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Bethany Washler
Mr. White
English 12 CP
20 November 2015
Senior Project Research Paper
Introduction
Would the Dance Program benefit from a medical guide that would educate the dancers
on how to treat minor injuries and prevent future injuries? For my senior project I am creating a
guide that dancers can use as a resource when they are injured. The purpose of this guide is to
look at the common dance injuries and see how to treat them, then to look at how to properly
warm up and prevent injuries. Lets look at six of the most common injuries for dancers and see
how the injury is caused, how to treat it, and how to prevent it, next we will look at injury
prevention, last I will talk about the problems I have faced, how my research has affected my
routine as a dancer, and what experiences I have gained from this project.
Research
Neck strain can be caused by a sport injury or a car accident, the common causes of neck
strain can be simply from pulling a muscle from a weird sleeping position or turning your head
(Schiffert). In certain dance styles such as ballet or ballroom you have to maintain a posture or
frame and sometimes a dancer can become fatigued and it can be difficult for them to correctly
hold their frame causing an injury (Riding). When treating neck pain it is important to not
overwork your neck muscles, also take time each day to gently stretch the muscles and most
importantly be patient because recovering can take time (Schiffert). One way to prevent a future
neck injury is to focus on your posture, always keep your shoulders back so your neck is well

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aligned and properly supported by your back (Weiss and Zlatkowski). Another simple way to
prevent a neck injury is to avoid reaching for things that are over your head, and sleeping on
your side properly supporting your neck with a pillow to keep spine as straight as possible
(Schiffert).
Lower back strain and muscle spasms occur when the muscles around the injury are in
contraction constantly (Taylor). Another cause is failing to keep the proper posture when dancing
meaning your alignment is not supported well causing muscle fatigue and discomfort (Weiss and
Zlatkowski). For dancers an injury is often caused by lack of technique or not using the proper
technique, this can be caused by the dancer not applying technique taught by the teacher, or the
dancer is self taught (Battisti). Common treatment for back injuries are applying heat or ice to
the injury, massages, and other exercises (Taylor). Depending on the severity of the strain most
take four to six weeks to heal (Battisti). If this is a recurring back injury it is best to seek
professional help from a chiropractor or a physical therapist, gradually overtime the treatment
can help the alignment of your spine preventing future injuries or discomfort (Taylor). To prevent
a back injury do not overwork your back especially when doing strenuous work such as lifting
someone, and always warm up and stretch properly (Russell).
Anterior and Lateral Snapping Hip Syndrome is often referred to as Snapping Hip
Syndrome by dancers and is a popping or snapping sound from your hip and is usually painless
(Taylor). Anterior is caused by the internal snapping of an iliopsoas tendon over a bony part,
Lateral is caused by the external snapping of the gluteus maximus or IT band over a trochanter
(Jones). If you experience pain when your hip snaps you can use anti-inflammatory medications
or ice to provide temporary relief (Harkness). If there is no pain then there is no treatment needed
(Jones). Iliacus tendonitis is caused by overuse when dancing and the pain is felt at the front of

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the hip (Harkness). To help with the pain it is important for the dancer to get enough rest every
night and not overdo anything in rehearsal and manage rehearsal hours while they are in pain,
instead of dancing full out every time they can sit out and take notes (Russell). To help the
flexibility in the hip joints it is beneficial to do stretches and hold them for about thirty seconds
on the right and left side, also eating foods that are high in calcium is good for healthy and strong
bones (Harkness).
Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome is commonly referred to as runner's knee and happens
when the cartilage of the patella is irritated, which happens when the femur and patella have an
unusual contact (Gannett). If someone suffers from Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome they often
have pain when going up and down stairs, running, sitting for long periods of time, or squatting,
the pain is described as a stiff and achy pain (Hollinger). Physical therapy is often the best
treatment because it can become more serious and painful if you do not do anything about it or
do not seek professional medical advice and treatment, if someone ignores the pain they could
end up having a serious knee surgery down the road which could take months to recover from
(Gannett). To prevent this injury make sure you are always dancing on a floor that has a spring to
it which is good for your joints, and if you feel pain do not ignore it and get it checked out
immediately (Russell).
Posterior Tibial Tendonitis is when the Posterior Tibial is either torn or inflamed and one
of the results of this injury is flatfoot (Geideman and Johnson). One of the tests to see if someone
has flatfoot is by having them tiptoe to observe the strength of their ankle plantar flexor (Young).
There was a study done that looked at two different procedures people went under SPLATT
which is split anterior tendon transfer or SPOTT which is split posterior tendon transfer, after
looking at their range of motion of the ankle and foot both saw good results (Vlachou). For

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treatment that does not involve surgery the patient will most likely be put in a walking boot or
cast then once the cast is removed after three to four months they can have orthotic insoles put in
their shoes to create the proper support for their arches (Geideman and Johnson). If this injury
goes untreated it can cause foot deformity which is a painful complication that you do not want
to put your body through (Vlachou). If you have flat feet it is best to make sure you wear the
right shoes with the right support to prevent the injury from getting worse (Geideman and
Johnson).
Achilles Tendonitis is the pain felt between the heel and the lower calf and is caused by
overusing and training in a short period of time (Harkness). It is common in dancers especially
when they do a saute and land without putting their heels on the floor, this causes a strain on
your achilles tendon (Willes). To treat the pain you can put ice on the area, compress, elevate,
and rest your leg, stretch the muscles twice a day, and if necessary take an anti-inflammatory to
manage the pain (Ratini). For preventing this injury as a dancer try not to dance when tired
because the muscles may give out and that can cause poor technique (Battisti). Make sure you
always stretch out your achilles and calves before you dance and land every jump properly by
working through the feet when you land instead of landing on your whole foot at once, if the
dancer is landing correctly there should not be a loud thump (Willes). If the dancer continuously
uses bad technique their case of achilles tendonitis could end up severe and they could end up in
a boot or cast (Ratini).
Conclusion
Some of the problems I have already had is my research, most of it is not up to date.
Another problem is since I am making a guide for the dance program is it just going to sit in the
classrooms and collect dust or is it going to be actively used by the students. I am considering

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making a digital copy also because some people are more comfortable with technology versus a
printed copy. I am currently seeing a chiropractor so in my presentation I am going to include my
personal experience and how the chiropractor helped the injuries I have which is snapping hip
syndrome and back problems. Since doing all this research on dance injuries I have changed my
routine before I dance, I focus on warming up and stretching really well before doing anything
full out because the consequences of not stretching is worse than taking the time to warm up and
stretch.
I have begun working on the guide and have started gathering all the information I have
on the injuries in the research section of this paper into a word document. I am also working on
the design element of my project. I want the guide to look professional and make sure it is easy
to understand, and if I do a mobile copy I would like it to look professional and be easy to
navigate. Some challenges I may have with creating the guide is the formatting and making sure
the information I have is tremendously helpful for a dancer. My goal is to have the guide
completed, and in the dance classrooms by February 1st. Hopefully within a couple of months
after the guide is finished I would like to talk to any of the dancers who have had injuries and if
they used my guide, and if they did how did it help them. I enjoy helping people in any way I can
and this project allows me to do that, and since I am interested in going into the medical field I
was able to incorporate dance and kinesiology into my project. Another important thing I have
learned from the senior project process as a whole is time management. I had to set time aside
for chiropractor appointments, doing research, writing the paper, working on my guide, and
more.

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Works Cited
Battisti, Jennifer. Lower Back and Lower Limb Injury in Ballet Dancers: Incidence and
Implications. The College at Brockport. n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
Gannett. Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome. Cornell University. 20 July 2015. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
Geideman, William and Johnson, Jeffrey. Posterior Tibial Tendon Dysfunction. Journal of
Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy. Feb. 2000. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
Harkness. Harkness Center For Dance Injuries. NYU Langone Medical Center. n.d. Web. 1
Nov. 2015.
Hollinger, Heather. The Effect of Stretching and Strengthening, on Patellofemoral Pain
Syndrome. Hamline University. 2014. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
Hurley, Nicole. Low Back and Lower Extremity Injuries in Dance: Prevalence, Causes,
Treatment and Prevention. Journal of Kinesiology and Nutrition Research. n.d.
Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
Jones, Stacy. Dance Related Injuries: Hip. Penn State Hershey Medical Center, PA.
31 Dec. 2008. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
Pumberger, Barbara and Usen, Carla. Effectiveness of Eccentric Exercises in the Management of
Chronic Achilles Tendonitis. University of South Australia. Apr. 2007. Web. 1 Nov.
2015.
Ratini, Melinda. Achilles Tendon Injury. 24 Nov. 2014. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
Riding, Teri. Contributions of Muscle Fatigue to a Neuromuscular Neck Injury in
Female Standard Ballroom Dancers. Brigham Young University. 2
Aug. 2006. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.
Russell, Jeffrey. Preventing Dance Injuries: Current Perspectives. J Sports Med. 30 Sep. 2013.

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Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
Schieffert. Neck Pain. Schiffert Health Center. Mar. 2010. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
Taylor, Tiffany. Common Dance Injuries and Treatments of the Hip and Low Back: Interviews
With Physical Therapists Specializing in Dance. Department of Dance University of
Oregon. Jun. 2010. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.
Vlachou, Maria. Split Tendon Transfers for the Correction of Spastic Varus Foot Deformity.
Journal of Foot and Ankle Research. n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
Weiss, David and Zlatkowski, Mimi. Rehabilitation of Dance Injuries to the Shoulder, Lumbar,
Spine, Pelvis, and Hip. 4 Dec. 1996. Web. 1 Nov. 2015.
Willes, Karen. Dance Teacher and Owner of Carousel Dance Studio, 7 Sep. 2015.
Young, Craig. Clinical Examination of the Foot and Ankle. Medical College of Wisconsin. n.d.
Web. 1 Nov. 2015.