Ballet dancers train rigorously year-round both in-season, and out-of-season to prepare their bodies for the strenuous nature of the various ballet performances they put on annually. It is important that ballet dancers engage in cross-training to prevent injury and to protect their bodies. When it comes to staying healthy in or out of ballet season, Active Release Techniques® is an effective treatment to keep ballet dancers healthy and pain-free during their long season and in their off-season.

ART® breaks down scar tissue to muscles, tendons, ligaments, and around nerves to improve function, mobility, and flexibility of an injured tissue. When an injury occurs, it is important to receive a proper evaluation, examination, and history with a health care provider familiar with ballet dancers and their movements.

There are some sports certified chiropractors who work with ballet companies and are ART® certified who are best equipped to treat dancers due to their knowledge, familiarity, and insight. ART® providers with experience in ballet assess and recognize the mechanism of injury first by addressing muscle imbalances followed by a treatment plan to enhance the dancer’s recovery.

Ballet dancers tend to be very strong in turn-out and hence, are more prone to hamstring, groin, hip, knee, and lower back injuries, to name a few. The repetitive motion and overuse of a particular injury makes seeing an ART® provider beneficial to the dancers’ success in healing quickly. ART® providers will treat a dancers’ soft tissue injury (or injuries) efficiently and provide them with likely rehab exercises to prevent re-injury or another injury from occurring.

The success of any ballet dancer’s career is predicated on staying and remaining healthy and ART® helps ballet dancers heal quickly to avoid missing significant time.

Brian Marion DC, CCSP, ART, CKTP

Lincoln Park Chiropractic 2202 N. Lincoln Ave Suite 1 Chicago, IL 60614

(773) 248-2790 www.lincolnparkchiropractic.com