Some ballet injury statistics

While doing some research on ballet injuries I found a study from Orthopedic Journal of Sports Medicine. I found the statistics to be very interesting and wanted to share them.

TYPES OF BALLET INJURIES

• 75% to 91% of all ballet injuries affect the lower extremity
• 39% to 53% of occur in the foot and ankle, specifically
• 29% of dancers have patellofemoral pain syndrome, according to another study
• 91% of dancers report a snapping hip, according to one study. 58% of those dancers have pain from it

INJURY RATES

• Amateur dancers have 0.97 injuries per 1000 dance hours. Professional dancers have a higher incidence of injuries—1.24 injuries per 1000 dance hours. Combined, amateur and professional dancers suffer 1.09 injuries for 1000 dance hours
• Male dancers have a higher injury rate than the females—1.29 injuries per 1000 dance hours compared to 1.03

OVERUSE BALLET INJURIES

• Overuse injuries comprise 75% of all injuries to amateur dancers
• 57% of injuries in professional ballet dancers are overuse injuries

I wanted to show in numbers how injuries affect ballet dancers and how important it is to understanding the demands on their bodies.  Once there is a complete understanding it becomes easier to create a plan to decrease injuries. Here is the link to the full study: https://doi.org/10.1177/2325967115592621.  This is a concise compilation of facts but there are a lot more interesting facts if you were to look at the full study.