Okay, today was my first day and my knees are on fire! They're all red and inflammedAny tips on how to reduce both redness and swelling? The search engine isnt helping me right now!



Okay, today was my first day and my knees are on fire! They're all red and inflammedAny tips on how to reduce both redness and swelling? The search engine isnt helping me right now!
epsom salts, advil and use a blanket on stage when you get on the floor. I know a lot of girls don't use them where you are but trust me your knees will thank you.



When you crawl....dont crawl on your knee caps...I see girls do this regularly!
open your knees when you crawl, it will remove the pressure from the cap to the tissue on the inside of the knee.
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Come Find the Junkie Within!





For me, the swelling and bruising occurred mostly from going from pole/standing for floor. You have to learn how to go down using the pole without going directly on your knees. Try watching the other girls.
Yeah, when I finally got down on the floor, I learned to hold my weight with my arms a little more. You do have to hold yourself differently.
The good thing is, maybe other girls agree - After so many times on the floor, your knees get tougher, or, don't bruise as easily. They get used to it plus as you learn how to move without putting so much pressure the torture should subside.
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~Love From Alexis



Be careful on leaning on the inside of knees too much. I've noticed that when I am on my hands and knees and I stretch forward (my knees unbend while on the stage) my kneecaps have suffered. My kneecaps are basically detached from leaning on the side of them.... they will slide to the side of my knee and it looks pretty nasty. The ligaments are either stretched or gone, really not sure. It can't be healthy.![]()



It could be a Hypermobile Patella or Patellar Dislocation...and BOTH ARE VERY common in women.
Hypermobile is a ligament condition which CAN be corrected. You can strengthen and tighten ligaments.
Patellar Dislocation is caused by injury, twisting the leg during running..or in our case walking in heels, and crawling on the floor.
The patella is displaced during crawling...but for a little medical info....this is also how it is developed...the tissue ossifies during the crawling stage as an infant. Around age 3 for females...4-5 for males. (I guess god figured we females will be on our knees more??)
Tissue ossification only happens when it bears weight.......So...if you were not a crawler..you may not have developed a properly formed patella...which WILL cause minor dislocation factors as an adult.
This will cause the cap to move about the knee, and possible slide to the outside.
Note...you should not CONTINUALLY be on the inside of the knee..when you straighten it out...it centers, or places pressure to the top side of the patella.. It is a rotary action from the inside to the top of the knee. Also using hip action during a crawl reduces the amount of weight and pressure on the patella, by distributing the weight throughout the leg..
www.polejunkies.com
Come Find the Junkie Within!
^^^OUCH!!!
Use a blanket on stage--I have a really soft velvety banket that I fold over a couple of times and since I have been using it I have no knee pain at all!
"I wear tight clothing, high heel shoes
It doesn't mean that I'm a prostitute" En Vogue




Apply arnica lotion whenever you have a chance. It dramatically reduces bruising! Taking Bromelain will also help.





^Yep, that's what I do. I apply Arnica Gel all over my legs and knees right before my shift and I barely bruise anymore. That's great considering my club has no pole on the mainstage and I do lots and lots of floorwork. I also take warm Epsom Salt baths after work.

There is this AMAZING stuff that you can get in the U.S. at health stores (like GMC, but not GMC specifically - they don't carry it for some reason) It's a liquid, and it's called
DMSO
It's amazing stuff. If you use it when you get banged up it reduces if not prevents your bruises and inflammation from happening, and when used on existing bruises and inflammation it takes a bruise that might take a week to go away, and fades it within days, and sometimes hours... yes hours!
DMSO is commonly used on joints, especially on people with arthritis. A lover of mine is a metal guitarist who has not been able to perform for a year because the arthritis in his fingers had gotten so severe that even percs weren't able to help him. I invited him over, and I introduced him to DMSO. At this point, he could barely open and close his hands they were so stiff. So I told him about it, washed his hands, dabbed some on with a cotton ball and let it sit for about 2 minutes. Then, once it absorbed I re-applied, and waited. Literally within minutes he was moving his fingers around. He was baffled and amazed, and told me that within a week he was playing guitar again.
For bruises, it's particularly effective. It reduces the swelling of the trauma area, and fades the bruise very quickly. Last month when I was painting the bathroom, I had the over-the-toilet unit fall and stupid me - I put my leg out to 'catch' it. Well, this thing must weigh 50 pounds and it hit me square in the thigh. I'll admit, I was having a girl's weekend, and we were all a little tipsy - so I didn't notice how badly I had been bruised until the next morning. My thigh had a bruise on it the size of a dinner plate, and as dark as an eggplant! I could barely move my leg without it hurting. So to the DMSO I went. I washed the area well, and applied a liberal amount and let it soak in. Then I put another application on. An hour later, more, and a couple more times that day, yet again. When I woke up the next morning, my bruise had shrunk by 50% and faded enough that I could put makeup on it. By the following day, even more so. This was a bruise that probably would have taken weeks to go away on it's own, and by the end of the week, you'd never know it was even there! Amazing stuff!
Now, just one thing to keep in mind, you must wash the area before you use it, because the nature of the stuff is that it dissolves the inflammation and the bruising, so if you have dirt and germs on your skin, it will dissolve that into your skin and into your body - so just make sure you wash first
Now for some background info on it: DMSO was originally made as a solvent used for printing equipment. It was later discovered to be an amazing medicinal help, but in order to get a patent for it to be sold as medicine in pharmacies it would have cost millions and millions, and because the product had already been in existence and sold for other purposes, the patent they could get wouldn't last long enough before it would be up and every other company would be able to make the same product generically. What this means is they most certainly wouldn't have been able to recoup their costs to patent it for medicine, so they didn't, which is why it's only sold in health stores, along with all the herbal medicines you can't just get like aspirin, tylenol or advil etc.
If you are one of those people who doubt 'natural' remedies, or products that aren't major label, or think that it wont work, or it's all in your head etc, then let me tell you this: Relatives of mine own championship jumping horses. Normally, when show horses take injury they are destroyed because they are no longer usable. Well, if the horse has a broken leg, for example, they use DMSO which brings the bruising and swelling down do drastically, the horses recover well enough they can either return to show, or still perform stud duties (as these horses are very valuable, so their sperm is highly coveted - and purchased by other show jumpers) Now, the horse doesn't know what you're doing, he doesn't know if you're pouring water on it's knee or medicine, but when it goes from being lame to being able to stand up again - you know it works. You can't fake placebo on animals
Anyhow, I'm sorry for the long post. I know I only have a couple of posts here so far, but I really wanted to share this because it just plain works! I'm learning to dance, and I bruise so easily, I wouldn't be allowed on stage without pants if it weren't for DMSO! But don't take it from me, do your own research, there are tons of websites with info, and other testimonials even on this site (though they are few - DMSO is not commonly known).
to snow white: This can help your knees a lot, reducing inflammation, thereby reducing pain. I cannot recommend this enough
xox
Violet





Thank you so much for this! I am surprised I didn't think of it lol. I always got horrible bruises from putting pressure on my knee caps, I recently started putting the weight just under the knee caps and it's made a world of difference. And I try putting more weight on my arms.![]()





When I crawl, I put the weight on my arms and slide my knee way forward almost past my arms, then lean up or sit back a bit, repeat. Basically keep it low, use your back foot for leverage. Looks sexy, provides a stretch to the back leg/pelvic muscles (if you leave it straight).
When going from pole to floor, I slide right down onto my butt. Lotsa cushion there.![]()

..i was about to post the exact same thread.
monday was my first night onstage, tonight was my first on the pole.
don't ask me why i wanted to get crazy and do the
suspeding yourself by your legs thing my first time,
it just felt right.
now it feels like HELL
(at least it looked good)
i'm going out to get DMSO AND arnica gel tomorrow AND taking an epsom salt bath
AND taking naproxen and if i can find it,
any painkiller available.
all of this is aggravated by me not even breaking $100 tonight![]()
arnica gel is great for bruising (u can purchase at gnc). apply several times and it really works. Also, I just recently I started wearing stockings and it is much easier to manuver on the stage without the friction. I have noticed a drastic difference in less floor burns on my knees. However, with stockings I have to wear shoes with straps around my ankles otherwise my heels fall off because they are not secured to my feet. Your knees will get used to it after a while.



i had found something at our local drug emporium called epsomhol which is epsom salts and alcohol put together. it comes in a liquid and a gel form and has 3 different varieties--warming, ice, and wintergreen. i've got the warming and it really does work! don't use that variety with a heating pad though. i had fallen and hurt my hip while i was working on some field moves for my next test level in figure skating (14 years now) and put that on at night. i woke up to a very warm spot on my hip where i had put it. i was able to walk a lot better the next day.
i have never heard of the dmso though till now. i guess i'll have to go get some of that.
even though i've danced for almost 6 years, since i'm not dancing full time now i can say i'm having the same problems with my knees. the bones on the inside of my knees will hurt for days after if i haven't danced in a while. i'm not on the inside of my knees all the time but for the time i am it still causes it to hurt.




Has anyone here worked for a club that forbade you to bring a blanket on stage for this reason?
How do you incorporate it without it looking awkward?
"Don't piss off a motivated stripper."




Back again: my knees look godawful from floor work my first time. It really does look like someone beat me. I hope it settles down before work again, and I'll vary my weight and stance during floor work.
Relieved to hear that the knees do get tougher.
"Don't piss off a motivated stripper."
My 1st night was last night and my knees look like someone hit me with a crowbar. There is NO WAY I can dance tonight until I am healed. Nobody uses a blanket at my club but I think I might incorporate some of those tacky 80's stockings or something on my knees. Do your knees ever toughen up and get used to it?



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^Excellent, VeraLynn - I can't wait for mine to get that way.
My club doesn't have folks using a blanket. Stockings next time for me.
"Don't piss off a motivated stripper."
Stockings might work to disguise my bruises.....but I usually wear clear shoes....and ALWAYS open-toe (loooong toes, wide feet....it's necessary, trust me).....so...can I still wear stockings? Or would I look like a complete dumbass? Open to suggestions here.....I bruise like a peach, and I want to get started at a club soon.......I haven't danced in a long time. Never wore stockings before, and I think the very noticeable bruises hurt business a tad the last time around.
I'm coming out of a long "retirement" and am not looking forward to the bruised knees. I think when I first started, it took about a week or two to get used to it. This is good advice, ladies. Thanks.
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