Physical Therapy for Ballet Injuries
Ballet is a full-body art form that demands precise technique with incredible muscular strength and stamina and extreme flexibility and range of motion. Ballet dancers engage in long hours of training and performance involving repetitive movements that contribute to overuse and acute injuries, particularly in the ankle, foot, leg, hip, and lower back. Physical therapists can provide ballet dancers with specialized and customized treatment to help dancers fully recover from injury and effectively restore range of motion, strength, function, and motor control in order to safely return to performance with endurance and power.
Common Ballet Injuries
Ballet is a high-performance activity that requires an advanced level of technical skills to create extraordinary movement with control and extensive range of motion and strength. Ballet dancers put in long hours of training that involve repetitive movements, tremendous flexibility, and incredible physical fitness. Ballet places particular demands on the dancer’s joints like the hip, knee, and foot-ankle complex.
Ballet placed extreme demands on the foot and ankle when dancing “en pointe” (in pointe shoes). When dancing in pointe shoes, the bones, ligaments, and tendons of the foot-ankle complex are placed in a unique position, stretching the soft tissues to their end limits and the talus bone to the end of its anatomical motion. It is critical that ballet dancers wait to dance “en pointe” until skeletal development is mature. If you start too early on pointe when the skeletal development is immature, this can lead to lifelong foot and ankle problems.
The majority (80%) of all ballet-related injuries occur in a ballet dancer’s legs (hips, knees, ankles). Ten to fifteen percent of ballet injuries can occur in the spine and the remaining 5-10% of injuries occur in the upper limb. Injury to the upper limb can occur from a fall or in the lifting partner during a lift sequence. Spinal injuries can happen due to hyperextension or hyperlordosis (increased curvature of the spine) of the lower back and spine. There are several factors that contribute to lower extremity injuries, including incorrect turnout, soft tissue imbalances, reduced quadriceps performance, rolling in of the foot, inversion sprains, improperly fitted footwear, and repetitive plies, pointe, and demi-pointe work that leads to overuse.
Common ballet-related injuries include:
Foot & Ankle Injuries: ankle sprains and impingement, Achilles’ tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, trigger toe, FHL tendonitis, metatarsal bone fractures
Knee Injuries: patellofemoral pain syndrome, meniscus tear, ACL injury, arthritis
Leg & Hip Injuries: IT band syndrome, labral tears, snapping hip syndrome, hip flexor tendinitis, shin splints, stress fractures in the tibia, arthritis
Back Injuries: spondylolysis (stress injury to one of the vertebrae of the spine), low back pain, lumbar strain, herniated discs
Physical Therapy for Ballet Injuries
Physical therapy provides ballet dancers with specialized and customized treatment to help dancers fully recover from injury and effectively restore range of motion, strength, function, and motor control in order to safely return to performance with endurance and power. The physical therapist performs a thorough evaluation, assessing range of motion, strength, balance, function, body mechanics, and motor control. The physical therapist conducts a biomechanical analysis to identify muscle imbalances and weaknesses as well as areas of hyper-mobility or decreased mobility to target and address those areas during treatment and improve overall body function to prevent future injury.
Research has shown that physical therapy interventions, such as manual therapy, stability exercises, and dry needling, were effective in reducing signs and symptoms of injury and improving function, range of motion, and pain levels in ballet dancers. Throughout the rehab process, the therapist targets the foot, hip, and knee with strengthening and stabilization exercises as these joints require a significant amount of strength and stability to absorb the shock of repetitive jumping and turning when dancing.
The therapist can correct motor control issues that have led to injury, address muscle imbalances and weaknesses, and coach the dancer through muscle recruitment, body mechanics, and proprioception as they heal from injury. Physical therapy treatment involves flexibility training, manual therapy, neuromuscular control, functional strengthening and stabilization, and plyometric training within dance-specific movements.
Enhancing core stability is another important aspect of ballet rehabilitation as lack of core stability and control in dancers can increase strain on surrounding joints, bones, and ligaments which increases the risk of injury. A strong core provides support to the spine and assists in aligning the pelvis, which helps the dancer maintain proper movement control in the legs and arms throughout the many movements, postures, and positions in ballet.
Are you a ballet dancer who was recently injured or who wants to prevent injury in the future? Call our physical therapists to begin your rehabilitation journey with a customized and comprehensive exercise and strengthening program to return you to ballet stronger than before!
