Physical limitations of mermaiding

[Oceana]

Hey everyone!

I was just wondering if anyone has ever hit any physical "roadblocks" when it comes to mermaiding, especially in heavier tails (latex/competitor fins or silicone) and how they ended up getting through them.

I'm a very petite person (4"11) and I've started recently to have some pretty intense hip problems, and I'm worried that they may start to effect my mermaiding, or possibly make the problem worse. According to my massage therapist, it's mainly the sciatic nerve but she says I should get checked out by my GP and a physiotherapist. All I know is that I'm scared, and I wanted to know if anyone's gone through anything similar.

If you have, do you have any advice? What helped get you through it, and what (if anything) made it worse?

Anyone? :/

[AniaR]

I do regular physio and chiro makes a huuuuge difference. I have siatic nerve and mega hip problems and this works for me and I'm in my tail long periods of time 3-4 times a week. The hip adjudicator at the gym helps too

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[Winged Mermaid]

All of what Raina said. Chiro and massage therapy need to go hand in hand if at all possible. Otherwise your tense muscles can pull and displace what work the chiro does (I've confirmed this with several professionals). Also STRETCH before you swim, dance, or do anything like that that will be hard on your hips. Even in high school show choir we were taught how important it is to include a hip stretch in our physical warmup, if that tells you anything. (You saw me at Paradiso, I stretched nearly an hour in the morning and when I could on breaks too.) So take the time to take care of your body and stretch well!

[Aziara]

If it is sciatic nerve trouble, there is something you can do to help the pain. I get it occasionally, and this always helps me. The treatment is known as reflexology or acupressure, and is the same theory as acupuncture, except that you're using pressure instead of needles. I learned it from my ND mother. Lie down on your stomach, and get a hairbrush. Depending on how flexible you are, you might have to get someone to help you. Imagine a one inch grid over your whole butt cheek, and press the end of the handle down on each grid square. Count to seven slowly, release. Next, there is a line running down the side of the thigh, usually where racing stripes would be. You might have to feel around until you find it, it will HURT when you get right on it. Hold each spot seven count again. If you're especially bad off, sometime I have to make a grid on the back of the thigh too to get all the spots. Occasinally there's pressure points down in the calf and on either side of the shin. I've always heard that you should repeat the treatment the same number of days as the first digit of your age- 20's = two days, 30's = three days, etc. Just know, if a spot hurts, you can press softer, but make sure you get the full time on it, it's doing good. For me, if I didn't do this, I don't think I could live with it.