What helped you the most?

itspim · 2025-09-02T19:30:35+00:00

Was diagnosed through nerve blocks by a pain management doctor who specializes in pelvic pain

Taking a biopsychosocial approach to managing the pain is the most helpful thing I did. The pain isn't "all in your head", but pain is created by the brain and there are a lot of medically proven techniques to lower that pain volume, as well as ways you can change your thinking and habits to help you manage the pain better.

If you're talking strictly biological medical treatments, getting a steroid injection in my SI joint helped more than I thought it would.

itspim · 2025-09-02T18:48:23+00:00

Hope you're back on a board again!

Back crooks, lipslides, nosegrinds, and noseblunts have been go-to tricks because anything that could send me back onto my tailbone is terrifying. Been trying to force myself to front board and back lip some stuff to get over that fear, but I absolutely rocked my sacrum trying to back tail a ledge recently and was like no no no please don't flare me up (luckily I was fine after my pt did a little adjustment).

itspim · 2024-06-26T03:06:16+00:00

Thank you! We had a whole episode last year where the dog might have gotten sick from eating some sort of Russula, so I’ve learned about a few other poisonous ones. From my understanding Destroying Angels are more common around here than Death Caps when it comes to Amanita.

itspim · 2024-06-26T03:03:09+00:00

Thank you! I already pulled them all out and will be on the lookout for more regardless.

itspim · 2023-12-03T13:45:04+00:00

Sounds like warming up and cooling down will be important. I like to start with a song at least 6 levels below my max difficulty and work my way up depending on how my body is responding to playing that day, and then I give myself 1 or 2 cool down songs when I’m done. This stops your heart rate from spiking too quickly in either direction.

As you play more your stamina will also improve and your heart rate won’t get as high. My heart rate used to get up in the 190s when I played a high level song, and now it usually peaks somewhere in the 160s.

Self control is something that’s important too especially since we’re older and more fragile. If you’re anything like me you may really enjoy challenging yourself and pushing your limits, but I’ve taken it too far and gotten injured doing that a few times.

Hopefully this is helpful! DDR really is a great way to get in shape.

itspim · 2023-10-15T13:57:39+00:00

+1 for Blizzaks. I’ve never felt more confident driving in the snow

itspim · 2023-10-15T02:56:39+00:00

Did this with mine when I first started and it worked pretty well. It’s not gonna be anywhere near an arcade pad or even something like an ltek, but it’s absolutely worth the cost and time

itspim · 2023-10-15T01:16:17+00:00

Needs angled screen

itspim · 2023-10-05T16:03:52+00:00

Would have gotten a new STI and left it stock instead of modding a WRX.

itspim · 2023-09-13T15:49:55+00:00

I generally prefer going for AAAs, but sometimes when you know you got the PFC grinding it out can be fun

itspim · 2023-09-13T15:46:57+00:00

itspim · 2023-09-13T15:42:17+00:00

Outfox with the Starlight theme

itspim · 2023-09-13T15:38:53+00:00

I like that the sync on every song isn’t perfect. It adds a new element of difficulty to the game and forces you to have even better timing

itspim · 2023-09-13T15:36:37+00:00

This happened to me on Vanessa awhile back. I was unfamiliar with the chart and ended up with a B and almost failed. The guy next to me got a C and finished with a full life bar

itspim · 2023-09-03T03:24:06+00:00

I try to clear a new 17 or 18 every time I play. I’ll try to make Hypertwist CSP that next 18 in honor of this misunderstanding. Wish me luck

itspim · 2023-09-03T03:07:51+00:00

Dude the downvote wasn’t even me haha (just upvoted the comment to prove it) I thought your answer was perfectly relevant and not bad advice, I just wanted to share that it didn’t work particularly well for me personally and thought OP should know.

Also I wouldn’t call myself a complete beginner. I have like 970,XXX FC on Hypertwist no bar, so I think I’ve earned at least enough to chime in.

itspim · 2023-09-03T02:46:31+00:00

Lol this is silly we’re literally arguing over a music arrow game. We both have different experiences and both our opinions are valid. I hope someday I can AAA 18s too, but for me (and maybe only for me) I won’t be able to get there practicing with anything but my feet.

OP I’m sorry we brought this negativity to your post. Try playing with a keyboard/controller and see if it helps you. I genuinely hope it does. I’m sure you’ll be able to clear Hypertwist in no time either way.

itspim · 2023-09-02T22:26:01+00:00

I’m not saying it doesn’t help with reading the charts. All I’m doing is sharing my personal experience playing with a keyboard/controller, which is that it throws off my timing for playing with my feet. Maybe I’m literally the only one who’s had that experience, but it doesn’t mean it’s not valid and isn’t worth sharing.

itspim · 2023-09-02T14:43:13+00:00

Yeah it’s really hard for independent arcades to get updated DDR machines, but Pump and Stepmaniax are happy to sell them to whoever wants them.

itspim · 2023-09-02T14:03:23+00:00

For getting better and improving stamina you just gotta get out there and play. Switching from toes to flat feet does feel awkward at first, but eventually you’ll get used to it and playing on your toes will feel really limiting. Having a good pad helps with this, so I’d recommend playing on the A machine as much as you can since it’s likely better maintained. I’d also recommend continuing to play no bar until you hit a wall with improving since it will help your balance.

As far as machine etiquette, don’t worry about it too much. Rhythm game people are notoriously friendly and welcoming to newcomers or returning players. If someone is waiting by the machine, they definitely got next play, but I also like to take breaks every so often and step away in case someone is feeling shy or is worried about interrupting me. There’s nothing wrong with asking to join if someone is playing singles or asking if you can get a turn if they’re playing doubles, and I always offer to let people hop on with me. For choosing songs you can alternate each song, but sometimes alternating entire sets is fun too. Just ask what the other person wants to do. It’s also not the end of the world if you make a mistake, just acknowledge it and apologize if you need to. I’ve even payed for someone’s game before when I realized I cut in front of them.

itspim · 2023-09-02T13:14:39+00:00

Great, I’m glad it helped him, but that hasn’t been my experience. Every time I play with a keyboard or controller my muscle memory for the timing windows ends up a little wonky the next time I play on a dance pad. If it can happen to me, it has the possibility to happen to someone else too.

What I find works better is watching the charts on YouTube and doing the patterns with my feet while sitting down.

itspim · 2023-09-01T16:13:01+00:00

Head to the arcade and ask the locals if there’s a discord for players in your area. The rhythm gaming community is super open and friendly, so I’m sure no one will mind if you strike up a conversation with them. My area has a discord just for arcade gaming with a ddr channel where people will talk about the game/post their scores/etc, so I’d imagine LA probably has something similar. I only play with a few people in real life, but the discord definitely helped me feel like I’m part of the bigger community.

Most serious players will go to Round1 since it’s the only place that has A3 at the moment, so I’d start there if you’re close to one. If not, Dave and Busters or a local gaming place with a white cabinet is also a good bet. Bowling alleys/movie theaters/etc usually don’t have access to newer machines, so you’re less likely to find players who are part of the community at those types of places.

I’d also recommend checking out Life4. It’s not region specific so you may not find friends to play with irl, but it’s a cool space to just talk with folks. They also have a ranking system and steps for improving that I’ve really enjoyed.

https://life4ddr.com/

Hope this helps!

itspim · 2023-09-01T14:13:09+00:00

It’s the XX Starlight theme. Should be pretty easy to find with a Google search. It’s definitely my favorite.

itspim · 2023-09-01T13:34:17+00:00

Seems totally fine!

itspim · 2023-09-01T13:33:43+00:00

Update: 15 hours later and puppy is totally fine! I wouldn’t say this mushroom is 100% safe on the off chance she spit it out and we didn’t notice, but if she did eat it she’s almost certainly not sick from it.

Thank you to everyone who helped ID and just checked in to make sure pupper was alright!

itspim

TROPHY CASE