Ballerinas have the skill to make twirling across the stage look effortless, but that’s a testament to their athletic ability and grace. Ballet is an incredibly demanding sport. It necessitates strength, flexibility, balance, grace, and artistic expression. Physical therapy can help ballet dancers prevent and recover from injuries so that they can continue to dance. Regardless of whether you’re in the midst of performance season or you’re taking a summer intensive, repetitive movements for hours on end can lead to injury.

Physical therapy for ballerinas helps you to stay en pointe for longer. Here is what you need to know about some of the challenges that ballet dancers face with physical therapy, common ballet injuries that a physical therapist can help with, and signs that it’s probably time for you to look for a physical therapist. 

The Challenges Ballerinas Face With Physical Therapy

To an outsider looking in, it may seem like a no-brainer for a ballet dancer to go to a physical therapist if they’re hurt. You’re in a very active dance form that pushes the body to its limits – why wouldn’t you want to have injuries taken care of as soon as possible?

Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as that. There are quite a few challenges ballet dancers face when it comes to dealing with injuries, even with the help of a physical therapist. 

Social Stigma And Shame

Given the demanding nature of ballet, there’s unfortunately quite a bit of stigma and shame surrounding injuries. This can lead to a dancer trying to conceal their injury and continuing to dance, even though they’re in pain. 

Mental Distress And Fear For Their Career

Additionally, physical therapy tends to be a more extensive process, lasting for weeks and even months on end. While it may help a dancer recover, being told how long it will take to recover from being hurt can take quite a toll on a dancer’s mental health – especially if they are told that they should take a certain amount of time off of dancing. 

This can be quite a difficult situation, especially if in the midst of rehearsals or performances. Ballet dancers often fear that taking the time needed in order to heal properly will negatively impact their ability to achieve their goals. 

Finding Physical Therapists Who Understand Dance

Dancers also struggle to find physical therapists who understand the demands of ballet. Many a dancer has left a physical therapist’s office with an all clear because they can go about standard daily activities without pain, but then when they try to dance, they find the issue hasn’t been properly resolved. 

These can lead to dancers not obtaining the help that they need and ignoring their pain until it’s gotten to the point where they can no longer dance. It’s crucial to get the help of a physical therapist when you need it in order to continue dancing. Not only can a physical therapist help you recover from an injury, but they can also help you prevent future injuries by teaching you exercises and the like that you can do in order to keep your body in good condition. 

Common Ballet Injuries A Physical Therapist Can Help With

Ballet dancers are more likely to suffer injuries on their lower extremities, from their hips down their legs, and especially with their feet and their ankles. They can also suffer injuries on the upper half of their body, of course, but injuries on the lower half of their body are far more common.

This is especially true because while instructors should wait until a dancer reaches skeletal maturity before recommending that they go en pointe, many dancers start en pointe when they’re very young. This can lead to an increased risk of foot and ankle injuries. Getting your first pair of pointe shoes is one of the most exciting things to happen to a ballet dancer, but instructors must be careful to ensure that the dancer is ready before allowing them to go en pointe. 

Some of the most common ballet injuries that physical therapists treat include:

• Ankle sprains
• Trigger toe
• Tendonitis
• Stress fractures
• Hip impingement
• Snapping hip syndrome
• Labral tears
• Arthritis
• And much, much more

Generally, ballet injuries tend to result from overuse. Dancers, especially those on a pre-professional track or who are professionals, dance for hours on end up to 6 days a week. Poor nutrition is unfortunately very common in ballet, as dancers strive for the “ideal” ballet body, which can increase risk of injury. 

Not only can a physical therapist help you with a ballet injury, they can also educate you on what you can do in order to prevent future injuries. 

Signs You Should Look For A Physical Therapist

Ballet can be painful, which dancers are well aware of, especially when it comes to dancing en pointe. As such, it can be challenging for dancers to know when it’s time to look for a physical therapist. 

Some of the signs that you should seek out medical treatment and physical therapy include:

• Persistent pain
• Pain that increases as you do an activity
• Pain that makes you alter your movements
• Pain that interferes with your daily activities

Ignoring pain can lead to long-lasting damage. No one wants this! 

Wasatch Peak Physical Therapy is here to help you with your physical therapy needs. We’re experienced in treating all kinds of injuries and working with athletes. Whether you have a foot and ankle injury, a hip injury, or something else, we can help. Contact us today to learn more about our physical therapy services. 

Many people struggle with poor posture nowadays. It’s seldom a sign of laziness and more often the result of unconscious habits as we strive to be more comfortable when working at low desks or looking down at books or phones. Unfortunately, what we do every so often can quickly become something we do all the time. It can be incredibly challenging to try to improve your posture, as it requires constant awareness and effort to change what has become unconscious. 

Fortunately, physical therapy can improve your posture by providing you with the professional guidance you need in order to make a lasting change. It is important to do whatever you can to improve your posture, as poor posture can have negative effects on your health and wellness over time.

Here is what you need to know about why posture matters and how physical therapy can improve your posture.

Why Is Good Posture So Important?

All our lives, we get told to sit and stand up straight. This is because good posture is not just aesthetically pleasing, but also important for our overall health. 

When you have poor posture, initially, you may not notice any adverse effects. However, over time, poor posture can result in some of the following issues:

• Shallow breathing
• Impaired balance
• Back, neck, and shoulder pain
• Headaches/migraines
• Increased risk of injury
• Digestive issues
• Struggling to move properly
• Poor circulation
• Poor sleep
• Pinched/constricted nerves
• Spinal misalignment

This is because the longer you have poor posture, the more strain there is on your joints, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Over time, this can cause your spine to go out of alignment. The less often we have good posture, the weaker the muscles that allow us to maintain good posture get, which can make it challenging when you try to improve your posture. The worse your posture is, the more pain you’re likely to be in.

Why Do You Have Bad Posture?

Bad posture is often associated with laziness and boredom, but in truth, many cases of bad posture are the result of unconscious shifting to try to get more comfortable. As our lives have grown more sedentary, with office jobs, TVs, and more, so too has poor posture. Poor posture can also result from illness and injury. 

People typically start to hunch forward to alleviate pressure on their body. Unfortunately, over time, poor posture can end up causing unnecessary stress and strain on your body, leading to some of the adverse effects mentioned above. Left untreated, poor posture can result in even more pain, raises the potential for injury, and puts you at risk for long-term damage.

How Can Physical Therapy Improve Your Posture?

If you struggle to improve your posture, you’re well aware of just how just conscious effort it can take to try to hold your body in alignment. It can even hurt or get achy as you use muscles that have grown accustomed to not being used. As such, it can be very hard to improve your posture on your own. Seeking the help of a professional, like a physical therapist, can provide you with the guidance you need in order to improve your posture in the long-term.

Physical therapy can help you with your posture by strengthening and stretching your muscles so that over time, you have the ability to maintain good posture without even having to think about it. Your physical therapist will help you know what to correct and how to do it. They can provide you with personalized treatment plans in order to help you achieve better posture.

When you start physical therapy, you can expect an evaluation in order to identify the weakened area of your body. From there, your time in physical therapy will be personalized to your specific needs. By increasing your strength and stretching out tense muscles, it will be easier to maintain good posture. Physical therapists can also help to alleviate the pain that poor posture can cause by treating the underlying issue. 

The Benefits Of Improving Your Posture

When you see a physical therapist to work on your posture, you can enjoy not only a more confident stance, but also:

• Improved circulation
• Alleviated pain
• Improved physical function
• Prevention of damage to your spine
• Increased strength and flexibility

Wasatch Peak Physical Therapy provides professional physical therapy services. If you have pain as a result of poor posture, physical therapy may be able to help. Contact your doctor about your options, and they can refer you to us if physical therapy seems like a good treatment option for you. Contact us today to learn more about our services.

If you’re not familiar with the physical therapy world, you may not know what Astym is or when you could benefit from it. Astym is a type of physical therapy that can be beneficial to those with injuries from overuse, scarring, and more. It has an incredibly high success rate and a relatively short treatment period compared to other forms of therapy. Here is what you need to know about Astym, how it works, and when you should seek out an Astym-certified therapist to help you recover from your condition. Let’s dive in!

What Is Astym Therapy?

First things first, what even is Astym? This type of therapy works to regenerate soft tissue, like your tendons and muscles. That’s why this therapy is often used to reduce scar tissue, as well as to work with degenerating and fibrosis tissues, which could be limiting your range of motion or causing you pain. It is non-invasive and very effective for all sorts of complex musculoskeletal conditions. 

It’s based on science (of course!) and is currently the only type of soft tissue therapy that has been developed by major hospitals and universities. It works to resolve even the toughest of cases. Many cases involving scars, muscle strains, tendinosis, and more can lower your quality of life and can be difficult to treat, especially without invasive procedures. Astym was formulated to make healing possible and is proven to help with all sorts of different musculoskeletal conditions. 

It has a 96.5% success rate, has been proven by Level 1 research, and with over 15,000+ positive outcomes and 47 peer-reviewed articles about it, this is a thoroughly tested and incredibly effective treatment. Many people can recover from their injury in an average of 4 weeks when they obtain this type of therapy. 

How Does Astym Therapy Work?

So, how does this type of therapy even work? What makes it so effective? Basically, Astym uses a combination of stimulation and stretching to mobilize your body’s natural healing process so that it can regenerate tissue, then works to strengthen said tissue. 

Your physical therapist will use special instruments in order to detect damaged or defective soft tissue. You’ll likely feel bumps whenever their instrument runs over such tissue. Over time, as your body heals, the bumps will lessen. This method re-establishes your body’s inflammatory response to the targeted area, which helps it with the resorption of scar tissue and regeneration of new tissue.

As new tissue develops, your therapist will personalize a series of stretches and exercises that will strengthen said tissue and help you regain mobility. 

As you see, this type of therapy is noninvasive, and since it works with your body, it helps you recover faster and get back to a pain-free life. 

What Conditions Can Benefit From Astym?

This type of therapy has been developed by qualified, experienced professionals to help with a whole wide range of conditions, such as:

• Carpal tunnel
• Trigger finger
• Wrist sprains
• Shin splints
• Shoulder pain
• Post-surgical scarring
• Post-surgical fibrosis
• Soft tissue changes, such as with degenerative arthritis
• Achilles tendonitis
• Plantar fasciitis
• IT band syndrome
• Tennis elbow
• Hamstring sprains
• Ankle sprains
• And basically any type of chronic or acute soft tissue dysfunction

How Do You Know If Astym Is Right For You?

Are you experiencing chronic soft tissue conditions? Is your movement restricted and you’re in pain? You could be a candidate for Astym. This type of treatment has been clinically proven to work when others have failed, and can help you avoid issues such as: surgery, injections, limitations during recovery, continued problems/disability, and excessive costs, as can often happen when you’re trying and failing to find an effective treatment method. 

If you’re experiencing any of the above conditions, you could be a candidate for Astym. You can consult with a certified therapist in order to determine whether or not this type of therapy is a good option for you. As you may expect, given how thoroughly researched and proven this type of therapy is, your therapist will be careful to conduct a thorough evaluation in order to determine whether or not you can benefit from Astym, or whether another type of therapy would be better for you. 

If it is right for you, your therapist will create a customized treatment plan that is tailored to you and your specific needs so that you can recover and enjoy optimal results. 

Astym Certified Therapists In Northern Utah

Wasatch Peak Physical Therapy has Astym certified therapists. To see if this type of therapy is a good treatment option for you, don’t hesitate to contact us and schedule an evaluation today!