05/22/2025
Knee pain is one of the most common complaints we see in dancers and other athletes between the ages of 11-15. It’s estimated that knee pain is prevalent in 30-35% of adolescent dancers. Also, knee injuries are some of the most common injuries in dancers aged 8-16, making up 40.4% of injuries in this age group. (J Athl Train. 2013 Jan-Feb;48(1):118–123.)
It’s important to understand structurally WHAT the source of the pain is, but also functionally WHY the pain is happening, as most knee pain in young dancers is related to technique, weakness, and/or overuse. It’s important that whomever you’re working with for diagnosis and treatment has a great understanding of the demands of dance, as well as a dancer’s strengths, weakness, technique, and training schedule. In our injury evaluations at PERFORM, this is imperative information so that we can 1) clearly identify the correct injury and 2) provide the most effective and efficient treatment approach to get our dancers back safer, stronger, faster.
Be sure to check out our other posts about sources of knee pain in dancers. Not all knee pain is the same, and a clear diagnosis is essential! Let us know, what other questions do you have about knee pain? We’d love to help!
