Breakdancing Injuries…Straight Outta Deutschland

As a physical therapist and researcher, I always marvel at the abilities of breakdancers and often wonder what injury patterns exist among this population of athletes. In a recent study by Kauther et al. in AJSM (2009) entitled “Breakdance Injuries and Overuse Syndromes in Amateurs and Professionals,” the authors provided me with just such information.  Since I live in Brooklyn and work in New York City, I frequently find myself watching breakdancing performances, and felt it was my duty to highlight the results of this study. In this retrospective analysis, 144 breakdancers (40 professionals and 104 amateurs) were surveyed from the “Battle of the Year World Final” which is held in Braunschweig, Germany.  All participants completed a 4-page questionnaire pertaining to general info as well as info related to previous breakdancing injuries.  The major findings of this study are as follows: