Archive for health
January 7, 2008 at 8:43 pm · Filed under dance, injuries, health, stretching, psoas, DR-R, dr. david rosenthal, injury prevention, exercises
The Psoas Syndrome
Happy new year to all. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season.
I wanted to start the new year off with one of the most common sites of injuries for dancers. I am talking about the most powerful hip flexor in the body as well as a powerful trunk flexor, the ILIOPSOAS.
Injury, shortening and contracture of this muscle can cause lowback pain, hip pain, sacroiliac pain, mid back pain, clicking hip and pain down the leg. It is commonly misdiagnosed as a low back strain or a disc bulge or herniation.
It kind of makes you feel that you are off. You seem to walk unbalanced. Common causes of injury are repetitive hip flexion. sleeping in the fetal position, lifting incorrectly, and in a dancers case the constant hip flexion and external rotation seen in a grand plie and a demi-plie.
A brief anatomy lesson of the iliopsoas. The Iliopsoas is made up of the iliacus muscle and the psoas muscle. It attatches from the the lumbar spine and iliac fossa to the lesser trochanter of the hip. It actually connects to your lumbar spine. If this muscle is contracted and is pulling on your spine you can develop a low back pain syndrome.
One way which I check for psoas shortening is the following: You need 2 people for this. Have the patient lie on there back. Have them bring there hands above their head fingers touching. Usually the problematic side will show that one of your arms is shorter than the other. Your fingers won’t meet at the tips. The short side is the dysfunctional one. There are other orthopedic tests for the psoas but that is for the doctors office.
A common release stretch for psoas shortening.
This is a stretch I recommend to my patients for psoas dysfunction (this is not medical advice, please see your doctor before doing any of this)
What is the best treatment for a psoas problem?
The muscle is not outwardly palpable such as the hamstring or biceps muscle. You really need to dig deep to get to the psoas. Stretching helps but rarely eliminates the problem. I have found Active Release Technique to be the most successful treatment in the case of Psoas dysfunction. ART allows you to fully stretch the muscle while breaking down scar tissue and adhesions that develop from repetitive use.
IMPORTANT TIPS
Situps- Make sure to isolate your abs. Many times you recruit the hip flexor or psoas and it takes away from the Abs. This improper situp can cause injury to the psoas. How do I do that?
Place both feet on a wall and do a crunch. Feel the difference.
In cases of LOW BACK PAIN, MAKE SURE YOU GET YOUR PSOAS CHECKED. If you are being treated for Low back pain with adjustments, electric stim, ultrasound, pt, stretching, etc and you are not feeling better after 4 or 5 visits, LOOK TO THE GREAT PRETENDER, THE PSOAS.
Recent Posts by drdavid
November 7, 2007 at 1:59 am · Filed under SLOAN, dance, injuries, dancers, training, health, dancing with the stars
I’m laying low this week. Turns out I have bronchitis. Bummer. But at least I’m at a point right now where I have the ability to really let myself rest (even if it’s against my will).
One of the challenges of being a dancer and depending on your body so much is that when you get sick, it becomes extra challenging, particularly during performance season. You go through it in your head….
How sick am I? If I take today off, or at least take it easy in rehearsals so that I can do the performance, will that be enough rest to feel better?
If I fight through now will I be able to sweat it out?
Do I have time between rehearsals to go to the doctor to get medicine?
I’m really sick but my bosses have told me it is going to be very difficult to replace me for this evening’s performance. Do I get through it and risk blowing the rest of the week? Or make the decision that I absolutely cannot perform?
As I’ve sat and watched some tv the last few days, I came across a feature on how all the competitors on Dancing With the Stars are falling like flies… and most importantly, is the show cursed?
Hmm… most likely it isn’t. I’d attribute it to the fact that dancing is HARD!! Hard on your body, hard on your mind… and if your body isn’t used to an intense environment like that, it has a tendency to shut itself down as a way of telling you to take it a little easier. You wouldn’t jump into a five set tennis match, or a marathon, without having sufficient training. We have to ease ourselves back into rehearsal season after even just a week off.
Maybe they could consider giving the contestants a little more time to build up to the competition…? I don’t know. But what I do know is that dancers are athletes, and there’s probably more training involved than people might think.
:)
photo by doug
Recent Posts by kristin sloan
October 25, 2007 at 3:26 pm · Filed under SLOAN, dance, new york city ballet, recommendations, health, exercise, photography, kyle froman, deanna mcbrearty, in the wings, book, fitness
Recently, two of my peers (current and former, respectively) at New York City Ballet, have launched wonderful new things into the world, driven by their love for dance and desire to share it.
Kyle Froman, who has been shooting photos backstage at NYCB for a number of years, has just published a book called In The Wings. Not only does it have photos from behind-the-scenes at NYCB, Kyle also orders the photos as they would appear over the course of a dancer’s day, and provides great text about that day to accompany the photos.
You can purchase his book from Amazon.com, or if you are in the NY-area, you can meet him at his book signing at the Lincoln Center Barnes & Noble on Nov. 25th.
Also, former NYCB-er Deanna McBrearty has taken her expertise as a dancer, and experience in dance-based workouts (she appeared in the New York City Ballet Workout DVDs and books, and is currently a fitness instructor) to bring the health benefits of dance to a broader audience.
She has started a new fitness regime called Balocity, which incorporates dance principles and techniques into her own new exercise program. She teaches her program at the Trump buildings on the Upper West Side of New York City, and has just released a DVD. There is an informative website for Balocity, rich with video and information about both the program and Deanna herself, and she is currently exploring distribution possibilities.
Way to go Kyle and Deanna!
Recent Posts by kristin sloan
August 5, 2007 at 3:49 pm · Filed under SLOAN, dance, travel, health
Posted by Kristin Sloan
The smoking room at the Atlanta Airport.
What do you think would happen if they slapped a giant Skull and Cross bones decal across that sliding glass door?
Recent Posts by kristin sloan
February 3, 2007 at 8:24 pm · Filed under SLOAN, injuries, washington dc, doctors, health
Posted by Sloan
Image ©Paul Kolnik
Just a heads up…
If you’re a young dance student (or you know one) in the DC area, you may want to check out this dance health event at the Washington School of Ballet.
INJURY PREVENTION FOR ADOLESCENT DANCERS Sunday at 6; registration from 1 to 5. Washington School of Ballet, 3515 Wisconsin Ave. NW. 202-362-3606. Free. For more information, e-mailwellness@nycballet.com.
The superstar team of doctors and therapists that help keep us New York City Ballet dancers going, will be traveling to share their experience and expertise with the young DC dance community.
Dr. William Hamilton - orthopedist
Dr. Linda Hamilton - dance therapist who you may recognize from Dance Magazine
Marika Hatrog - one of the company’s physical therapists
and company chiropractor Larry DeMann Jr.
Here’s an article from the Washington Post with more information.
If anyone goes, let us know how it was!
Recent Posts by kristin sloan
October 10, 2006 at 6:52 pm · Filed under SLOAN, blogs, food, websites, health, tea
| | Posted by Sloan
I’ve just started writing for a new blog called TChing. It’s all about tea, particularly tea’s health benefits and design. Personally, I love green tea for it’s anti-inflammatory and anit-oxidant effects, and also just because it tastes good.
I’ll be writing about different tea houses in New York City, as well as posting about the benefits of tea for athletes. Most of the other writers are uber-experts, so it truly is a wealth of information on tea.
Check it out 
Recent Posts by kristin sloan
