Scorpio pain

Jessica314159 started this discussion · 6/1/2012

I have been working on scorpio for over a month now, and the burn does not seem to go away at all. I see other dancers in videos and it appears that it doesn't hurt horribly for them. If it did not hurt so bad I could hold myself, but I just can't take the pain and slide down to the ground whimpering the whole way. Has anyone else had this problem? What do you do to fix it? I have had other moves burn, but they stopped and it didn't take that long for it to happen.

12 replies

Kyrsten · 6/1/2012
Scorpio was definitely the WORST for me in terms of burning. I had no problem with some of the others people frequently complain about (superman never hurt me) but scorpio gave me hell for probably 2-3 months. The hip hold was pretty bad too because it grips in a similar place as scorpio. But it did go away! And it will for you, unfortunately you just have to keep at it :( Just wantedto say you're definitely not alone. Hang in there!
Jessica314159 · 6/1/2012
Good to know it can take several months for the pain to go away. I'm going to keep on whimpering.. haha!
polergirl · 6/1/2012
I'm one of the lucky ones--inside leg hang never hurt, I got the muscle engagement down right away. I could hang there all day, read a book, drink a cup of tea lol. Outside leg hang, on the other hand. O.M.G. I thought I'd never get over that one. Good news: eventually you'll find your own particular sweet spots, and you'll learn exactly what muscles to engage for your own body, and so many of these moves will stop hurting.
Onga01 · 6/2/2012
It burns for me all the time if i dont get it in the right position. I try to hook my ankle first, slide my torso down and in position then push my knee/thigh into the pole to lock it it while taking my hands off at the same time (make sure your ankle is pushing agensit the pole to try take some of the weight) If i put my thigh on straight away then i find it burns because i have to allow my body to slide down first and that rips on my thighs! This is just me though. Practice practice and dont give up :))
CreativityBySteffie · 6/2/2012
Im so glad im not alone! 😀 I got the gemini down, at it doesnt hurt anymore. But the scorpio? Oooouch! Right now im working on the switches, but I have to start with scorpio to gemini, because of the pain. Im affraid that ill just slide down if I dont get the scorpio in the excact right position, because of the pain.
beaniegoesnuts · 6/2/2012
OMG! when i first started scorpio would give me THE WORST pole burn ever. It took about 6 months but after that the pain went away. I think its because your body subtly finds a way to get in it that causes less drag on the skin. plus your skin just toughens up a bit too. Keep trying! Try different ways to get into it- i find it to be most pain free if i go from gemini to pike to scorpion. (Sometimes though i do wonder if the scorpion actually did get less painful or whether i just discovered more painful moves- allegra makes scorpio seem like the most comfy move in the world!)
CapFeb · 6/2/2012
I actually just did the scorpio and the gemini last night. I've been poleing for about two months and decided that I might try inverting in the air and not from the ground. And that worked pretty well. I've been doing them all day today and have pole burn--but it's actually not on my thigh. I have pole burn on my right outer under arm? I would almost rather have it on my thigh though, the half bruising looks so awkward :/
CapFeb · 6/2/2012
yeah, I learned the hard way not to rush moves. At almost the end of my second month, I thought that I could just teach myself inverting. And I ended up ripping my rotator cuff. So I was off the pole for about a month and a half, and for the first two weeks it hurt too much to even bend and stretch my legs, let alone shoulders or torso. So a month into recovery, I started just doing crunches, reverse crunches, and leg lifts on my pole low to the ground. I did these for two weeks, and just got back to poleing last week. And decided I could try an invert with my new and improved core strength. I didn't want to jump into it, I wanted it to be slow and controlled, so I started in the air. And the rest way history :p it's not very pretty, and I need to work on keeping my hips level and straight as I tend to left one leg infront of the other as opposed to lifting both legs at the same time. But I think that it will get better the more I do it. You know, as soon as my pole burn goes away haha.
chipandchar · 6/2/2012
Scorpio never really hurt me that much, thankfully. But one thing I have learned is, use your entire body to help you grip, not just one little spot. As i was reading the comments, I was just thinking about how much it helped me to really get a "feel" for the pole by curving my body around it and stretching out my limbs to distribute the weight nicely. It felt soooo not secure for the longest time, even though I had that move down. What really helped was to engage my whole body and let go of technique and just get a feel for it. I dont know about other people, but i use the curve above my hip bone and my side, just under the arm pit and the fold of my inner thighs to help support me. I have had moves where I was just thinking, "okay..this is the point of contact. This is what i'm supposed to do...place my hand here, knee here...blah blah blah" and now I know that all of that in addition to molding yourself around it in a way that feels comfortable to you is key. At least in my case it was! If I didn't do that, I felt like I was just torturing my points of contacts...haha...which I still use obviously, but I give those poc's a little help with the rest of my body now! :)
Jessica314159 · 6/3/2012
I've read a some good ideas I will try next time, use more than just my thihg, press my ankle into the pole and wrap myself around it. I get into it with a regular invert and then switch my legs so I just have to let go ith the back leg and it's scorpio. As I was thinking about it with the comments, I don't think I let myself come to equilibrium before I let go and dropping into it. Perhaps it will burn less if I hang out in a regular grip for a second and then let go. On my next pole session I will try all these ideas! Thanks guys!
vickiezoo · 6/4/2012
after 4.5 years of poling scorpio is still not a good move for me its awkward and uncomfortable as a result i don't tend to use it much. I personally find its at its best for me when i go into it from an extended butterfly and i really sweep the leg round. Gemini on the other hand was fine from the start. Many polers seem to hsve either one or the other.
Kyrsten · 6/4/2012
It is so true about most people having one or the other... I'm totally a gemini person lol. My gemini is a million times stronger and I default to it a lot. I still get pole burn from scorpio sometimes. I had a student tell me that she thinks girls with thick/curvy legs tend to prefer scorpio while skinnier girls prefer gemini. Ever since she told me that I kind of paid attention to body type and which move the students had a harder time with... it actually seems to be generally true. Not always, but around 75% of the time I notice :P