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