beginning very late (26-27) with chronic pain?

[nannah]

Hey there . . .

I'm new to figure skating, new to skatingforums, and new to nearly everything here. I've been skating my whole life (just fooling around on frozen lakes basically), but I never knew there was an ice skating club in my town (why wasn't this thing advertised?), and never knew this opportunity was available to me. I was a varsity synchronized swimmer in college, but afterwards I became ill with fibromyalgia and an autoimmune disease (and let's be honest, there's very few places to synchro swim in the country, haha!).

I'm now 26, and I'm soooo determined to try ice skating for real. I'm going to sign up for classes this year at my local ice skating club. I'm just wondering . . . if anyone has had similar experiences being this late in the game starting --- especially with chronic pain? someone told me ice skating is pretty low impact (ofc if you're not doing jumps! haha), but I'm wondering if anyone with chronic pain has been unable to skate because of their illnesses or if skating has actually helped their pain?

[riley876]

No experience with chronic pain to share, thankfully.

But I do have to say that 26 isn't very late.  96 would be very late.

[icedancer]

I don't have fibromyalgia but I do have chronic mid-back and rib pain and I can tell you that when I skate I feel no pain.

It is that uplifting (to me) -

I have been skating all of my life (took some major time off from 14-32 but otherwise have skated and have been a figure skater and ice dancer since I started skating at 6) -

I say - go for it!!  And 26 is definitely not too late to start. 

Have fun with skating - it is awesome!

[nannah]

:') thank you both so much. this made me feel so much better. it feels like I'm starting at an ancient age compared to when most skaters start, so I'm enormously self-conscious, but it makes me so glad to hear it's not too late!

ahhhh, to feel no pain when you skate. ;___; that would be so incredible. it's also incredibly uplifting. thank you for sharing.

[skategeek]

I started at 43 (not counting some public skating as a kid).  Never too late!  And no matter what else I have going on (bad cold, bad day, bad hair day), I always seem to feel better on the ice.   

[Gina10179202]

It's absolutely never too late to start, that's for sure!

I have a friend who skated with chronic Lyme Disease. I'm not sure on the details but I believe that involved a fair amount of chronic pain/fatigue. She had to take time off sometimes but otherwise she was a beautiful skater who was able to train multiple times per week.

Her YouTube is Emma7639. I believe she recently started skating again actually!

Best of luck.

[nicklaszlo]

I don't know about your situation, but in my experience skating puts less stress on my joints than swimming.  I get hand/wrist pain swimming.

Jumping on ice is much less impact than off-ice.

[ChristyRN]

We had a woman in LTS for a while that was 68. She used a cane off ice. Last I heard, her doctor had finally banned her from the ice.

You're never too old to learn.

[lutefisk]

I'm just now 70--BD was last month.  Only time I've bothered with a cane was after banging my head on the ice.  After a bit of head surgery (they drilled an extra hole in my head to evacuate a subdural hematoma), I threw the cane away and got back out on the ice.  I wear an Ice Halo (among other safety things) now.

[Doubletoe]

I did not have chronic pain, but I started skating at 27.  I just took a group class once a week and practiced on a public session once a week for the first 5 years, then had to take off 5 years because of my work schedule, so I didn't really get serious until 32.  Even so, I managed to master all of the single jumps through axel and also land a few double salchows in competition.  I am now 52 and I'm still skating.  Start now; don't waste time debating it!

[Query]

I don't have fibromyalgia, so I don't really understand the issue. I had chronic pain for a while, when my boots didn't fit, but that has been solved.

If it just causes pain, without tissue damage, that might not directly affect your ability to skate - but you might not enjoy it as much as you otherwise would.

Some web sites say fibromyalgia is accompanied by stiffness. If that means that your muscles are frozen tight, that might interfere with any kind of athletic activity, and might make skating gracefully more difficult - but some web sites say the stiffness can be temporary. Perhaps a warm-up would help?

You might want to talk to your doctor about this. See if he thinks that skating could cause you physical damage, and whether he has any recommendations.

Outdoor skating frequently makes your feet cold, depending on conditions, which might make them more stiff. You may prefer to skate indoors, and to use boots and insoles that keep your feet warm. You may also want to warm up your boots (e.g., with a hair drier) before putting them on. But, again, I don't understand fibromyalgia - try it for your body to see if it helps.

Of course, I'm sure you already know that skates have to be very snugly fit for good skating and to prevent injuries, which based on info at various websites, is likely to cause pain for you. Perhaps the falls won't help either. But if you get skates that are very expertly fit and modified to your feet, and are well padded, there should be no extra-pressure points to create more pain. BTW, if you use very stiff boots, and they fit you very well, they don't need to be quite as tight. For good fit, it helps a lot to find the very best boot fitter you can. Ask around. Some skaters also see a sports podiatrist.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/fibromyalgia/basics/definition/CON-20019243 says

While there is no cure for fibromyalgia, a variety of medications can help control symptoms. Exercise, relaxation and stress-reduction measures also may help.

I assume you have already tried such treatments, and already get whatever benefit you can from them. Hopefully, appropriate treatment helps some.

BTW, I don't know about Minnesota, USA, but there are places in my neck of the woods you could do synchronized swimming, even as an adult. There are also places where you can do other exercises in the water, that don't place a lot of pressure on the feet.

You could try searching at Yahoo or Google for

  +"synchronized swimming" +Minnesota +adult

or

  +"synchronized swimming" +Minnesota +masters

E.g.,

  http://www.mnsynchronettes.org

says it is for "local synchronized swimmers of all ages".

Anyway, does swimming have to be "synchronized" to be fun for you? I presume swimming is a pretty good exercise for someone who needs to stay low impact, and avoid tight shoes or boots, to control pain, at least if you don't take it to the training levels that a competitive swimmer might.

[Newicemom2016]

I think you will be fine.  Go have fun and don't think about it.  There is a dad at my rink that takes the advanced skills class with his 11-12 year old daughter.  He is in his 50's and it's so much fun watching him.  You can do it!

[nannah]

thank you, everyone. :')
(sorry for being mia)

@Gina10179202, thank you for sharing your friend's youtube! it's always inspiring to see other people with chronic pain starting sports. it's definitely a unique problem.
@Doubletoe, thank you so much for sharing! :'D you sound amazing, haha! I'm definitely inspired.

@Query, yeah, fibro is kind of a complicated condition. I've had it for 3 years now, so I'm definitely used to how it limits and affects me. it definitely DOES come with aching stiffness, which is going to be hard to overcome. I'll have to really work on flexibility and stretching. I have a lot of myofascial pain -- my muscles become unnecessarily tight and knotted for sometimes no reason at all; I might start up occupational therapy again (my insurance can cover it, and I hope that will help). I also have trouble walking for long distances, and I hope skating will help (starting gradually ofc).

Ahh, yeah. I wish synchronized swimming classes/clubs were near me, but the nearest clubs are 2 and a half hours away from me. D: simply lap swimming doesn't give me the same satisfaction, and it's very monotonous. :/

I also have Raynaud's Phenomenon (with fibro), which limits circulation to my toes/fingers. but I've looked up some threads here and found some tips to combat that. it's nice to see others here providing helpful info for similar symptoms and stuff. with every reply and new thread I find, I feel a little more confident.

skating classes start in the fall, but hopefully I'll find a friend who can skate with me/help me out or just fiddle around in open skate till then. I'm not going to be able to wait, haha!

again, thanks to all who replied! <3

[Query]

I have no idea whether this will help with your condition, but I find that sitting (and sometimes completely immersing) in a hot tub (actually, a 102-103 degree F whirlpool bath), at the local swimming center, for an extended time, helps relax my muscles, and eliminate muscle soreness from exercise A LOT. You could try that, before and after skating.

That is if there is some place near you with such a facility. If not, maybe a long soak in a bath tub, filled with nice warm water, would help.

(The aquatics center says we can't stay in more than 15 minutes at a time. Hah. I've stayed in a few times for hours, with no ill effects.)

Some athletes have also tried soaking in cold baths to eliminate inflamation and muscle soreness (cryotherapy) - but for me, even the idea is painful. I refuse to try it.

[beginner skater]

Have you tried turmuric in the form of golden paste? Alot of fibromyalgia sufferrers have found it helpful according to the several turmeric users groups on fb

[sampaguita]

I have chronic tight muscles in my back and shoulder area. Every so often I need a massage. Although the muscles are almost always tight, the pain is triggered by stress. When I'm stress-free, I don't feel the pain.

Skating helps with reducing stress, so it actually helps me However, sometimes when the muscle pain is bad, I get a massage first, and then skate the next day.