The Use of Stabilization Exercises and Movement Reeducation to Manage Pain and Improve Function in a Dancer with Focal Degenerative Joint Disease of the Spine

Abstract

Little has been written about rehabilitation of low back pain (LBP) specific to the professional dancer. However, there is a rapidly increasing amount of rehabilitation research related to the care of LBP in the general population that may be applied to the dancer population. The purpose of this case report is to describe the physical therapy management of a 37-year-old female professional dancer with a 5-year history of spinal pain and loss of function in the presence of degenerative joint disease at a single segment (T12-L1). Patient interventions focused on stabilization exercises and movement reeducation. The dancer returned to limited dance performance at 6 weeks. At 5 months she had returned to complete dance function, with pain and functional (Oswestry) levels improved from initial values of 7/10 and 48%, respectively, to 1/10 and 26%.