Physiotherapy   [back to the Category]

lifts   [read the french version]

Author :   Errol Toran, D.C

This month's case is regarding a male dancer who danced with the Alvin Ailey dance company. He came into our office complaining of gradual onset lower back pain. The pain initially onset during a rehearsal period where the choreographer asked him to perform repeated lifts. The pain gradually increased to the point where he could not cambre back, bend to the right or land from a jump, big or small, without severe pain. His arabesque on the right side was low and he could not bend forward.


When he came into the office the pain was so severe that he had difficulty sitting and took a long time to straighten up from a seated position. The x-rays of his lower back showed moderate arthritic degeneration of the right side. The small joints of the 5th lumbar and the sacrum (the small of the back) were under obvious compression partially due to a lateral lumbar curvature and moderate sway back.

The long rehearsal day caused the lower back muscles to fatigue. The repeated lifting by the tired muscles, allowed accentuation of the curves and sway back. The increased strain and compression lead to grinding of the lumbar joint surfaces. The grinding deteriorates the cartilage of the joints and leads to progressive arthritis.

We worked to decompress the dancers lumbar spine. A special technique of flexion distraction was used to stretch the lumbar musculature thus reducing the compressive spasm. With the spasm reduced, we were able to individually stretch the compressed and irritated lumbar segments. The dancer did not stop rehearsal but was partially limited and was told to mark only the movements that were most traumatic. Within a few days he was out of pain and within a few weeks he was dancing full out and did not miss the touring season. He periodically comes in to have the lumbar spine decompressed when he is in town.

The goal in this case was to separate the joints long enough for the tissues to heal and repair. Once that goal was met, the next phase was to show special exercises and stretches to the dancer. The demands of dance will always load the lumbar spine and lead to accelerated degenerative changes. Appropriate recognition and management of this type of condition can help slow the progression of arthritic degenerative changes. A dancer who understands, will make better decisions and have longer careers.