Dancer hip exercises

Here is a review of some of the key exercises presented at the Just For Kix dance camp. When and how to properly apply them was covered in the live sessions, so please use caution in your exercise selection. This blog post is intended for review of techniques only. Some of the exercises are from the student session, and some are from the coaches' session.

Just for Kix 2014

Thank you for allowing us to share ideas on injury prevention and help dancers get back "in the game" at camp!

Cathedral Dance Festival

Kicking off dance week at the Cathedral Dance Festival with a session on strength & conditioning to improve kicks/battements and leaps! Key take home points identified by participants were the importance of muscle coordination exercises, exercises to strengthen turnout muscles, and ideas on how to balance each side of the hip & core!

Physical Therapists Meaghan Cox & Meredith Butulis at the Cathedral Dance Festival

Bunions?

Have bunions? As Pointe magazine points out, most of the time you don't need a surgeon.

Here are some great tips on how to keep your feet working optimally, as well as work with and prevent bunions often associated with dance.

Here is one tip for point dancers not present in this article: Put a dab of alcohol on a cotton ball. Press the cotton ball into the spot where your bunion typically hits the point shoe. This will soften that spot so it doesn't cause as much discomfort. Be careful with where the alcohol hits the shoe, as it needs to be isolated to just this spot!

This article was written by Meredith Butulis, DPT, who practices at our Eden Prairie location. 

Dance Medicine?

What is the benefit of having dance medicine and allied health providers for dancers? Watch this short video clip to hear some thoughts!

Dancers Improve Your Performance Right Now

You are probably used to coaches, teachers, and choreographers asking for 100% or more, over, and over, and over again. Over the holidays, there is a good chance that you might get a few days or even a week or two off. So, what can you do right now to improve your own performance and get an edge on the competition?

The answer is a word that dancers often don’t like to hear: REST.

Dancer ankle sprains: A serious consideration

Why is even a minor ankle sprain taken so seriously in dance, yet other athletes tape them up an play on them?


The most commonly sprained ligament is called the Anterior Talofibular Ligament (ATFL). It can be injured at a specific moment in time, or the injury can be from repetitive overstretching of the foot into a pointy position (or performance of releve with weight slightly to the outside of the foot).

During releve, the ATFL becomes almost perpendicular to the ground, creating an overstretch situation. If the ligament is already injured, this will likely contribute to making the injury more and more chronic. Even with elastic tape to improve proprioception, there is no evidence that this will decrease the long term complications associated with pushing through the injury to continue dancing.

Even with proper care and rest from sport for 4-6 weeks, one study shows that 40% of athletic patients have pain and dysfunction for 6 months after proper rehabilitation (Gerber, et al,). However, if not properly treated, over 40% of ankle sprains lead to chronic pain and injury even beyond this time (Bennett and Safran).

You can read more about ankle sprains and their management in the Current Commentary from the American College of Sports Medicine.

This article was written by Meredith Butulis, DPT, who works out of our Eden Prairie Office. 

References: 

Bennett WF. Lateral ankle sprains. Part II: acute and chronic treatment. Orthop Rev. 1994;23:504–10.

Gerber, JP, et al (1998). Persistent disability associated with ankle sprains. Foot & Ankle International. 19(10): 653-60.

Safran MR, Benedetti RS, Bartolozzi AR 3d, Mandelbaum BR. Lateral ankle sprains: a comprehensive review. Part 1: etiology, pathoanatomy, histopathogenesis, and diagnosis. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 199931(7 suppl):S429–37.

Over stretching injuries

With our winter dance team season back in session, the number of over stretching injuries have been increasing dramatically. These injuries are not exclusive to dance team though. They are commonly seen in other forms of dance, yoga, and runners.

The most typical injuries I see in this category are the ischial tuberosity stress injury and growth plate injuries.

If you suspect this injury, the most important thing to do is STOP stretching the hamstring on the injured side.

Other things you can do at home that typically help include rest, ice, and foam rolling.



Have questions or comments to share? Please leave us a post!

This article is written by OSR Physical Therapist, Meredith Butulis. Meredith practices in our Eden Prairie office. 

Note: This blog post is not intended as a substitute for appropriate medical evaluation and treatment of injury or suspected injury.

Dance: Go Pro or Go to College?

During the course of a teen's injuries in and out of Physical Therapy, I'm often asked questions about dancer career paths. Depending on your passions and interests, both college and a dance career may be possible.

Here is an interesting blog article about a parent and her teen's professional ballet career.

Ask the Experts Series: Hip Follow Up

OSR Physical Therapist, Meredith Butulis, presented on hip performance and injury prevention as part of the Minnesota Dance Medicine Foundation's Ask the Experts Series on 10/20/13. Here are some key take aways noted by the participants:

1. The hip is like a house with 4 sides. You need to strengthen all of them to have a strong foundation.

2. Pelvis alignment is key! Before strengthening or performing exercises, be sure that the pelvis lines up front to back and side to side.

3. If the pelvis won't stay aligned, see if the ribs are aligned. Performing exercises like child's pose breathing and upper body clocks can allow mobility higher up in the spine that then allows for appropriate pelvis alignment.

4. Activate-strengthen-integrate. When a muscle is inhibited or weak, it cannot contribute to movement correctly, so you get compensations. Compensations over time do lead to injury. Each muscle has a series of possible exercises to activate, then strengthen, then integrate. For example, the psoas can be activated by lying on your back propped up on elbows and then performing a marching of the legs while focusing on core and psoas activation. Adding resistance to this will move to the strengthening step. Performing front battements is an example of integrating this muscle.

5. The TFL and rectus femoris like to compensate for the psoas. The psoas, however, is the only muscle that can flex the hip > 90 degrees with external rotation safely. Therefore finding it, and using it is a critical step in hip health.

Ask the Experts Series Registration now open!

As part of the Ask the Experts series, Meredith Butulis, DPT will be presenting on prevention of hip pain in dancers on Sunday 10/20/13.

Location: Cowles Center, Minneapolis, Studio 7A
Time: 4-6 PM CST
Cost: By donation to the Minnesota Dance Medicine Foundation
Audience: Dancers, parents, teachers, coaches
Register via this link

Dancer taping for cuboid subluxation and navicular support

Minnesota Dance Medicine Conference Recap

Interested in reviewing the handouts from the Minnesota Dance Medicine conference?

Some of them are available via this link!

Hip stability--a key to injury prevention and performance

One of our Physical Therapists, Meredith Butulis, recently presented at the Minnesota Dance Medicine Conference on August 17th and 18th in Minneapolis. She presented on hip strengthening program designs. This included not only exercises, but also sets, reps, technique, and timing to get the maximal benefit.

One recurrent theme in many presentations was hip stability. Hip exercises are not only used for hip injuries and strengthening for kicks and leaps, but also in ankle, knee, and back injury prevention and rehabilitation.

3 exercises that you can incorporate into your daily pre-class warm up are:
1. sidelying leg raises for gluteus medius activation
2. bridges for gluteus maximus activation
3. clams for piriformis/turnout muscle activation

These are 3 muscle groups that determine the stability of your standing leg. The stability of your standing leg not only determines the safety of your hip, knee, and ankle, but also how well your moving leg performs.

Stay tuned next week for how to videos.

Minnesota Dance Medicine Conference

The Minnesota Dance Medicine Foundation is hosting their conference at the Cowles in Minneapolis on August 17th and 18th. Check out their Facebook page to see what types of things you will learn and who is presenting (including one of OSR's PTs)! See their web page for registration.

• Saturday 8/17 event is for Medical/Allied Health Professionals
• Sunday 8/18 event is for dancers, teachers, coaches, and parents

Want to improve your turnout?

Start with the basics of understanding myth vs. fact via this link.

 

Stay tuned as we write more about this topic, tips, and tricks in August!

Have questions or ideas to share? Leave us a post!

Last chance for free admission to MDMF conference

Want to learn about injury prevention, nutrition, common injuries, strengthening exercises, and more just for dancers? Come to the Minnesota Dance Medicine Foundation 6th annual conference at the Cowles in Minneapolis on Sunday, August 18th. You will learn from medical doctors, dance physical therapists, and other allied health dance medicine professionals. The last chance to enter into a drawing for free admission is this Wednesday 7/31!

You can enter into this drawing by liking us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/OSRPTEP) and then sharing the 7/28 post that states: Last chance! MDMF Contest! SHARE this post before July 31st and you will be entered into a drawing for free admission at our 2013 MDMF Conference on SUNDAY 8/18 at the Cowles Center in Minneapolis!

More information on the conference, including the schedule, is available via this link. 

Facebook top picks

As a dancer, keeping your body in great condition is a top priority! Here are two of my top Facebook picks that can offer you credible information to help:

International Association of Dance Medicine and Science

Minnesota Dance Medicine Foundation

The Minnesota Dance Medicine Foundation will be holding their 6th Annual Conference in Minneapolis on August 17th and 18th.

• August 17th: Medical and Allied Health Professionals
• August 18th: Dancers, Parents, Coaches, and Teachers

Click here for more information, including registration. Follow MDMF on Facebook to see what types of things you will learn, ranging from nutrition, to rehab, to performance improvement tips and exercises!


Have others that you want to share? Leave us a post!

Hamstring flexibility

As many area dancers head off to camp, we find hamstring and ischial tuberosity injuries to be among the most frequent. Here is a quick tip on how to warm up your hamstring quickly as part of your injury prevention and peak performance program:


Have questions or ideas to share? Leave us a post!

Ice or heat?

With dance camps in full swing, many dancers will experience muscle strains and other aches and pains. This is often at least partially due to a sudden increase in the amount of activity being performed. Once you have pain, you might ask yourself--ice or heat? Here is a link to a WebMD article to help answer this question and more!

As a quick note for teen dancers, if you feel pain in the following areas, please consider having your injury evaluated as soon as possible:

• Where hamstring inserts onto sits bones
• Shins
• Feet
• low back
• Groin
• Deep pain in front of hip

These are locations of dance injuries that are typically NOT from a muscle strain. Prompt correct diagnoses by a Doctor/Physical Therapist familiar with dance injuries can help you successfully get back to dance and stay in dance as fast as possible.