Dancing with the Stars" Nancy O'Dell, Jewel, Debi Mazar,and Misty May Treanor,Tom Delay Photos: ABC and theinsider.com
'Dancing with the Stars' Is dancing on the show too dangerous for the stars?
With injuries starting to pile up again on "Dancing with the Stars" fans having dubbed it "The Dancing with the Stars" curse due to all of the injuries suffered by stars during their stints on the show. The latest casualty of the "Dancing with the Stars" curse is Tom Delay who pulled himself out of the show on Tuesday night's results show, with stress fractures in both of his feet.
You can expect some of the stars to have aches and pains, due to the fact, they may not be used to the kind of stress that serious dancing can put on the body. Some of the stars have experience dancing, like Mya, and Aaron Carter, but some of the others are probably using muscles they didn’t know they had. Stuntman Steve-O and former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Melissa Rycroft, "Dancing with the Stars" season 8, suffered injuries, requiring Steve-O to sit out and have his rehearsal performance with Lacey Swimmer judged.
According to "Physio Bench" Virginia Whiteley who is an expert in the rehabilitation of dance injuries, the most common ballroom dancing injuries are, meniscus tears at the knee, plantar fasciitis, hip pain, shin splints, hamstring strains and stress fractures. Whiteley states, "A combination of explosive movement, sudden deceleration and weight bearing rapid change of direction can cause dance injuries. This can 
occur in most weight bearing or shock absorbing joints."
Due to all of the past "Dancing with the Stars" injuries, this season the show has reportedly implemented new training rules. According to professional dancer Cheryl Burke the new training rules include "mandated 30-minute breaks for every two hours of rehearsal, stars won’t be allowed to train for more than five hours daily during the first two weeks, and everyone must take off one full day every week."
Apparently either the stars are not adhering to the new training rules or the rules themselves are not stringent enough. So far this season Debi Mazar has suffered a strained neck muscle in week two, Aaron Carter is suffering from a knee injury, and even pro-dancer Lacey Schwimmer has suffered injuries to the muscles surrounding her hip, just to name a few.
Fans do want to see their favorite stars perform well and put on a good show for their "Dancing with the Stars" votes, however at what cost to the stars. Nancy O'Dell who suffered a torn meniscus in rehearsal, before season 8 of "Dancing with the Stars" even began, underwent surgery and to this day is still unable to run and Jewel who is a seasoned performer suffered a fractured tibia in both legs last season which kept her on crutches for weeks.
While these injuries may not pose much of a problem for some stars, when injury stuck two-time Olympic Volleyball Gold Medal winner Misty-May Treanor in October of 2008, she underwent surgery for a ruptured Achilles tendon, possibly posing problems for her Olympic career. Now with professional snowboarder Louie Vito on this season of "Dancing with the Stars" vying for the 2010 Olympics, is he putting his career in jeopardy by competing and risking a possible injury from dancing?
What do you think of all of the "Dancing with the Stars" injuries, is it worth it? Should "Dancing with the Stars" implement even more stringent rules, even if it is at the cost of some entertainment? Leave a comment below!
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Photos: Debi Mazar-Twitter, Misty-May Treanor-ABC
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