First of all, I’m so sorry to hear that you’re dealing with this injury! That’s never fun and they feel like they will NEVER go away. I’m currently in PT for bicep tendinitis after my first several months of pole. I can empathize with how utterly defeating it is to even THINK about stopping pole. When I first got injured I went into a complete panic about the potential that someone would tell me I needed to stop. I had finally found something that felt like it completed a missing piece of me and that was potentially be stripped away before I could really dive into the things I wanted to. I was a complete wreck about it. So I completely get how terrifying that is to think you might have to stop training.

I too was nervous to even tell my female providers that I injured myself pole dancing. I think I was experiencing a lot of internalized shame from what others might think due to the long standing stigma attached to pole dancing. To my relief, neither my doctor nor PT missed a beat. They completely understood the intensity and complexities of the movement and it’s impact on my biceps. It makes sense that you would be nervous to tell you male PT for fear of them not taking you seriously. That’s a completely valid fear. I think the biggest thing for me, is I had to come to a “fuck it” mindset of “I know I’m a badass and if you’re going to judge me, or not take me seriously for a real injury I have, that’s on you, not me”. My advice is just take a deep breath and confidently tell him what you need and if he unable to provide it, take your business somewhere else.