More yippee from accordion

[accordion]

  I am doing spins 

Wobbly, slow, inconsistent with the occasional second revolution.

But - hey - I'm spinnin!

[Janie]

Ooooh congratulations!!!

[VAsk8r]

Congratulations! Spins can be such flirts.

[accordion]

I decided to go and practice spins and other stuff. I now have my lovely Se_Ku pants with protectors. I forgot to put them in so went off to the toilets to put them in.

Back to an almost empty rink. I step out and down. One of the rink's best coaches and his student came over. They smiled, removed my guards and helped me up. I feel old. Happy to report that the hip protectors were very good.

I alternate spin, crossover and mohawk practice. Feel a tad dizzy so just go gently gently in a forward straight line. Bang onto my knees. Oh my! The pain was astonishing. Getting up was quite a struggle.    I could barely breathe for a few minutes, got the shakes for 15 minutes. Had a flat white+sugar to aid the recovery process.

I've now tested the wrist guards, hip protectors and ice halo and can happily report they all work as promised    Knees and elbows are the only bits not protected. Contemplating knee pads now..

[jjane45]

Ouch, glad to hear you are ok.

I got mine in the following order: first the knee and elbow pads after too many bruises built up, wrist guards after a friend broke her wrist, helmet after falling out from a spin, ice halo briefly but settled with padded winter hat at the end, I added hip pads last, and managed to hit the hip hard twice the first day I skated with hip pads...

Would you kindly share little more about your experience with ice halo? Thanks

[accordion]

Hello jjane45 - I fell backwards earlier this year and landed bum - shoulder blades - head. Mild concussion for 48 hrs then a headache for a few days. I used a flat backed bike helmet (Nutcase brand) for a little while but found it overly hot, plus the internal padding was uncomfortable.

I bought the Ice Halo as I did some internet research and decided it was worth a try. Mine is a fluffy pastel blue and matches my eyes. I wore it feeling better than when I was wearing the helmet. It is much lighter than the bike helmet and stays put. I like that it can be re-used after an impact unlike bike helmets. Instead of helmet hair I get "Halo fringe" but that's not so bad. People recognise me because of the colour and fluffiness. It has been quite the conversation starter and I've made several new friends as a result.

I had my blades sharpened just before a class. Lesson starts and we warm up by zig zagging across the ice. I was loving the fresh blade sensation, almost flying across the ice. Unfortunately I was just too fast and could not stop. I face-planted into the hockey glass and bounced back onto my bum. 

My wrist guards took the brunt of my out stretched hands, so no damage. I smashed my left knee into the barrier and it was swollen for a few days. My nose and chin left an imprint on the hockey glass, safe to assume that my forehead would have too. Both my nose and chin were bruised and swollen for almost a week. That was it - no headache and no whiplash. I was a little shaky for about 5 minutes so sat out of the lesson for a bit. A few sips of water and I got up again. 

I checked my nose in a mirror and decided there was no visible bruising or obvious swelling so I would not mention the incident to my family. As I walked into the house Miss 12 looks up and says "Hi Mum - what did you do to your nose?". Miss 7 was concerned that I'd broken my nose so I mentioned the absence of blood and that my nose was still quite straight. Her dancing friend said I needed to toughen up! (Cue one mildly embarrassed mother and a laughing father..) My son said nothing, the next week after lessons he came and checked out my nose and assessed my walking closely before saying "I'm glad you didn't fall over again". My husband said "Oh good it works, please don't test it again".

I wear it always. It can get cosy but it's really not an issue. Very difficult to differentiate between the added warmth from it compared to the added warmth from gloves + wrist guards. It means I wear lighter clothing and don't need tights under my pants. I'm doing more spin work now and am unaware of the Ice Halo. I would not attempt spinning or jumping without protective gear. I'm in the Christmas show in a few weeks and probably won't wear it, or the wrist guards. Hopefully we can wear gloves...