Thread: Shoulder injury and flexible back issues:(((

Am wondering what I can do to deal with two issues I have:

1. I have been suffering from a right shoulder injury for the last 10 years. Although I don't experience pain anymore on my shoulder blade and the nerves, I cannot do snake arm with my right arm It makes me very sad because snake arms are such a big part of BD. In addition, when I move my right arm, it looks awkward in comparison to my left arm. I have to work extra hard in keeping that arm graceful as well as the fingers. Has anyone had problems with injuries as such and if so, what can I do to make it less obvious?

2. What is the best way to develp a very flexible back in order to do pretty backbends and general moves that involve the back bending?

Thanks
Goldie

Not all styles of belly dance use snake arms equally. Lots of dancers get around the problem of wonky snake arms by simply never doing them or by substituting small, relaxed shoulder rolls instead, but it sounds like you want to do this move, so that won't be a good long-term solution for you.

Generally, when a student has mobility/flexibility issues, the standard advice is to get an evaluation from a specialist to make sure the problem doesn't require some sort of dedicated rehab. Depending on the nature of your situation, this might be an orthopedist, a chiropractor, a physical therapist, a practitioner of Alexander Technique or Feldenkrais Method, or a highly trained Pilates or yoga instructor. Someone like this should be able to suggest exercises that address your particular body mechanics in ways that increase your strength and flexibility, but minimize your risk of injury while doing so.

Hi Goldie -

I can't comment on #2, but shoulder problems and shoulder surgery have given me some experience with #1.

First of all, I don't think snake arms really _are_ such a big part of BD, so I wouldn't worry about that very much.

I would approach your problem two ways - first, determine which parts of your range of motion you still have grace and control in, and train your arms there. If you can extend your arms outward gracefully but not overhead, train yourself to use your arms in graceful postures and movements by your sides and held outwards. You're always better off in performance simple avoiding movements you can't do with grace and control. Simple arms can be really lovely.

But second, don't underestimate the body's ability to heal over time. :) I don't know the nature of your injury, but I know 12 years after my shoulder surgery I still continue to gain strength, control, and range of motion by working with my shoulder. One of the most important things I learned (that my physical therapists never mentioned) was to contract my upper abs to keep my ribcage from "popping" out and up when I worked on strength and range with my shoulder. Many people, as soon as the arm goes out or overhead, let that ribcage pop up to "help" the movement, but by letting it get involved they aren't really isolating the shoulder to let it benefit from the exercises.

I wish I had some advice re: the fingers, but I'm having a little trouble picturing it...

thanks guys for these feedbacks, they really help me. Not so sad about snake arms now haha!

Yes it's hard to explain my fingers. The shoulder injury I head affected the nerve that runs through my whole arm; as a result, I notice that when I am trying to keep the fingers in a nice graceful position instead of them being apart, it's really hard.

But I will keep your ideas in mind and will stick to what I CAN do. I have been doing one snake arm while keeping the bad arm behding my head or something. My old dance teacher said there are ways to camouflage it.

Originally Posted by Aslahan

Hi Goldie -

I can't comment on #2, but shoulder problems and shoulder surgery have given me some experience with #1.

First of all, I don't think snake arms really _are_ such a big part of BD, so I wouldn't worry about that very much.

I would approach your problem two ways - first, determine which parts of your range of motion you still have grace and control in, and train your arms there. If you can extend your arms outward gracefully but not overhead, train yourself to use your arms in graceful postures and movements by your sides and held outwards. You're always better off in performance simple avoiding movements you can't do with grace and control. Simple arms can be really lovely.

But second, don't underestimate the body's ability to heal over time. :) I don't know the nature of your injury, but I know 12 years after my shoulder surgery I still continue to gain strength, control, and range of motion by working with my shoulder. One of the most important things I learned (that my physical therapists never mentioned) was to contract my upper abs to keep my ribcage from "popping" out and up when I worked on strength and range with my shoulder. Many people, as soon as the arm goes out or overhead, let that ribcage pop up to "help" the movement, but by letting it get involved they aren't really isolating the shoulder to let it benefit from the exercises.

I wish I had some advice re: the fingers, but I'm having a little trouble picturing it...

Originally Posted by aida21

2. What is the best way to develop a very flexible back in order to do pretty backbends and general moves that involve the back bending?

Find yourself a circus contortion trainer and take a few sessions, they have some great techniques for learning flexibility that you can practice on your own. Flexible backs are made up of 3 threes: natural bone structure of your spine, strength of your front body (abdominals), ability to relax your back body.

Yoga is also very useful, but more oriented towards strength and conditioning.

This of course is only my opinion.