My elbow hurts

[mizpriz]

Is this normal? I've been playing DDR at home for about 2 weeks, and I'm very uncoordinated. I lose my balance a lot. I've just started trying some songs on Light level, but I'm still mostly on Beginner. Well, my right elbow really hurts a lot now. It feels achy and fatigued even to type. I think the way I hold it when I dance has made it sore. I kind of hold my arms stiff to keep my balance, even though I consciously try to loosen up and just enjoy the dancing. But I think that when I concentrate on getting in "the zone" for the harder steps, I tense up my arms, thus making my elbows sore.

Has anyone else experienced this, and will it go away?

[Dakota]

You're probably tensing up. If you tense up your face you'll tense up every other muscle you have. Just relax and move your legs.

[mizpriz]

Thank you! I paid attention to what I was doing, and I actually was tensing up before a jump, I'd tense my right arm and swing it to give myself momentum. I've tried to stop doing that, and my elbow feels better. I have shin splints too, but as soon as our tougher pads get shipped, I'm going to wear proper footwear.

The good news is that I'm now completely on Light mode. My daughter is now on Standard, she won't let me catch up with her. LOL I have 45 pounds to lose, and this is the first time in my life that I have consistently exercised, because it's so much fun! Sorry for the life story.

It's a little overwhelming learning how to do DDR properly. Are there any FAQ threads on proper technique, steps, and tips? I'm going to go look...

[talon]

in regards to the shin splints, I got them for the first month of play as well, its quite normal, before you start dancing find a place to kneel down, point your toes out behind you and sit down on your heels/shins, then try and get your instep (spot between the top of your foot and the front of your shin) as close to the floor as possable, hold this strech for 10-20 seconds and then releax, repeat a few times before your start playing and your shinsplints should go away. also as you get more use to playing you will find that they go away as well but I recomend this strech for anyone starting out and experiencing this problem.
if you do get them then an heat pack helps get rid of them faster (three mins on five mins off) as does rubbing them vigorusly, I think it has to do with blood flow and encouraging blood to flow to that area.
best wishes and keep at it.

best wishes all.

[mizpriz]

Oh, I didn't know what kind of stretches would be good before playing DDR. Thanks! The shin splints are a little better but the jumps still hurt. Not as bad as before though.

[talon]

part of it is streching, part of it is just geting use to playing. I went through the shin splints and I had them bad but a little streching and alot of practice later I never get them any more.

[mizpriz]

Cool! That's great to know. Shin splints feel like the bones are about to break!

[Misery]

Sorry to disagree Talon.. But this is what i've always heard.

Well, i'll just do some direct quotes.

"The treatment for shin splints is rest. Depending upon severity it is often necessary to completely stop running for a period of time. Generally this is done until day-to-day activities are pain free"

I believe that if you continue to do strenous activity, it'll only make the shin splints worse. Here's another quote on what to do while you have them..

"One can often substitute cross-training activities (e.g., bicycling) for running to help increase the interval between running days"

Of course, these are referring to running, but isn't DDR close enough? If anything, it'd be considered harder on the splints because of the jumps and such..

Stretching and strengthening the calf muscles can help prevent the injury from returning.

Please note that i've only done minor research on this, and uh.. i'm not a doctor or anything.. But my friend got splints from running, and he had to take a break and just do bicycling for a while until they went away. Heat therapy is good in the later stages, but while it's very painful, just use ice.

And then, of course.. The best way to prevent shin splints are to stretch your calf muscles before working out, and just generally strengthing them.

And on a final note, insoles can also help. I use polysorb. They're a bit pricey, but they're the best i've seen. I use the running ones, but those focus on impact towards the heel. Depending on how you play DDR, you should just browse the site and pick one. www.spenco.com/prod_footcare.html

Again, i'm not a doctor. I've just come up with this information from various sources. >_> Quick reply makes this look like a really big post.

[mizpriz]

It's been a while since I've played DDR, I've been very sick and am on a second round of antibiotics. But until I got sick, I hadn't had shin splints in about a week. I think that I just had to get used to the activity, because I kept forgetting to stretch before playing. *blush* I was also having knee pain, but I bought a pair of knee supports and it was instant relief. I now won't play without the knee supports - that is, if I ever get over this bug to be able to play again.