IADMS Madrid 2001   [back to the Category]

Dancers’ low back pain and treatment with a specific exercise program   [read the french version]

Author :   Reetta Ronkko, MA, University of Utah,

Dancers’ low back pain and treatment with a specific exercise program

Reetta Ronkko, MA, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

This presentation reports the effects of a specific exercise program on the experience of recurrent or chronic low back pain as well as its effect on the pelvic alignment on 4 individuals, 2 females and 2 males, who are students majoring in modern dance at the University of Utah Modern Dance Department. The study was a series of controlled case studies, and the duration of the study 7 weeks.

Two subjects started exercising on the 2nd week of study after 1 week of baseline measurements for pain and pelvic tilt; the 2 other subjects started 2 weeks later.

General pain and peak pain, the worst pain, were evaluated daily. Eighteen pelvic tilt measurements were taken during the study for each subject. These measurements were done from photographs. The subjects also kept a daily diary about their pain patterns and any changes that the exercise program caused. The exercise program included abdominal and back extensor strengthening, hip flexor stretching, and an exercise to release tension in the low back region.

Attention was paid to the sequencing of the exercises and individual adjustment of repetitions and times in stretches.
The results were both qualitative and quantitative. No significant correlation between pain and pelvic tilt degrees was found except for 1 subject. Three of the subjects experienced a decrease in pain as a result of the exercise program. All 4 subjects felt stronger and more aware of their low back area.

Results may have been affected by minor accidents or illness for 3 of the subjects.

Subject 1 was the only subject who was not affected by either. He also showed a significant correlation (r= 0.83) between the pain and degrees of pelvic tilt.
The pain pattern record showed that the peak low back pain moments were mostly during dance technique classes or rehearsals, possibly indicating that the back is not adequately prepared in normal dance training to respond to technical and performance demands. The exercise program in this study proved to be an efficient tool to address that inadequacy for the 4 subjects and has potential to be developed and modified for incorporation into dancers’ training at home or in class.