http://www.articletrader.com/ Articles at ArticleTrader en-us http://www.articletrader.com/health/fitness/how-to-treat-achilles-tendon-injuries-in-a-dancer.html http://www.articletrader.com/health/fitness/how-to-treat-achilles-tendon-injuries-in-a-dancer.html Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 If you do have a problem with the Achilles Tendon, it responds best if treatment is started at an early stage, but even then it may take a while to heal (sometimes in excess of three months) Long-standing Achilles tendonopathy may require an intense rehab program of up to six months. This is because it has usually developed over a long period of time, and is usually due to weaknesses or imbalances in several different areas, so it is important to correct all of these to gain a full recovery.
The keys to successful rehabilitation of Achilles tendonopathy are;
 Early diagnosis and RICE treatment to prevent further damage
 An Eccentric Strengthening Program (described below)
 Correction of any predisposing factors such as muscle tightness, weakness or abnormal movement patterns
 Core Strengthening Program
 Appropriate progression to functional activities and sport-specific rehabilitation.
If you see a therapist, they may do some massage and mobilization techniques to make sure that all the bones in your feet are moving properly. This is very important, as stiffness in the foot may have been one of the major initial causes of the injury.
"Eccentric exercises" are exercises where the muscle is contracting while it is lengthening. This sounds odd, but is possible! While these exercises have been shown in several studies to be the best thing for rehabilitating Achilles problems, they do have the potential to cause damage if performed inappropriately or excessively. You should always start with an adequate warm-up and commence the exercise cautiously. It is normal, however, to get some pain when you begin the strengthening program and at each new load. You should only progress to the next exercise when the previous version is pain-free both during and following the activity, and on the advice of a qualified medical professional. Always ice the area (on a stretch) after doing these exercises.
Eccentric Exercises.
 Bilateral heel drop. Place feet on to the edge of a step in a demi-pointe position (use a barre for support). Slowly, lower your heels below the level of the step. Repeat for three sets of 15, twice a day. Make sure that your feet and arches stay in a good position the whole time! Arches on! Remember not to rise up from the low position. but place your feet back into the starting position. Contracting the calves via rises may aggravate the injury. Do some sets with the knees straight, and some sets with the knees bent to target the deep calf muscles more (Soleus)
 Increase the amount of weight through the injured leg.
 Single leg heel drop. Rise onto demi pointe on the edge of the step with both feet. Transfer the weight to one foot, and slowly lower the heel to below the edge of the step.
 Add weights
NB: Ice should always be applied following exercise.
As with any overuse injury, it is important that the predisposing factors are corrected. Things that any supervising medical professional should be looking at include:
 Generalized tightness of the calf muscles
 Reduced range of motion in the ankle or mid foot joints
 Control of arch and small toe muscles (see: The Perfect Pointe Book!)
 Pelvic Stability
 Abdominal control
Return to activity should be gradual. You may usually return to dancing when any tenderness to touch has settled. Until then it is best to do a 'Floor Barre' to avoid extra loading on the tendons, but to maintain mobility and strength. Doing other exercises such as Pilates will help speed your return to full dancing and stop you from getting too weak! On return to activity, a small heel raise may be used to reduce the load on the Achilles tendon (in both shoes).

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Lisa Howell (B.Phty) is a Physical Therapist (Physiotherapist) based in Sydney, Australia, who specialises in the assessment and treatment of dancers of all ages, from young students to professional level, and teachers. She is dedicated to the education of dancers to help prevent injury, and to develop optimal performance at every level. She produces a FREE weekly dancer’s newsletter with tips on all aspects of dance to help spread her knowledge to the world. To find out more about “The Perfect Pointe Book” or to receive the newsletter, go to www.theperfectpointebook.com


Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/health/fitness/correct-activation-and-use-of-the-gluteal-muscles-in-a-dancer.html http://www.articletrader.com/health/fitness/correct-activation-and-use-of-the-gluteal-muscles-in-a-dancer.html Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 The first thing you have to understand is the difference between your turnout muscles and your gluteals. In 'The Perfect Pointe Book' (A book designed for the education of dancers. Page 54) there are great pictures to demonstrate the difference. The turnout muscles are a group of 6 deep muscles that connect from the bumpy bone on the outside of your hip (greater trochanter) towards your tail bone (sacrum) and other parts of your pelvis. They turn the top bone (femur) of your leg out, and there are six of them so that they can work to turn the hip out, no matter what range the leg is in (helps in a Grande rond de jambe).
Your Gluteal muscles on the other hand, work to extend the hip (in other words, take the leg behind you). There are some other muscles that can also do this job, so often people will have no idea that their bottom is not working properly. The hamstrings and some of the low back muscles will be overused if the gluteals are not switching on properly, especially in an arabesque. The Gluteals should also contract strongly during push off in allegro, and work to control your landing.
If you often feel tight in your low back, and struggle to keep your knee straight in an arabesque derrière, the chances are that you are using the hamstrings to lift the leg, rather than the gluteals. If you do this repeatedly, and especially if you use your hamstrings too much when walking, all the extra contracting will tighten them up, no matter how often you stretch your hamstrings.
Try this simple test to see how well the gluteals are working.
 Lie on your tummy with your legs out straight, in parallel.
 Turn your head to one side and place your fingertips into the middle of each of your bottom muscles.
 Keeping it straight at the knee, lift one leg just off the floor.
 Notice whether anything happens under your fingertips, and even better, note where in the movement it comes on.
 Some people will find it hard to bring the muscle on at all; others will find that it comes on at the end of the range only.
 For some people, it will come on beautifully, automatically!
 To take the maximum load off your hamstrings, the gluteals should start the movement, and then continue to work throughout the movement.
 Test the difference side to side, and test your friends. If you are testing other people, place one hand on the back of their hamstrings and one on their bottom.
 Remember, it is okay for the hamstrings to work a little, we just want the bottom to be doing its fair share!
Once you are sure that the bottom is working, you must know when to use it. I hate hearing girls being told to grip with their bottom throughout class. This is not necessary and will build too much tension in the area. All muscles work best when they are allowed to relax and then contract to perform their specific movement.
Another tip is to see if your bottom muscles come on when you are walking. Especially up stairs or up any incline, the gluteal muscles of the supporting leg should squeeze on a little to take the strain off your hamstrings. If you can master this, you will be amazed at how quickly your flexibility will improve.
The one major time when the gluteal muscles should not be doing too much is when you are just standing in first, second or fifth positions of the feet. The turnout muscles will be gently working to maintain the position; however your gluteal muscles should be reasonably relaxed, and ready for action.

 Stand in parallel, with your finger tips on your bottom.
 Rock your weight back onto your heels and turn the legs out, focusing on starting the movement from your hips.
 Place your toes back down on the floor (you will be in a small first position) and focus on what you are feeling through the hips. Can you keep the thighs turned out with your deep turnout muscles, and still have your outer bottom muscle relaxed? This may take time, and patience, to achieve, but will really improve your dancing.

Using the gluteals and turnout muscles in this way is the secret to improving the mobility of your hips and height of the leg en l'air. You must learn to use the muscles the way they were designed to be used for optimum effectiveness. Further exercises for turnout and gluteal strengthening are available in The Perfect Pointe Book.

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Lisa Howell (B.Phty) is a Physical Therapist (Physiotherapist) based in Sydney, Australia, who specialises in the assessment and treatment of dancers of all ages, from young students to professional level, and teachers. She is dedicated to the education of dancers to help prevent injury, and to develop optimal performance at every level. She produces a FREE weekly dancer’s newsletter with tips on all aspects of dance to help spread her knowledge to the world. To find out more about “The Perfect Pointe Book” or to receive the newsletter, go to www.theperfectpointebook.com

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/health/fitness/improving-the-height-of-demi-pointe-in-a-dancer.html http://www.articletrader.com/health/fitness/improving-the-height-of-demi-pointe-in-a-dancer.html Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500  See how many full height single leg rises you can do in parallel, as a base measure.
 Face a barre or wall with finger tips gently resting for support.
 Stand in parallel to begin, with the feet slightly apart.
 Slowly rise on both feet to your full height of demi pointe.
 Transfer your weight to one foot, maintaining the height of demi-pointe.
 Lift the other foot off the floor and hold your balance on one leg for a few seconds.
 Slowly lower the heel of the supporting leg to the floor, remembering to maintain the inside of your arch.
 Place the lifted foot back to the floor and repeat 10 times each side.
 Once you are confident that you can maintain the full height of demi-pointe, try the same exercise starting in first position, focusing on maintaining turnout as you rise and transfer the weight.
This will help improve the control of all the small muscles of your feet quite quickly. After several weeks of doing this, retest how many full height single leg rises you can do! For a video of this exercise click on the following youtube link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbDrJHItcEU


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Lisa Howell (B.Phty) is a Physical Therapist (Physiotherapist) based in Sydney, Australia, who specialises in the assessment and treatment of dancers of all ages, from young students to professional level, and teachers. She is dedicated to the education of dancers to help prevent injury, and to develop optimal performance at every level. She produces a FREE weekly dancer’s newsletter with tips on all aspects of dance to help spread her knowledge to the world. To find out more about “The Perfect Pointe Book” or to receive the newsletter, go to www.theperfectpointebook.com

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/health/fitness/all-a-dancer-needs-to-know-about-patellofemoral-knee-pain.html http://www.articletrader.com/health/fitness/all-a-dancer-needs-to-know-about-patellofemoral-knee-pain.html Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500 There are several possible reasons for this. One is the classic rolling in of the feet and knees, which we are all aware of. If the dancer is sure that she is not rolling, and still has pain, there could be a problem with one of the Quadriceps muscles on the front of the thigh. 'Quad' means four, and there are four muscles that make up most of the bulk of the thigh. There is one in particular that is very important, Vastus Medialis Oblique - abbreviated as VMO.
This muscle is on the inner part of the quads group, and is the only part that can pull the knee cap slightly in. All of the others pull it out a little. If this muscle is not working, the knee cap can get pulled off to one side, and the under surface can rub a little too much against the thigh bone when you are jumping or bending the knees.
So how can you tell if it is working properly?
 Sit on the floor with the legs extended. If you can’t sit comfortably like this, then sit on a chair with the feet on the floor.
 Put your finger tips on your leg 5cm (2 inches) up from your knee cap and in towards the inside thigh a little (3cm, or just over an inch).
 Slowly straighten you knee completely, and see if you can feel the muscle tighten under your fingers
 Test both legs to see if there is a difference, especially if you have one knee that is sorer than the other.
This muscle can stop working when there is pain in the knee, even if you have just bumped it, so if you find that one is a bit lazy, it is time to start working on it. Often it just takes a little concentration and mind power to get it to switch back on again, but this can make a huge difference to your pain. More advanced exercises should be used once activation of the VMO is achieved and should be guided by a qualified medical professional.

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Lisa Howell (B.Phty) is a Physical Therapist (Physiotherapist) based in Sydney, Australia, who specialises in the assessment and treatment of dancers of all ages, from young students to professional level, and teachers. She is dedicated to the education of dancers to help prevent injury, and to develop optimal performance at every level. She produces a FREE weekly dancer’s newsletter with tips on all aspects of dance to help spread her knowledge to the world. To find out more about “The Perfect Pointe Book” or to receive the newsletter, go to www.theperfectpointebook.com

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]>