Concussions get a lot of attention in team sports like football, soccer, and rugby, but really, artistic athletes need to be paying just as much attention and need to be as aware of the mechanisms, symptoms, and management of concussion. Just because we don’t generally purposefully tackle each other (I know this is debatable in some partner work 😉 ), this doesn’t mean we are immune to or not at risk of this kind of injury.

The literature available on concussions in performing artists is minimal compared to other sports. Regardless, we know they happen and know that these sports all have risks for concussions mechanisms. The little bit of research I was able to access regarding concussions in dancers showed that they were somewhat likely to know the mechanisms and symptoms of concussions, but were not likely to self-report symptoms in the case of occurrence! This shows us 2 things: Despite the understanding of the presence of concussion, there is a lack of understanding as to the potential effects of a mismanaged concussion There is a culture within dance (ballet specifically for this study) that does not empower the athlete to speak up about their well-being. (While I know some great change is happening in this respect, I don’t think this is a new insight for most of us, and we still have a lot of work to do) Let’s start by talking about how this injury ha...