Clinical rheumatology
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Compared to elite athletes, elite performers, especially musicians and dancers, invariably lack expert medical backup even though their needs are just as great as the sportspeople. In some countries, this is now being realised and addressed. It is hoped that a new MSc in Performing Arts Medicine, recently introduced in the UK, will go some way towards correcting this, and its syllabus has provided the catalyst for this themed issue.
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This overview is based on the over 30 years of performing arts medicine experience of the author, an orthopaedic surgeon who devoted his professional life entirely to the prevention, diagnostics, and treatment of dancers' and musicians' injuries. After a short introduction on the specific demands of professional dance and music making, it describes some general principles of orthopaedic dance medicine and causes of injuries in dancers. The relation of dance injuries with compensatory mechanisms for insufficient external rotation in the hips is explained, as well as hypermobility and the importance of 'core-stability'. ⋯ In overuse injuries, relative rest supported by 'mental practice' is effective. The specific orthopaedic musicians' medicine section deals with some common injuries of the neck and upper extremities, like (posture related) cervicobrachialgia, and thoracic outlet syndrome. An important group of causes of musicians' injuries form the entrapment neuropathies (especially ulnaropathy), osteoarthritis of the hands and hypermobility.