Black and blues
Ah, our friend the bruise.
As we get to shorts-and-skirts season, the evidence of our hobby becomes more of a concern. Your friends may all know you pole dance, but they may not be ready to see the battering that you take. Some of us wear our pole bruises with pride, but others (to prevent significant others from being suspect of assault) opt to try to cover them up, or avoid them entirely.
In most cases, it’s tough to prevent a bruise. When you are first figuring out points of contact for a new trick, or working out how much pressure each point needs to use, it’s pretty likely that you’ll be overdoing it and getting a nice fat bruise the next day. I’ve often heard it stated that when you stop bruising, it’s generally because you aren’t working on any new tricks! If you are bruising severely, from working on tricks you are already familiar with, there may be nutritional or physiological reasons why your body is reacting that way. Some root causes can be deficiencies in vitamin K, iron, or vitamin C or a disorder, like hemophilia or leukemia.
For your typical run of the mill pole bruise though, there is a holy grail, and it is called: Traumeel.
Behold, bruisers– your savior!
Apply this lotion the minute you get home, on the areas that you know will bruise. Apply it as many times as you remember that night. Ice, if the area is swollen. If you have bruising the next day, continued application will help to reduce the severity and duration of the bruise. And that’s it.
I’ve fallen from a height of about two feet directly onto my right knee, with full weight. I knew, the minute I fell, that my knee should be black for about a week. I got home, and iced and traumeel’ed that mofo and the next day, it was like magic: absolutely no bruise. NOTHING.
Traumeel is a homeopathic remedy that I’ve found is much more effective than straight Arnica gel (although Traumeel does contain some arnica). You can buy it online here, or at any natural food or health store. For more information, check out the website of the manufacturer.
Monday’s post: Dance from the Heart.
[...] to deal with one. Acupuncture, massage, and rest do wonders for strains and sprains. Icing and traumeel at first sight of a bruise or soft tissue contusion are a wonder. Learning to recognize when you are [...]
[...] The further you spread your knees, the more you will be able to rest the bottom shin on the pole, rather than the bottom knee. But if you are flexible, you will need to really engage once you are in position, so that your knees don’t continue to slide apart! For a demonstration on the two types of knee hold, please take a look at the video below (and click here to check it out right on YouTube)! Really this move requires that you build up a tolerance but if the pain is excruciating, you are more then likely dropping all the weight onto the bottom knee instead of distributing it equally. Traumeel is your friend to treat the bruises. [...]
I’ve always used arnica gel, and I find that it reduces the time I have a bruise. But I’ve never heard of Traumeel – I’ll have to give it a try! Have you used arnica gel?
I have! Traumeel contains some arnica but I’ve found that it’s much better at preventing bruises and reducing severity than regular Arnica.