The Cedars-Sinai/USC Dance Medicine Center is dedicated to educating professional, student and amateur dancers on how to prevent and minimize dance-related injuries. An innovative partnership between Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the University of Southern California's Dance and Movement Program, the center is led by Glenn Pfeffer, MD, a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon and Director of the Foot and Ankle Center at Cedars-Sinai, and Margo Apostolos, PhD, Associate Professor and Director of Dance at the USC School of Theatre.
In addition to its educational goals, the Cedars-Sinai/USC Dance Medicine Center provides specialized treatment services for injured dancers and conducts research in the prevention and treatment of movement-related injuries.
Dancers, regardless of their level of ability, face risk of injury because of the stress that dance activity places on the body's musculoskeletal system. In addition, newcomers to dance may be unfamiliar with the limits of their own bodies or those of their dance partners. Experienced professional dancers may feel pressure to ignore minor problems until they become chronic or disabling. The Cedars-Sinai/USC Dance Medicine Center can provide dancers throughout Southern California with useful information on injury prevention through a wide range of educational programs. The center's educational efforts also target student dancers at USC through classes taught by Dr. Apostolos and her colleagues.
Dance-related injuries may involve bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments or joints. The lower backs, feet, ankles and knees of dancers are particularly vulnerable. When such injuries do occur, the Cedars-Sinai/USC Dance Medicine Center can assist dancers' recovery from:
- Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries
- Bursitis and tendonitis
- Articular cartilage injury
- Fractures resulting from traumatic injury
- Meniscal tears and injuries
- Strains and sprains
- Stress fractures
The Cedars-Sinai/USC Dance Medicine Center offers specialized therapies for injured dancers at the Cedars-Sinai Orthopaedic Center. The goal of treatment is to rapidly return patients to their prior level of activity with no permanent limitation. The center emphasizes an educational approach, with physicians taking the time to fully explain to each patient the steps he or she must take to make a full recovery and avoid future injury.
The center takes full advantage of Cedars-Sinai's state-of-the-art diagnostic, therapeutic and rehabilitative resources, including:
- Comprehensive, on-site imaging, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and CT scanning
- On-site physical therapists and physiatrists
- Custom-designed braces and splints
- Expertise in diagnostic arthroscopy
