Care of a dancer calls for a unique balance between athlete and artist. The physician must familiarize himself or herself with dance terminology, common moves, correct technique, and dancer's mentality. The goal is to work intimately with the dancer to care for the injury and, if possible, continue to participate in portions of dance class to limit anxiety and increase compliance to treatment. The spine is the second most injured area of the body in dancers, and many issues stem from poor technique and muscle imbalance. This often leads to hyperlordosis, spondylolysis, spondylolisthesis, lumbar facet sprain, discogenic back pain, and muscle spasm and piriformis syndrome. This article reviews these causes of low back pain with a focus on dance-related presentation and treatment issues.
This issue provides a clinical overview of plantar fasciitis focusing on prevention, diagnosis, treatment, practice improvement, and patient information. Readers can complete the accompanying CME quiz for 1.5 credits. Only ACP members and individual subscribers can access the electronic features of In the Clinic. Non-subscribers who wish to access this issue of In the Clinic can elect "Pay for View." Subscribers can receive 1.5 category 1 CME credits by completing the CME quiz that accompanies this issue of In the Clinic. The content of In the Clinic is drawn from the clinical information and education resources of the American College of Physicians (ACP), including PIER (Physicians' Information and Education Resource) and MKSAP (Medical Knowledge and Self Assessment Program). Annals of Internal Medicine editors develop In the Clinic from these primary sources in collaboration with the ACP's Medical Education and Publishing division and with assistance of science writers and physician writers. Editorial consultants from PIER and MKSAP provide expert review of the content. Readers who are interested in these primary resources for more detail can consult www.acponline.org, http://pier.acponline.org, and other resources referenced within each issue of In the Clinic.
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