neck dance injury ouch ouch

[Emma_Williams]

So on saturday i decided to practise some moves and was messing around and trying to do some head rolls and hair flicks ala exorcist style...this is not even my type of belly dance but i was just going for it...and now ouch...my neck and shoulders are painful to touch and last night in bed when i put my hands around my neck for support all i could feel was throbbing

My friend is a physio and said she will see me tomorrow but has anyone else ever hurt their neck?

I am praying its not permanent

 

[dreamthief666]

your a silly bugger :lol:

 

[Shanazel]

Poor Emma. You are not the first nor will you be the last to confuse a neck with a bungee cord. Hope you feel better soon.

I have problems with my neck and have been working with a chiropractor to improve matters. Mostly affects my upper body posture though sometimes it just plain old hurts. No more head slinging, you hear?

 

[shiradotnet]

So on saturday i decided to practise some moves and was messing around and trying to do some head rolls and hair flicks ala exorcist style...this is not even my type of belly dance but i was just going for it...and now ouch...my neck and shoulders are painful to touch and last night in bed when i put my hands around my neck for support all i could feel was throbbing

Hair tosses are actually a very dangerous move to do, unless you know how to do them safely. They can cause ischemic strokes. I actually know somebody who had an ischemic stroke as a result of practicing them!

And yes, pain such as what you are experiencing is also a very real possible outcome of hair tossing. I suggest that you ice your painful spots for a couple of days, and ask your favorite health care provider whether it's okay for you to take an anti-inflammatory over-the-counter pain reliever such as naproxen, ibuprofen, or aspirin.

 

[Emma_Williams]

thanks guys. I have been taking ibuprofen and I am seeing my friend tomorrow morning.

What is the lesson learned??? Always warm up and only try something new with a teacher there lol

 

[Shanazel]

Ischemic stroke? Really?

I'd write that movement off my list even if I didn't already have neck problems. What wrongness causes the stroke, Shira? I've never taught or done hair tosses very often myself- they make me dizzy.

 

[Aniseteph]

I just looked at Shira's site - carotid artery dissection. Eek.

I went to a presentation at work (hospital) about this a few years ago. Sudden or violent/extreme twisty neck moves can cause damage inside the carotid artery, blood pools, clots, clots break off and up they go to the brain and cause stroke. It's to do with the anatomy of how the artery lies in relation to the vertebrae.

They didn't mention Khaleegy (can you believe it?!!! :shok but did talk about that thing chiropractors do where they give your neck a twist to "realign" things, and getting into awkward positions with those lean-back basins at the hairdresser's.

Beauty parlour syndrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Take care of yourselves.

 

[Emma_Williams]

thanks now i am freaking out

 

[lizaj]

thanks now i am freaking out

Stop it, you strained a muscle you don't usually use and if it was really really serious you'd be in Fazakerley by now. To make yourself feel better, you could trot down to the GP.Rest ,take pain killers and get that physio.asap.

 

[Aniseteph]

Aww, sorry Emma, big hug, don't panic. This is a rare thing - I think it gets picked up on by the medics because strokes are rare in younger people. When it happens they wonder why.

People do plenty of things with their necks that could do it (sneezing even, apparently) but if it was that easy/common then no one would dare go to chiropractors and hairdressers. We still do, and the vast majority of us are just fine.

You probably just did some good old-fashioned muscle pulling. Ouch. Is it getting any better yet?

 

[Emma_Williams]

saw physio and i am to do some gentle exercises and her advice was to stay away from head moves full stop. yes they can be done safely but just incase she says i should not do them anymore. Also my lap top use has caused me to start to shorten parts of my neck...eeek

So dance as normal on Monday no long term damage but no head flicks and no laptop use...pc only

 

[Kharis]

So on saturday i decided to practise some moves and was messing around and trying to do some head rolls and hair flicks ala exorcist style...this is not even my type of belly dance but i was just going for it...and now ouch...my neck and shoulders are painful to touch and last night in bed when i put my hands around my neck for support all i could feel was throbbing

My friend is a physio and said she will see me tomorrow but has anyone else ever hurt their neck?

I am praying its not permanent

I rarely teach head tosses in khaleegy or zaar for this reason. I do touch on it, but take great pains to explain how to hold the neck and head and shoulders and make sure anybody with any neck problems steers well clear. It's a dodgy area and needs great care at the best of times. I'm sure you've just strained something, but when you consider that your head can weigh in at almost a stone (141bs), then you realise just how fragile the neck is when doing this kind of thing.

 

[Moon]

Also my lap top use has caused me to start to shorten parts of my neck...eeek

What?? How?? That scares me... :shok:

 

[Shanazel]

Part of the reason I started to the chiropractor for my neck is too many hours sitting in fromt of computers without paying a penny's worth of attention to my posture.

 

[Farasha Hanem]

Oh, dear Lordy, Emma! :'( I'm so glad your injury wasn't more serious; this thread gave me quite a scare! *hugs hugs gentle hugs*

Our teacher was a physical therapist for 18 years, and she doesn't even allow us to do the slow head-rolling warm-up thing like so many bellydance instructional DVD's do---she says they're dangerous, and I guess for the same reason as the head flicking. Instead, she has us gently look down, first on the right side, then on the left, while gently placing our hand on the top of our head. She did demonstrate a head-rolling move once, where she was doing floor work, and she gently tossed her head side-to-side, while holding her hand over her heart, but she emphasized not to ever make any sharp, sudden moves with your head.

I'm so glad you weren't more seriously injured, Emma! I would have cried if something awful had happened to you. I hope you recover 100% really, really soon. *gentle hugs again*

 

[Nath]

saw physio and i am to do some gentle exercises and her advice was to stay away from head moves full stop. yes they can be done safely but just incase she says i should not do them anymore. Also my lap top use has caused me to start to shorten parts of my neck...eeek

So dance as normal on Monday no long term damage but no head flicks and no laptop use...pc only

So glad it's relatively minor and you're getting better!

 

[bellyfester]

oh glad its not toooo serious.

Is there any way of faking a hair flick? i like the drama of them and I'm wondering if there are any good examples of say doing an upper body swinging movement which would look like you are flicking or swinging your hair but without misaligning your neck... :think:

 

[MissVega]

So glad to hear that it wasn't serious and that you'll be all better.Be careful BIg hug from Canada though:dance:

Neck moves are a their own brand of "Special".I don't like to teach them at all. I have only taught "dutty wine" to a handfull of students in my caribbean classes and (and they were all advanced belly dancers with Zar and/or Khaleegy experience).

I definately would not recommend at all attempting any hair/head tossing rolling/spinning/flinging without the aid of a physiotherapist or/and instructor.

And for those unfamiliar dutty wine is a caribbean move which involves quick large head/neck rolls while dropping the lower abdomen to tilt the pelvis back to lift up the butt, while shallowly "butterflying" the legs and bouncing a bit. It takes EXTREME relaxation. Tension anywhere in the body while attempting it would cause injury. Hence why I don't teach it and only taught it to a select few who had requested it and had previous neck/head tossing experience.

It was pretty controversial, rumours about people dying from it etc
The Jamaica Star :: News :: Dutty wine danger :: May 8, 2006
I've actually seen the dance done wrong many a time, or someone very stiff while doing it and it makes me so nervous to watch. Dancehall queens will get into some crazy positions while trying to do it, as if the move needs to look any crazier.


You can see a good example of "dutty wine" in this video if you're curious.
YouTube - Feelin' Hot Hot Hot Wuk - Tropical Devil Belly Dance Fusion for Halloween

Starts at about 3:38... you'll know when you see it lol.

And before I do such a move I am well stretched and warmed up... before that performance I had been warming up for about 30 mins prior at least.

I have never had a neck injury (knock on wood), save for one time I fell asleep in the library on my arm/text book for about 2 hours... woke up with such a bad crick/cramp that it was well over a day before i could hold my head straight again lol.

I've hurt my knees more than anything else.... mainly because I am a klutz and trip/fall all the time.. especially going up stairs!

 

[Bellydance Oz]

What?? How?? That scares me... :shok:

Laptops are ergonomically horrible! Because you're looking down at the screen, chances are you're hunched over, and probably bending your neck forward as well. Holding yourself in that posture is extremely bad for your back and neck and will definitely lead to problems.

A good test is to stand (in your natural posture) with your back against a wall and notice where you touch. If your bottom and shoulders are touching the wall but the back of your head isn't, that means you're developing a "turtle neck", or a Dowager's Hump, or both - from too much computer use.

This article is about carpal tunnel, but there's a video on the end about laptops:
Prevention for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome