The Dance Docs

Hello and welcome to another episode of The Dance Docs. This week Dr Davenport and I put our heads together to come up with tips for starting the season off right.  From at home screening and some of our favorite exercises, to thoughts on general health and wellness this episode should help you to identify how to set your upcoming season up for success.  We had a great time planning this episode and hope that you get a lot out of it.  

On this weeks episode of The Dance Docs I sit down with Nicole Stalker.  Nicole is a dancer with Miami City Ballet and a yoga instructor.  She and I discussed at how a yoga practice can be beneficial for a dancer, why it can be a great form of cross training, as well as how a yoga instructor may be able to develop or modify a class for dancer.  She brings her wealth of knowledge as a professional dancer, mover and yoga instructor to this vibrant and thought provoking conversation, I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.

On this week's episode of The Dance Docs I sit down with Dr. Caitlin Alexander PT.  Caitlin and I connected a few years ago through a mutual friend and we quickly bonded over our past history as dancers and current love for triathlon.  She has helped me through many of my own injuries and I am so thrilled to sit down with her to discuss running for dancers.  Caitlin is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to running for dancers, whether it's how to safely introduce a dancer to running, or what ways dancers can build the strength needed for running, and so much more.  I hope that you enjoy this conversation with Caitlin, and if you want to check out her great dance videos, or even more information on running check her out on instagram @caitalexander.

As the dance season is winding down and we move into the summer months I always get lots of questions surrounding off season conditioning. Questions like  What conditioning should I be doing? How many days should I be working out? Is running the best way for me to get cardio in? And the list continues. On this week's Episode of The Dance Docs I sit down with Dr. Kathleen Davenport to discuss your questions surrounding cross conditioning, and discuss these questions as well as ideas that we give to many of the dancers that we treat.  

On this week's episode of The Dance Docs I am joined by Jay DIcharry PT out of Oregon.  While Jay may be known in the running community for his book Running Rewired, he has spent plenty of time working with dancers, and has an in-depth knowledge of lower extremity kinematics.  He helps to paint an understanding of how the foot and hip function together and can independently work as drivers of the lower limb, we dive into the spiraling needed for the lower extremity and why the correction of lifting your arches could be locking up a dancer's ability to move freely.  I loved my conversation with Jay and I hope that you do too!

On Today's episode I am joined by Dr. Emily Kraus who is a sports medicine physician out of  Stanford.  Emily is the Director of the Stanford Female Athlete Science and Translational Research program, known as FASTR. The FASTR program seeks to help close the gender gap in sports science research with an emphasis on early identification and interventions to prevent injury and identify ways to optimize performance in female athletes. We sat down to discuss relative energy deficiency in sport better known as RED-S, we talked over common clinical presentations that clinicians may be able to identify, what clinical tests and measures can be used, and how energy deficiency can affect the athlete physically and mentally.

On this week's episode of The Dance Docs Dr. Davenport and I sat down to discuss some popular but unpopular topics such as when to use pain theories when treating patients, why are we still taking weight on screening tools, and is it worth the risk for a dancer with a history of injuries to attend a performing arts high school?  We thought it was important to start answering some of these harder topics for you that historically avoided or pushed off to the side.  I hope you enjoy our conversation.

We are rounding out this months episodes on shoes with a conversation from one of the founders and owners of Apolla performance Kaycee.  Kaycee and I sat down to discuss Apolla Socks, the science behind their products and the greater impact that they are creating in the dance community, including being our primary sponsor for this season.  If you have not heard or checked out Apolla Socks you can find them at apollaperformance.com.  I am a true believer in this company and their greater mission, and my feet have been a little happier since I began wearing their products back in 2017.  I hope that you enjoy my conversation with Kaycee and make sure to listen until the end to find out how you may be able to score a pair of Apolla Socks!

On this weeks Episode of The Dance Docs I sit down with pointe shoe fitter and owner of The Pointe Shop Josephine Lee to talk about pointe shoes.  Whether you want to know a little more about how a pointe shoe should fit, what to consider when going into a fitting or what's up with padding and ribbon's these days this episode is for you. I hope that this episode leaves you wanting to take a deeper look at your shoes whether it's your first pair or your hundredth.

Hello and welcome back to The Dance Docs! During an early episode Dr. Davenport and I mentioned how much we love talking about shoes, and many people responded that they wanted to know more. So on this week's episode Dr. Davenport and I sat down to discuss all things shoes and answer a few listener questions. We cover a wide range from sneakers to dance shoes, running shoes to CAM Boots and everything in between.  I hope that you get a lot out of this conversation on all things shoes.

On this week's episode of The Dance Docs, I sit down with Dr. Scott Leydig PsyD to discuss a listener's question about perfectionism.  Scott and I look a little deeper at what is perfectionism, why it may be common in the dance community, and how to identify and help a dancer who has this kind of mindset.  We round things out with ideas for our teachers and instructors in understanding how to build a supportive environment for the dancer.

On this week's episode of The Dance Docs I sit down with Dr. Jen Davis PT who has transitioned her career into the field of mindset coaching.  We sit down to discuss what is mindset coaching, how this work may be the missing link to your dancer's injury, how to identify a dancer who would benefit from this work and when to refer out to a mindset coach.

On this week's episode of The Dance Docs I sit down with Dr. James Gallegro PT who practices with HSS in New York, to discuss exercise prescription for tendinopathy.  We dive in to discuss historic treatments for tendinopathies along with some of the current research surrounding PT approaches.  We round this episode out looking at the tricky supraspinatus tendon and how to progress a dancer back to full activity.

On this week's episode of The Dance Docs I am joined by Dr Kathleen Davenport MD to dive a little deeper into those nagging tendon injuries.  Helping you to better understand what may lead to a tendon overuse injury, why many clinicians are using the term tendinopathy over tendonitis and discussing what are the current treatment methods being used in the medical community.  

On this episode of The Dance Docs I sit down with Dr. Kathleen Davenport to discuss information on the two COVID-19 vaccines currently being offered in the US.  We dive into answering some of our listener questions, discuss our experience receiving the Pfizer vaccine, as well as some considerations in returning to class, rehearsals or treating after your first and second dose of a vaccine.  As with all of our episodes we do our best to provide you with the most current information and what we discuss on the show is not considered medical advice, if you have any concerns regarding the vaccine we recommend that you speak directly to your physician.

On this week's episode of The Dance Docs I sit down with Dr Emily Noe PT to discuss a listener's question on organizing a conditioning program, we dig bit deeper into why we tend to focus on deep muscle activation before the superficial muscles, and how both concentric and eccentric training do not cause bulky muscles and are a great addition to any conditioning program.  

On this weeks episode of The Dance Docs Dr. Kat Bower PT sits down with Dr. Emily Noe PT out of Oakland CA to discuss how to incorporate and tailor a conditioning plan that will incorporate strength, endurance and power.  We hope that this information will spark your thought process in developing your cross conditioning program and help to progress you back to your pre pandemic dance level injury free.   

On this week's episode Dr. Kat PT, and Dr. Davenport MD take a look back over our past COVID-19 episodes and update information based on what we now know about the virus, what we have seen work as dancers return to the studio, and what we may need to still consider. We also revisit return to studio conditioning as we are hearing more and more about stress injuries during return to dance.

In some recent interviews with dancers Dr. Davenport MD and Dr. Kat PT realized that dancers have been limiting and modifying their movement much more than we expected. Whether it was due to space, floor surface  or just some extra time off dancers have decreased their jumping, and big movement across the floor. This is something that many dance medicine professionals were concerned about when we realized the length of time dancers would be out of the studios due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  As dancers begin to transition back into the studios whether it's a professional dancer returning for rehearsals, a collegiate level dancer returning for the fall semester, or a studio dancer ramping up their training for the year; there is a high risk for stress injuries.  Dr Davenport and I discuss two stress related injuries that we are concerned about seeing, how they develop, and how to progress back in a safe manner to avoid them.

As this year of uncertainty continues I have heard from dancers and practitioners alike about their struggles and frustrations with our current situation and how it is impacting their mental health.  On This week's episode of The Dance Docs I sit down with Sports Psychologist Dr. Scott Leydig to discuss how to face the unknown, how to stay motivated, and some thoughts on coping with the loss of identity.

As counties begin to increase their guidance on the use of masks indoors and outdoors there has been a lot of talk about whether it is safe for dancers to be taking class, going to competitions, and performing with the use of masks.  We touched on this in an earlier episode and Dr. Kat has written some guidance on the use of masks for dancers, we decided to take a deeper look at whether masks are safe to use in a dance setting.

Meditation has become a hot topic over the last few years and we have discussed it multiple times during previous episodes.  Meditation is both a practice rooted in ancient history and a topic of modern science, and is like exercise for your brain.  I am joined on today's episode of The Whole Dancer by Rebecca Polan who is a body-centered healing coach, my go to for leading a meditation, and she is about to launch her own project embodiyou, an online practice community of like-minded people who meditate, move and practice yoga to feel better, together.

As restrictions are beginning to be lifted many dancers, teachers and companies have reached out with questions on how to safely bring dancers back to the studio. Dr. Kat PT and Dr. Davenport MD have worked to combine their knowledge of the dance environment and the current understanding of COVID-19 to provide information for you to assess how the virus may spread in your location, and some ideas on how to mitigate the risk.  These questions along with the guidelines from your state and local governments can be taken into account when determining what measures you may want to take prior to allowing dancers back into your location. 

On this week's episode of The Dance Docs we return to our segment of The Whole Dancer.  I am joined once again by Dr. Scott Leydig Psy.D. to talk about how to regulate the highs and lows of being at home, the loss of identity that dancers may be facing during this time and how our changes in self-care have potentially led us down a challenging path.  We hope this episode provides you with some insight on how to get through your days and create a brighter outlook for the future.

Over the last few weeks I have begun working with dancers virtually, allowing for more time to assess and address the aches and pains that are usually spot treated until the off season when we have more time.  It has become apparent how important spinal mobility is and how often dancers are able to find alternative pathways to create mobility, especially rotational mobility.  ON this week's episode of the dance docs Dr. Davenport and I will take a deep dive into the anatomy and mechanics of spinal rotation, common movement faults that we tend to see in dancers, and how to work to create a beautiful spiral through the spine. 

On today's episode of The Dance Docs I am joined by the founders of the Veyette Virtual Ballet School Lauren and Francis.  They opened their virtual school in Spring of 2018 and have a deep knowledge of how to operate a virtual classroom.  Since so many companies, colleges and studios have transitioned to a virtual setting I thought it would be a great opportunity  to gain some insight from these two.

In this episode of Ask The Dance Docs, Dr. Davenport and myself cover information on telehealth and the rapid transition made by many health care practitioners.  We discuss what a telehealth session may look like with a health care practitioner, some of the benefits telemedicine has to offer and how to get the most out of your session.  We answer some questions regarding virtual classes and concerns about jumping and floor surfaces as well as staying in shape with limited space

This last week has brought on a new wave of emotions for many of us.  With so many dance companies across the world closing their doors and rescheduling their seasons the questions are coming in with regards to the emotional impacts of not having any clear structure as to when will we return to work, and if there will still be a job for performing artists when all of this is over.  Practitioners in the US have expressed concerns of having to close their small practices that focus on dance medicine as well as being called in to help make life altering decisions should our health care system become overwhelmed.  As PT's we wear so many hats; as your Physical therapist, as your mental therapist, as a care giver, but in times like these I think it's necessary to reach out to the community at large and make sure that you are not only taken care of physically, but mentally and emotionally as well.  The Dance Docs want to make sure that all aspects of dancer health are being addressed throughout the containment process of COVID-19.I am excited about this first segment of The Whole Dancer where I sit down with Sports Psychologist Dr. Scott Leydig. Scott is a clinical sport psychologist who works with athletes, dancers and performers.  Dr. Davenport and myself have both worked with him as part of an interdisciplinary team to help dancers overcome anxiety, depression, coping with injuries and much more. 

The world has been inundated with the rapid response in trying to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus over the last week. In this time of great fear and concern it has been wonderful to see communication open up between professionals, organizations, and the world nations. I have experienced first hand how the PT's from large dance organizations have been e-mailing, calling and sharing current updates and thoughts on how to take care of our dancers during this time.  As many large dance organizations have decided to take preventative measures and shut down Dr. Davenport and I wanted to take this opportunity to discuss the steps dancers can take to maintain their health and wellness during this time away from the studios.  We hope these tips and recommendations will help keep you performance ready  for when your companies, colleges, and studios decide it is safe to re-open their doors.

Thank you for tuning in to the initial episode of Ask the Dance Docs, we are excited that you are joining us today.  On today's episode Dr. Kathleen Davenport MD and myself sit down to discuss our top tips for injury prevention, how to transition from heels to pointe shoes, and what are some supplements to help subdue inflammation.

Hi, and welcome to the Dance Docs Podcast, I am your podcast host Dr. Kat Bower Physical Therapist.   The concept for this podcast was sparked by the thought provoking questions from the dancers that I have worked with over the years.  It is my goal is to create a space where dancers, practitioners, teachers and anyone in the dance community can come to ask their questions regarding dancer health and wellness.  This space is for you.  Our first series of podcasts will be Ask The Dance Docs where myself and Dr. Kathleen L. Davenport MD will focus on  answering your questions on all things musculoskeletal, whether it's how to get over nagging injuries, what are good cross training methods, how many relevés should I really be doing?  We are ready and looking forward to your questions.I am really excited to welcome you to this space and see how it grows.  We look forward to hearing from you and tune in every other week for new episodes!In HealthDr. Kat Bower PT