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Pole dancing Injuries Causes and Cures

Pole injuries are common in pole dancing and these range from minor bruises and strains to fractures.

This doesn’t mean you can’t avoid or at least minimize the chances of these accidents from happening.

By simply following safety precautions, you can reduce the risk of injuries when you’re on the dance pole.

We’ve listed some first-aids and practical solutions for common pole dancing injuries.

Bruises

Everyone gets bruises at least a few times in their pole dancing career.

Beginners are the ones most prone to this injury, especially when they’re learning climbs and spins.

Bruises are often seen on the upper arms, ankles, and inner thighs because these parts are in direct contact with the dance pole.

When you use your ankles and inner thighs to keep your hold on the pole during inversions, or your arms for spins and climbs, you rub the pole quite hard which may damage your skin and cause some muscle pains.

Click here to see all the best bruise treatments for pole dancers

Add to that the friction exerted when you do spins and you have the complete recipe for getting bruises.

As a general solution, minor bruises are treated with ice or cold compress; even a pack of frozen vegetables will do the trick.

Immediately apply the cold pack on the bruised area but make sure the ice isn’t directly sitting on the affected area.

This may cause frostbite and just worsen the injury you already have.

Make sure to wrap the ice or frozen vegetables with a cloth and before applying it to the bruised area for approximately 10mins.

Do this every other hour until the pain and swelling subside.

Herbal creams and other ointments used for treating bruises are also available in the market; probably the most popular is Traumeel.

You can apply it using the topical cream variant but you can also ingest it in tablet form.

There’s also this arnica cream which does the same magic but is more readily available in food stores.

Ask your doctor for other available remedies if none of these worked.

Pole Burns

Excessive friction between the dance pole and your skin may cause pole burns.

This is a common injury for those with sensitive skin who haven’t built callouses on parts of their body frequently in contact with the dance pole.

Pole burns are usually found on the inner thighs since the legs do all the gripping when you’re performing sliding moves while inverted on the pole.

Applying ice or cold compress, similar to the procedure mentioned for remedying bruises, is recommended to relieve the pain.

Pole burns usually happen when you’re just beginning to learn a move.

As you get used to that certain exercise, your skin will thicken and you’ll have fewer issues with pole burns.

Muscle Pain

Pole dancing requires you to contract different muscles to perform even a single move.

This muscle exercise is one of the reasons this sports dance continues to gain popularity.

However, this is also one of the leading causes for muscle pains, especially to beginners who just got on the pole for a few days.

Newcomers who haven’t developed the required muscles and techniques for pole dancing routines will surely feel some pain.

Once you get used to the routines and you’ve built the needed muscles to execute the moves, muscle pain becomes quite negligible.

🔴 Follow these 7 steps to cure muscle pain, it’s so easy!

Oftentimes, you’ll experience muscle discomfort that’s neither shooting nor sharp.

Aching muscles due to proper exercise is good because it means you’re stretching some sleeping portions of your body to condition them.

Muscle pains should decrease as you get more accustomed to the moves.

A hot Epsom salt bath is all you need to treat minor muscle pains.

They’re a lot more effective than those expensive bath salts found in specialty boutiques.

Drug stores readily sell Epsom salts in boxes and we recommend you buy them in bulk.

Go for the 10kg bags if you can find them.

They’re cheaper and you’ll use a lot per bath anyway.

When you’re feeling soreness all throughout your body, pour around 4 cups of Epsom salt in your hot bath and dip in.

The Epsom salts help remove toxins and relieve your body of chemicals that cause muscle pains.

Get a quick shower afterwards to wash off all the salts still clinging to your skin and avoid reabsorbing unnecessary compounds.

For storage, you can keep them under the sink or anywhere dry.

Foot Pains

Same with bruises, pole burns, and muscle pains, foot pain is something all pole dancers will eventually experience as they continue their pole dancing training.

Whether you’re wearing trainers, dance shoes, platform shoes, or even exercising in barefoot, foot pains can still strike which is why it’s so frustrating even for experienced pole dancers.

The most common foot injury pole dancers experience is plantar fasciitis which is pain felt on the heels the moment you get out of bed in the morning.

It’s caused by prolonged use of the feet which is unavoidable when you’re performing a routine.

Wearing heels or any kind of platform shoes while pole dancing definitely contributes to foot pains.

Make sure your shoes are comfortable and they fit right.

Also, take breaks to give your feet some rest after a strenuous activity.

There are products like YogaToes‘ in the market which helps in stretching foot and toe muscles.

It can also be used to relieve foot pains.

Sprains


If you’re experiencing sharp, prickling muscle discomfort, it may not be just simple muscle pain but a more severe sprain.

Common muscle pains are caused by stretched muscles that are not frequently exposed to strenuous activities.

Sprains, on the other hand, are caused by the continuous exertion of tissues connected to joints.

Sprains commonly happen on shoulders, knees, and wrists, and athletes are the ones most likely to sustain this kind of damage.

  1. If you feel like you’re experiencing a sprain and not some common muscle pain, remember the RICE procedure. It stands for the following actions:
    Rest ‘ You may think that pain is just part of the training and it’s all in the mind. Although ‘mind over matter’ applies to certain conditions, you should also remember that taking breaks is as important as moving for activity. Resting will help your muscles recover faster and also build your endurance for the long haul.
  2. Ice ‘ Putting ice on the inflamed area will help relieve the pain and cool the muscles down.
  3. Compression ‘ After the muscles have cooled down, wrap them with a compression bandage.
  4. Elevation ‘ Finally, raise the bandaged portion above your head a handful of minutes a day. Do this several times all throughout the day.
    Remember that this is just first aid. If the pain doesn’t subside in a day or two, consult your therapist for proper medical advice.
    It’s important to train your body and get stronger to perform more advanced moves. However, exerting too much stress on your body without properly building up the muscles may lead to serious injuries. Instead of getting better at the pole, you may end up giving up pole dancing because you didn’t take care of your body properly.

Wrist Pain in Pole Dancing

Pole dancing is a very wrist intensive sport and can lead to prolonged wrist pain from any amount of time training with anything that involves wrist taxing movements and elements which is hard to avoid.

The best way to solve these wrist pain issues is to prevent it from happening in the first place by going straight to the source of the cause.

If you are prone to having weaker wrists then there are certain exercises that might help, however, more heavily intensive wrist movements found in Pole dancing can be considered as an unnatural moment and can’t be avoided, which concludes that having a high quality wrist wrap that offers wrist support and wrist flexibility is crucial.

I recently did a review of the Sneakydeez wrist wraps and they offered the right support, comfort, and flexibilities and have had pole dancers in aw in helping them train longer and harder without getting sore wrists.