By: Kenzie Sears, PT, DPT, CSCS, and Kim Wolf-King, PT, DPT
There is a common misconception that dancers’ bodies will be “ruined” or “wrecked” when they are older. While dancing is extraordinarily difficult on the body, dancers do not have to live with pain or ailments into adulthood due to injuries from their sport.
Dancers are extremely flexible, as the sport requires them to be. This flexibility can make the dancers’ joints less stable, which can lead to injury. However, Dance Physical Therapy is available to dancers to help them achieve the necessary flexibility and lines they want, while also maintaining strength and stability.
What is Dance Physical Therapy?
Dance physical therapy is a tool dancers, coaches, and studios need to progress athletic performance, rehabilitate athletes from injury, and reduce their likelihood of injury.
Physical therapists are movement experts who, when treating a dancer, can assess the moves that are specifically causing pain. They also screen for strengths and weaknesses that are different on the left versus the right side.
During a dance assessment, we will be specifically looking at your dance skills. If you are falling out of a turn, or if you can’t progress in a certain movement, we will get to the root of why that is. If you want to progress to pointe, or if you progressed to pointe and many issues arose, we can assess your strengths and set goals together.
Based on the goals we set, we can design a program to help you either rehabilitate from an injury specifically to get you performance ready, or we can help you progress your skills so you can land a part or get on a team. Dance physical therapy is here to help dancers progress their skills and perform as safely as possible.
Benefits
Dance physical therapy allows dancers to stay in their sport safely. Alongside this, it helps the dancer and their team achieve:
A Competitive Edge
Whether an individual dancer, their team, or their studio is seeking out dance physical therapy, they will gain a competitive edge. A dance physical therapist can educate each member of the team on how to perform their best.
Communication
Because physical therapists are movement experts, they will have extra cues to help dancers understand new movements. This can help dancers progress and choreographers and teachers communicate better with their team.
Personal Goals
If a dancer wants to get stronger, feel more confident, achieve more skills, land a certain part, or if they want to get onto a team, dance physical therapy can help them do just that. Through goal setting and movement analysis, the physical therapist and the dancer can work together to achieve the task set before them.
No dancer wants to be taken out of a performance due to injury- and, if an injury progresses without being treated early, the sit out time can be longer and longer. Schedule a dance assessment today!