Dance Sports Medicine Program

Dance Sports Medicine Program

Our unique program is specifically tailored for the treatment and rehabilitation of dancers to help them get back on their feet.

A dancer moves like no other athlete. The precision, flexibility and repetition of dancers’ movements make them particularly vulnerable to injury. They also require a unique approach to treatment and recovery so dancers can recover quickly without losing learned techniques or muscle memory.

We treat dancers of all backgrounds and abilities, from recreational to pre-professional athletes in classical ballet, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, tap, drill and competitive dance. Our dance sports medicine care team is led by a sports medicine physician with 15 years of experience evaluating and treating pre-professional dancers and is also a member of the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science.

Children’s Health Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine

Plano

469-303-3000

Request an Appointment with codes: Andrews Institute (Sports Medicine)

Refer a Patient with Dance Sports Medicine

Accepted Insurance Plans

Conditions We Treat

When evaluating dance injuries, our care team uses appropriate dance-specific and diagnostic tests to assess foot and ankle flexibility, stability and strength, balance and technique. We treat and manage a range of dance injuries, including:

  • Achilles Tendonitis
  • Hamstring Strain
  • Hip Flexor Tendonitis
  • Stress fractures of the Foot
  • Tendonitis of the Flexor Hallucis Longus

Treatments and Services

  • Dance Specific Functional Movement Screenings
  • Education Courses
  • Emergency Action Plan Assistance
  • Mental Performance Training
  • Nutrition Evaluations and Counseling
  • On-Site Medical Coverage
  • Pre-Pointe Assessments
  • Remote Injury Evaluations
  • Sports Psychology
Children's Health Andrews Institute dance rehabilitation studio with sprung dance floor

The sprung dance floor assists in dance injury rehabilitation and prevention by absorbing shock.

An In-house Harlequin Dance Floor

Our facility at Specialty Center 2 in Plano offers a sophisticated in-house dance floor complete with barre and full-length mirror, intended specifically for rehabilitation, dance injury prevention and performance improvement. Learn more about our state-of-the-art facility.

Focus on reducing the risk of injury and improving performance

When evaluating and treating dance injuries, our team focuses on dual end goals: identifying underlying factors to reduce the risk of injury and correcting technique to enable dancers to perform at their best. We offer a dance-specific injury prevention program, for both injured and uninjured dancers. Trained team members assess dancers’ flexibility, strength and balance and work to correct any deficits that may predispose dancers to future injury.

Dance sports performance services

We also help dancers stay healthy and improve their performance through:

  • Nutrition evaluation and counseling: A balanced, nutritious diet helps dancers stay healthy on and off the dance floor. We offer individualized nutrition counseling that helps dancers understand their nutritional needs, develop meal plans and provide education about how nutrition can affect performance and help prevent injury. We also screen for eating disorders and the female athlete triad (a combination of low energy, irregular periods and low bone density that can lead to serious health consequences).
  • Pre-pointe assessment: In the pre-pointe assessment, designed specifically for ballet dancers, we:
    • Evaluate a dancer's readiness to go en pointe
    • Make recommendations for ways to improve a dancer’s flexibility, strength and balance
    • Recommend strength, flexibility and balance testing, where applicable
  • Artistic Athlete Workshop: a series of videos to educate and support performing arts athletes, parents, teachers and coaches.

Meet the Care Team

  • Dustin Loveland, MD Surgical Director and Chief of Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
  • Kathryn Bauer, MD Orthopedic Sports Medicine Surgeon
  • James Pace, MD Orthopedic Sports Medicine Surgeon
  • John Roaten, MD Orthopedic Sports Medicine Surgeon
  • Troy Smurawa, MD Sports Medicine Physician
  • Laura Henderson, PT, DPT, SCS
    Laura Henderson, PT, DPT, SCS Physical Therapist
  • Holly Nieman, MS, LAT, ATC, EMT, CES
    Holly Nieman, MS, LAT, ATC, EMT, CES Athletic Trainer

Locations

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