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Thread: Health risks with dancing?

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    Senior Member kennedy's Avatar
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    Default Health risks with dancing?

    Being that it's world AIDS day today, I wanted to ask a question. What are the risks for us dancers in relation to STDs? Lap dancing only, no extras, no fluid exchange of any sort... what about poles and stage?
    I have heard so many varying opinions on this and I would like to know some facts. If anyone out there works or has worked in health care...please respond. Hell, even if you just KNOW please respond. I always worry about this shit...paranoid? maybe....

    Thanks,
    Kennedy
    " If I can't be a good example, then I will just have to be a terrible warning."

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    Member shedidwhat's Avatar
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    Default Re: Health risks with dancing?

    kennedy, as a never-danced-yet member of this site that has entered my mind more than a few times! I think that is a good queston and deserves a little bit of attention. I dont want to start dancing on a stage that I must be concerned about health risks either.

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    Senior Member Tonya's Avatar
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    Default Re: Health risks with dancing?

    I think the smoke in the club is the biggest health risk. Theres also ware on the knees from the high heels. I get lower back pain too. I don't see it possible to get an STD from a no/low contact lapdance. If no fluids are involved and no direct gential contact, the risk should be limited to rare "accidents". Herpes can be transmitted through kissing, but you shouldn't be kising your customers, but I've seen dancers do it. As far as the stage and pole, I think the risk is about the same as kids passing germs back and forth on a playground or shaking hands.

    The only club I worked at that had dancers really grinding on the pole also had alcohol and paper towels in the corner of the stage and you were expected to rub the pole down before you left the stage.

    I PM'd you two.

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    Default Re: Health risks with dancing?

    The chance of getting a std is more than 1:100,000,000 if not more. Cigarette smoke by yourself and the second hand smoke would be the biggest hazard. Also broken arches from your shoes is another possibility.

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    Featured Member cash's Avatar
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    Default Re: Health risks with dancing?

    i cant answer this question ...the ladies have already said all that was to be said.....if you are dancing at a club that has poles be sure to clean them before and/or after your shows...besides that i don't think there are any other helth risk...weell i cant say for new york cause there is a no smoking law in effect for club/bars
    good luck when you start dancing
    us: us: us: devil in disguise....

  6. #6
    Jay Zeno
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    Default Re: Health risks with dancing?

    You have a better chance getting something from the dollar bill you pick up from the stage than you do from the pole. But I'd think you'd still want to wipe it down.

    That reminds me - I don't like it when dancers stick money in my mouth.

    Because of their fragility, HIV and other STDs are difficult to catch with casual contact. That's why they're sexually transmitted diseases. But you can, indeed, catch herpes through saliva exchange with someone who is having an outbreak.

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    Senior Member kennedy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Health risks with dancing?

    Thanks for the info... Jason,,,up here in Canada, tippers always put the money in their mouth....I know I know...ugh,,,but tha's how they do it here....they slide up onstage lay on their back with a bill in their mouth. Nothing like the U.S. version where guys just hand them or tuck them in your garter/gstring. (lol...trust me,,,,wish it was!!!)

    I realize that fluid contact is pretty much needed to pass things, but what I mean by lapdance risk is this: I always put my litle bandana down on anything I sit on if I am naked...including someone's lap...but sometimes during a dance this bandana can move out of the way by accidednt....what if the last girl didn't use a bandana...could a virus live in fluid on his pants if any was left from her?
    I know it's a yucky thought, but watching all this AIDS stuff on T.V. today is completely freaking me out! The last thing I would want is to infect my fiance with something because of my work!!! :o
    Do you girl in club with lapdancing worry about this too or am I being waaaayyy too paranoid?
    (I know some of the habits some girls I work with have,,,and I wouldn't touch them with a 10 foot pole! Don't want to unwittingly do so!!)

    Thanks for all the imput...

    Kennedy
    " If I can't be a good example, then I will just have to be a terrible warning."

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    Veteran Member vanilla_dog's Avatar
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    Default Re: Health risks with dancing?

    Staph: At a minimum always sit on a towel in the dressing room.

    Athletes Foot: Barefooted dancers can and do spread it to other dancer's backs and other body parts.
    .
    Money: It's filthy. Dancers pick it up with their asses and pussies. Do not put it in your mouth or teeth.

    Don't lick the pole, your fingers, the stage or anything else.
    I always use instant hand sanitizer after I get off stage and after I handle money.

    Another thing...I don't do pole tricks to avoid injury.

    As for getting HIV from a lap dance...never heard of it. Do you give all nude contact dances in your club? I'd probably worry too...not about HIV as much as herpes, warts, yeast, scabies and who knows what.

    I'm more worried about catching something serious from the nail salon...like hepatitis. I travel contantly and rarely use the same salon twice. Although I bring my own tools I still worry...


    You get what you put up with

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    God/dess Emily's Avatar
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    Default Re: Health risks with dancing?

    not to discredit anyone's opinions, but these are opinions! I have not seen any so-called facts having their sources cited.

    There is obviously a health risk associated with the job. You have to use good judgment to keep yourself away from toxins and diseases.

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    Banned Melonie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Health risks with dancing?

    Actually, the biggest health risks simply come from close proximity exposure to all sorts of guys carrying all sorts of airborne pathogens - from the common cold to the flu to pneumonia to potentially SARS. Second hand smoke is an issue in some clubs with poor air exchange, particularly in the wintertime. But except for deliberately kissing customers (you never know where that mouth has been!), the actual odds of contracting a disease transmitted by body fluids in a club i.e. Hepatitis, Herpes, HIV are infinitesimally small.

    Prior to becoming a dancer, I worked as a respiratory therapist in hospitals. I was exposed to tons of airborne pathogens (and actually caught pneumonia from a hospital patient, and had to undergo 6 months of treatment). I also had to handle AIDS infected blood samples and was at risk of being splattered by patient body fluids daily - a lot riskier environment from a health risk standpoint

  11. #11
    Pamela
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    Default Re: Health risks with dancing?

    Working at a hospital i get more viruses than i ever did working at clubs. I'm talking head cold, flu.

    The only big concern i would have is letting (because we can't avoid being exposed to a cold when working around people, especially around winter when we are all closed up, germ fly!) Anyone body fluids come in contact with me around any opening i have i.e. sore, or my vagina or anus.

    Especially those who give ld's and a guy may come on you, right through the g-string or you are dancing nude.

    On stage it is up to you to wipe the pole down, i have seen many women gring the pole nude, and seconds later another is doing the same thing, because she's right there waiting to use it. I would not come that close to another just walking away from an object and me jumping right on it.

    Other than that, if someone falls and gets a bloody face alot of people in clubs want to help, gettig blood on you is really no good, although it needs an opening to make a direct contact potential problem, all it takes is a cut on the hand or finger and you will worry. (remember the few nurses who got a puncture from a used needle.)

    So, i stay away from these. And i don't put myself at a "risk."
    As for colds, flu bug and smoke, well that is part of the job. We will be exposed.

    Good luck, stay healthy!
    Pamela

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    Veteran Member Miss Courtney's Avatar
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    Default Re: Health risks with dancing?

    Thanks for the info... Jason,,,up here in Canada, tippers always put the money in their mouth....I know I know...ugh,,,but tha's how they do it here....they slide up onstage lay on their back with a bill in their mouth. Nothing like the U.S. version where guys just hand them or tuck them in your garter/gstring. (lol...trust me,,,,wish it was!!!)
    The customers do this at our club too, they put the money in their mouth, I never take it with my mouth though. I tell the customers 'you don't know where that money has been' so next time they think twice about putting it in their mouth.

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    Featured Member ami's Avatar
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    Default Re:Health risks with dancing?

    yeah, here in NY guys put money in thier mouth, girls take money with thier mouth, gross. I have even seen girls take money and put it between thier labia and then have the customer take it with his mouth. its expected as a way for the customer to get closer to the dancer. I think it is just gross and terribly unclassy. I like it when the customer just walks up and throws the money onstage. then I can just pick it all up as I walk off stage. I use antibacterial lotion on my butt chest and hands after being onstage and after giving private dances.

    I think I got ringworm from work. its on my arm and small (maybe penny sized). I put tea tree oil on it and now pachouli and it seems to be clearing up.
    http://www.astdhpphe.org/infect/ringworm.html

    Other health risks I have seen (is that fact enough or just unverified observation?) are increased chance of acne from bacterial contact, small scratches on my cheast from guys stubble, falling offstage because I didnt' have my glasses, bruises from the pole, knee pain from kneeling onstage, stepped on my foot once with my heel. Of course this is aside from the mental anguish that guys will give you.

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    God/dess montythegeek's Avatar
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    Default Re:Health risks with dancing?

    Your greatest health risk is driving to the club, or (more properly) driving home. Factors which put you at added risk --nighttime, fatigue on your part, possible alcohol consumption by you, an additional percentage of drunk drivers on the road at the same time as you because the bars just closed. In your favor -less traffic congestion and fewer vehicles to crash into.

    Second greatest risk in terms of severity but higher in incidence is what Pamela and Melonie said--plain old increased social contact with more people of varied backgrounds and exposures.

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    Default Re:Health risks with dancing?

    If you keep it clean, you shouldn't have to worry.

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    Featured Member LEIGH_LANDON's Avatar
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    Default Re:Health risks with dancing?

    Kennedy you say that in Canada we tip with contact...

    I just HAD to interject with: the money in the mouth tipping is ONLY in Ontario and Quebec.
    The rest of canada is a no touch policy at all. Tipping is either put upon the stage or tossed into a pony jug during a game the dancer may put forth during her floor show for tips a tip in the jug wins a key chain or poster or some such promotional item.

    Just an FYI on that Kennedy.

    Cheers!
    Leigh
    LIVE LONG & PROSPER!
    Leigh Landon

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    Member jagged's Avatar
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    Default Re:Health risks with dancing?

    As a non-smoker secondhand smoke is the biggest health risk I face from working in strip clubs.

    In second place I am worried about my feet and knees--it is possible for your achilles tendon to actually shorten from wearing heels too much and there are old ladies who, because of this, *cannot* wear anything but heels. (Tho I think this mostly happens with women that wear heels ALL the time, not just while working.) Still we are *dancing* on heels, not just walking. I knew a girl who had been dancing 10 years, maybe 35 years old, and broke her leg, and combined with the damage done from the heels, she was never going to dance again. But I'm sure everyone is somewhat different, for me I'm just real careful not to overdo it, if something starts hurting I slow down.

    Germs are somewhat of a concern, and I'm more concerned about getting something from money or the pole than I would be from lapdances in general. Using sanitizer when you get offstage or go backstage is a really good idea. You never know if the girl before you didn't wash her hands after she used the bathroom or something (gross I know), and there's all sorts of nasty stuff on money. If you are giving a lapdance and you think there's even a chance that the guy is going to come, make sure you ask him to let you know and don't be anywhere near him when it happens. If he's a regular or may become one ask him to wear a condom under his pants next time. (Whether you're comfortable with a guy coming while you dance is another issue, of course.) And airborne germs are a risk just as they would be in any other crowded place.

    Another possible risk is your personal safety from the high level of exposure, being stalked, or attacked, or drugged, or something. Being smart and not taking chances will go a long way to reduce that risk (A great book is The Gift of Fear by Gavin DeBecker).

    And finally, Monty is right, driving to and from the club may statistially be the worst risk of all and one we tend to overlook--driving in general is very dangerous, and if you are regularly driving home at 4 in the morning the other drivers on the road are much more likely to be under the influence or high than at other times of day. Or if you have been drinking at work, even if you are under the legal limit, you may still be impaired. (I have been guilty of this myself, can you believe in Sweden they are so conscious of any impairment that the legal limit is .02?)

    All in all, I think the risks of dancing are significantly higher than the average job, yet there are a also a lot of jobs which I'm sure are riskier. In terms of health, I think there are also benefits to dancing which start to push the scale the other way. Dancing can keep you in good shape and this can have all sorts of benefits to your health that you might not get if you were sitting on your ass all day at a desk job. For myself I'm not sure I would be so good about taking care of myself physically if I did not do this for a living.

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