Must The Show Go On? A Qualitative Study Exploring Barriers And Enablers To Manual Therapists' Care Of Dancers.

This article focuses on manual therapists' (MTs) perspectives of providing healthcare to dancers, highlighting the unique challenges they face within the dance industry and dancers' psychosocial contexts. Through qualitative interviews with physiotherapists, osteopaths, and chiropractors experienced in dance medicine, the study identified industry-related barriers such as financial constraints, time pressures, and limited access to care, alongside dancers' complex pain experiences and identity-related psychological pressures. MTs emphasized the need for comprehensive, collaborative, and psychologically informed approaches that extend beyond manual therapy techniques, including dance-specific pain science education and multidisciplinary cooperation among healthcare providers and dance stakeholders. The findings suggest that improving dancers' healthcare requires addressing both individual and systemic factors within the dance environment.