that had about a 50% chance of helping, 25% chance of not making a difference, and a 25% chance of making the issue worse.  Although my choice was clear, it was still one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make.

Although flexibility is important in any dancer’s career, it is important to consider the effect on the ligaments and bones first.  Although extreme flexibility is possible for some individuals, it takes full knowledge of the joint structures as well as careful monitoring of each individual during stretches to ensure safety of the joints over the long-term. Short-term flexibility should never be prioritized over long-term goals.  Learning the difference between muscular tension, fascial tension, and nerve tension, can help dancers achieve flexibility in a much faster and safer way.  It is our job as educators and parents to keep our children safe and knowledge is the best way to guide our decisions.  I look forward to writing more blogs to help dancers, parents, and teachers navigate through their dancers technique safely.