Research: Case Study of Spinous Process Apophysitis in an Adolescent Female Dancer

The case study presented in this article is of a 13 y/o female dancer c/o insidious onset and progressive pain at the thoracolumbar junction and upper lumbar region for approximately 4 months. Her pain progressively increased each week following hip-hop class when she had to practice choreography that included backbends and kip-ups (laying supine on the floor and quickly kicking up to a standing position). Her deep and achy pain that increased in intensity over several hours following training was also increased with trunk extension, but she denied radiating pain, difficulty breathing, or bowel/bladder problems. She received 10 weeks of treatment to alleviate symptoms, the patient had a 2-week break in her dance training. During this break, her symptoms did not improve. At this time, diagnostic imaging was performed to identify a more accurate diagnosis. The plain x-rays and MRI indicated inflammatory apophysitis of the L1-L3 spinous processes. The authors wrote this case study to identify delineations between spinous process apophysitis and the more common and debilitating diagnosis of spondylolysis. While specific symptom patterns and causes of pain will differ between the two conditions, the authors also recommend early x-rays and MRI with STIR sequencing to identify the exact location of the vertebral pathology causing low back pain.


Quinlan E, Reinke T, Bogar WC. Spinous process apophysitis: A cause of low back pain following repetitive hyperextension in an adolescent female dancer. J Dance Med Sci. 2013;17(4):170-4

Research: Injuries in Irish Dance

The authors of this study examined the medical charts of injured Irish dancers who visited their clinic over an 11-year period (from 2000-2010) and investigated common themes among those whose injuries were directly or indirectly related to Irish dance (if the injury was caused by something un-related to dance, the medical chart was not included in the study). Nearly 80% of the injuries found were due to overuse and 95% of all injuries involved the hip or lower extremity. Acute injuries were seen in the medical clinic after a shorter period of time following the injury than the overuse injuries were. One-third of the patients included in this study had only one office visit while just over one-third had four or more visits. No information was given as to whether the patients with only one visit were supposed to return for a follow-up appointment but never did. Interestingly, this study found that acute injuries were more likely to occur on the right side of the body. The most common injury treatment prescribed to these dancers was physical therapy or a home exercise program, with the next most common prescription for immobilization devices (boot, brace, cast, etc.). The patients included in this study were contacted and surveyed regarding the injury in question. Suggestions for injury prevention, as provided by the patients, emphasized stretching and also recommended strengthening or conditioning, the use of shoe support (orthotics, etc), and educating dance teachers.

Stein CJ, Tyson, KD, Johnson VM, et al. Injuries in Irish dance. J Dance Med Sci. 2013;17(4):159-64 

Research: Injury in Professional Irish Dancers

This article is part 2 of a 2-part comprehensive survey of professional Irish dancers, and it focuses on the incidence of injury during a performance tour’s schedule. Three-quarters of the dancers surveyed reported a previous injury. The foot and ankle were the most common sites of injury, consistent with other dance injury literature. In contrast with the timing of injuries in a ballet or modern dance season, this study found the highest rate of injuries to be in the middle of the tour. This difference may be due to the different styles of performance between Irish dance and ballet/modern dance, since Irish dance choreography often does not drastically change from year to year (or at all within a tour/season, like it does for ballet companies).

Research: Job Satisfaction of Professional Irish Dancers

Part 1 of a 2-part comprehensive survey of professional Irish dancers, this article reports results from an online survey of current and retired professional Irish dancers, specifically focusing on attitudes toward careers in dance. Ninety-four percent of those surveyed would recommend a career in Irish dance, praising the opportunity to travel and experience other cultures and the ability to be paid while doing something they love. These findings are encouraging in light of other studies that have found job satisfaction of orchestral musicians to be lower than that of federal prison guards. While touring schedules offer little respite from fellow dancers away from performances and interpersonal problems can arise, the dancers surveyed here reported developing close and long-lasting friendships with their fellow company members. The negative sides of pursuing a career in Irish dance, as identified by the dancers surveyed in this study, included a lack of job security and the risk of pain and injury related to dancing.

Cahalan R, O’Sullivan K. Job satisfaction of professional Irish dancers: Implications for performer health and well-being. J Dance Med Sci. 2013;17(4):139-49