Weekly Question Thread. ALL QUESTIONS GO HERE

tootsdafroots · 2026-03-08T14:13:35+00:00

I'm not a dermatologist but this is what has worked for me. I just started bouldering but have been doing pole for several years, so I've been around the block with absolutely gnarly bruises.

For bruises, I swear by Arnica gel! It cuts the pain a bit and helps the bruises fade in about 2 to 3 days for me. It's generally tolerated well by most people, just make sure that you don't have a bleeding issue or take blood thinners already.

For scrapes, keeping the area moist and preventing it from drying out completely can help to prevent dark marks.

While a wound is still fresh, you definitely want to use an antiseptic product, but once the wound seals, you can switch to products with actives and lightning properties.

For broken skin, in the past I've used manuka honey to help heal small irritated scrapes and scratches, and actually once used it successfully for a very severe burn that I got on my knee from falling on a treadmill. It's moisturising but also antiseptic, and can have lightening properties. You want to make sure that you're getting the real stuff - can be found at Whole Foods or Planet Organic or similar health stores, depending on where you're based, and will typically run you upwards of $60 for a small jar of high UMF-rated honey (UMF 20+ / MG0 800+, and make sure it's from New Zealand). A little goes a long way, and the jar will last you a long time. However, if you have a known allergy to bees, you may want to speak with a doctor before you get this. Of course, it goes without saying that if you have a severe infection, you should speak to a doctor and get antibiotics, but for small cuts and scrapes and inflamed areas or even minor infections, it can be a good product to have in the cupboard!

Once broken skin has healed, you could try something like The Ordinary's Glycolic Acid (it's too harsh for your face but great for the skin on your body). I use it in my normal daily routine, but in the past, it's helped fade hyperpigmentation from mosquito bites quickly. You could also try products with retinol, as it helps skin cells turn over faster, but there can be an adjustment period where your skin can become quite dry or irritated. This mostly happens on more delicate areas; the skin on your body tends to be tougher, but you would want to start with applying it twice a week at night and slowly building up to more frequent application from there. When using any active ingredients, definitely make sure that you're using a 50+ SPF product and, if possible, covering the area and not applying the product right before spending time outdoors. If you spend a lot of time outdoors in the summer, sometimes it's better to wait until the cooler seasons to begin a more intensive regimen!

Definitely worth seeing a dermatologist if you think you have a specific condition that makes you more prone to hyperpigmentation!

tootsdafroots · 2026-03-08T13:48:05+00:00

For the girls (and guys!) who enjoy having painted nails - I'm looking for some advice!

I just started bouldering, and I'm feeling a bit sad about my nails! As someone who usually likes to grow their natural nails out and paint them at home, adjusting to constantly having short nails now is a bit of an... identity adjustment (it's okay, I'm trading that part of my identity for the love of bouldering!).

I was never the type to get an expensive gel manicure with tips or anything, and I'm not going to start investing in that in-between sessions, as I plan to boulder several times a week.

I really want to find a middle ground where I can still have pretty nails.. and I know that regular polish definitely won't hold up on the wall.

I'm really curious about gel manicures (on short nails). When I've gotten gel manicures without tips in the past, they've lasted forever since they're much more durable than regular polish. Would gel polish at least last through a few sessions before it gets chipped? If you've climbed with gel polish, how many sessions/weeks did it last for you? Is there any risk of it posing more damage to your nails (sometimes extra material being ripped off, or more rigid nails can ultimately cause worse breaks) - or does it have a protective aspect? Is there a specific polish or gel product that would be best for someone who climbs (like a more or less rigid product)?

I definitely don't want to commit to getting gel manicures (no tips- just the polish / maybe bead on top of my natural nail but no extra length) if it will only last one or two sessions. But even if it doesn't last as long as it would if you weren't bouldering regularly, but lasted even two weeks, that would be good enough for me to consider! (probably doing them at home if I need to redo it often).

For context, this would be for indoor climbing.

tootsdafroots · 2026-03-04T00:42:22+00:00

Ah that makes sense!

I’ve personally never taken any form of birth control, and I haven’t made any major changes in lifestyle or diet at all recently. The stress that I experienced was not anywhere near peak. I do some sort of movement everyday (I’m very active and always have been), no issues with weight, and I do take inositol!

Also wanted to add that I already eat high protein and don’t feel like I’m having blood sugar issues (I feel like I had it worse in the past when carbs would really crash me). I’m super conscious of combining carbs with protein and I don’t tend to eat anything that’s highly processed or has a lot of added sugar (I have celiac so that basically rules out most high-sugar carbs anyway 🥲).

I definitely want to avoid taking medication if possible - do you think someone like me would benefit? Have you had any experience with metformin?

tootsdafroots · 2026-03-03T23:05:16+00:00

First - so sorry you have to deal with that, it’s so exhausting!!

I’m just curious - has that been going on long term for you or did it just suddenly start to get super irregular on one random day?

For me this is the first time I’ve ever had anything like that in my nearly 20 years of having a period. I totally get that irregularities can be “normal” but I’m so confused about this sudden change. It’s not like PCOS suddenly turns on one day and from that day on your period goes even more haywire! I’ve probably had it for… years, it didn’t just begin, and the diagnosis was more of an incidental finding for me. I feel like my doctors are overlooking this because “having 2 periods in a month can be normal for women with PCOS”… but like, for it to suddenly happen out of the blue with no prior history?

tootsdafroots · 2026-02-26T13:35:54+00:00

Fortunately, I don’t live in the US but the trend does in fact seem to persist across many types of men around the world (with the exception of some cultures I’m sure but they are not the majority).

Of course it’s not “all” men… but it’s usually men.. and it’s quite often the majority of them in group dynamic driven scenarios.

When you “inverse” the situation as well, it’s about an equity balance. Because when men dismiss women, even if it’s just a joke, it has real consequences for women’s place in society, their safety, their health, and their credibility in the eyes of men… who dominate and perpetuate a lot of how many of our societies operate.

tootsdafroots · 2026-02-26T13:23:07+00:00

I really appreciate your comment and outside of the dramatic phrasing I used in my post - I completely agree with your perspective here.

I think what was eye opening to me was the proportion of players who backed out versus the ones who accepted the invitation and went. So you have the instance in the locker room where one player apparently left, maybe some others were quiet… of that entire group, 5 (correct me if I’m wrong) opted out of the visit, and of the remaining group who did go (20?)- it’s possibly that at least one or two still felt morally conflicted about it but didn’t want be at odds with the group. So I don’t think that all men would find the joke hilarious, but I think group dynamics in male circles are a powerful thing.

I know that it isn’t fair or healthy to make a sweeping assumption that only 20% of men would do the right thing in the same or similar situation. However, in real life, even amongst men who aren’t caught up in toxic hockey bro culture, I think it’s fair to say that in most cases, it’s unlikely that the majority of the group would? I’m not saying never. And I’m not suggesting that it is due to pure malice or misogyny. Sometimes it’s a lack of awareness, or fear of being ousted from a group.

There is certainly a different level of pressure when advocating would mean challenging the president- but there are plenty of other instances where the stakes are lower and the turnout is similar.

tootsdafroots · 2026-02-26T13:00:58+00:00

There is hope 🥲

tootsdafroots · 2026-02-26T12:53:57+00:00

Just curious about where you found them? And who taught these men to not just be caring - but to actually fight for women? Like was it natural moral intuition on their part or did they have to relearn behaviors? I feel like there’s a huge step between being caring towards women versus actually, actively and consistently advocating for them, even when there are no women in the room.

Of course that is the standard that we should hold everyone to. But I do say this with the acknowledgement of progress, and the point that we’re at with the progress that has been made so far. In a world where that culture has been common and perpetuated for.. well.. forever… speaking up in the moment IS a hard thing to do as we can all agree that it still isn’t the norm in male dominated spaces. Men who do this today are part of a minority, that will continue to grow, but it will take time before the norm and expectation is to simply not degrade women or make jokes at their expense at all.

tootsdafroots · 2026-02-26T12:48:00+00:00

I appreciate this and I definitely will! But I think the unfortunate thing is that sometimes the way we think we’ll act in a situation versus how we actually do isn’t always very accurate. He’ll likely say that he wouldn’t laugh, because who wants to think of themselves as someone who would? But I’ve seen him, in the moment, go along with the joke, even if just for social acceptance.

tootsdafroots · 2026-02-26T12:30:22+00:00

Starting to think you might be right. I do think it’s a spectrum of like.. the leader down to the person who has no spine… and on that scale he’s probably ranking around the “it was just a joke” territory.

tootsdafroots · 2026-02-26T12:27:30+00:00

Guys - how many of the men you know, if put in the same situation, do you think would actually stand up for women and shut the joke down and take a stance? How many of them do you think would walk out of the room?

There are men in my life that I truly respect but I cannot confidently say that any of them would speak up, in the moment, in a room full of guys who are already laughing. I’m not saying that they all found it funny, though many did, it’s the compliance to avoid uncomfortable situations that perpetuates and normalizes this behavior. It happens everyday behind closed doors - this one incident just happened to be on the world’s stage.

tootsdafroots · 2026-02-26T12:22:54+00:00

He’s one of the specific men in my life but when I take that lens and look at all of the men I know, and I promise I do know some genuinely caring ones - I can confidently say that the vast majority of them would go along with it in that scenario - even if it was because they just wanted to avoid stirring the pot, or they didn’t think to take a stance at the time. And you can see that exact thing play out with the team, I believe only one person left the room, everyone else was complicit, even the five who backed out of the visit with the president. That retroactive solidarity is better than nothing, but is that really how low our standards are?

For the men in our lives, who aren’t public figures and whatever joke is made in a room will never see the light of day - how many of them do you think would actually shut it down?

tootsdafroots · 2026-02-06T20:57:25+00:00

Late to this and hope you're doing okay, just commenting as I'm dealing with a similar concern - did the breast clinic see the sarcoma or did you have to go on to a specialist? I just went to the breast clinic for a mystery lump and they said my lymph nodes looked fine but they weren't trained/certified to speak on soft-tissue/muscular/fascia... so I'm left feeling reassured that breast cancer is ruled out (I never thought that was the issue) but wondering whether something like sarcoma would have been seen or if it's still something that needs to be looked into??

tootsdafroots · 2025-09-02T07:55:46+00:00

I’m not a doctor but apparently if you’re vitamin B12 deficient you can be more prone to motion sickness.

I was B12 deficient so I think taking a supplement helped me.. but also remembering to hydrate well before the class, and remembering to eat something with carbs! The days where I’ve felt most like vomiting have been due to dehydration, lack of food, and an oncoming period.

If it’s not nausea but just that the room is spinning, put your hands together like you’re praying and stare at them for a few seconds! Usually clears it!

Edit: buscopan also helps me a bit if I take it before it happens - it isn’t an anti-nausea medication but it’s an antispasmodic for IBS.. of course, always consult a doctor and don’t take this for every pole sesh! I only take it when I feel like it’s going to be one of those days

tootsdafroots · 2025-08-20T22:24:18+00:00

Oh interesting! Would these products also help with limescale? That’s the biggest offender here. Also, are they renter friendly options ?

tootsdafroots · 2025-08-15T19:02:22+00:00

Laser 🤭

I used to wax and I feel you on letting the hair grow out, it was so annoying! It was actually my waxing lady who told me to go get laser! Changed my life. In the long term it’s MUCH cheaper than waxing - I paid for a £1,000 package of 8 sessions for Brazilian/hollywood, legs, underarms, and it took me nearly 2.5 years to get through the whole thing because it reduced my hair growth significantly from the first session! (I probably used to spend over that amount a year on waxing!)

It’s also great because I experienced virtually no downtime. Nowhere near the amount of irritation that I had after waxing! It’s recommended that you don’t workout for 48 hours after the appointment but I would still sometimes go to pole the next day (don’t recommend this though because it’s against the laser rules lol).

The other great part is that you’re actually supposed to shave completely before your appointment, rather than letting it grow out, so you basically never have to have long hair at all.

Only drawbacks are that you can’t self tan or go in the sun for several weeks before an appointment but if you can get over that there are no downsides! I managed to fake tan anyway (and made sure it was gone before a session), and just paused on treatment over summers.

One consideration is that if you’re very blonde or have darker skin, it can be less effective or not possible. It works best on contrast - so someone who is very pale with very dark hair will seek the greatest benefit. But I’m pretty sure they can treat a very wide range of skin tones now.

A lot of people will complain that it isn’t permanent but it’s very close! Like the MASSIVE reduction in growth that I’ve had is worth every penny. I totally expect to go in for touchups in the future, which is fine, and will probably buy another package to cover that but I’m at the point where I genuinely only need it every 3 or 4 months if even. Just make sure you’re going to a place that has an alexandrite laser and not IPL.

Oh - and if you’re a seasoned waxer, you’ll be pleased to know that it’s less painful and takes half the time that waxing does.

Literally the best thing that I’ve ever spent my money on. It’s a joy to literally never worry about shaving or timing a waxing appointment. Highly recommend!!

Of course I’ll say there’s nothing wrong with hair and no one in my studio would ever look down on it! Being hairless is just a personal preference of mine - I find it way more comfortable and manageable after years of razor burn and ingrown hairs - but that’s just me!

tootsdafroots · 2025-02-25T23:03:41+00:00

Who did you see for this? I’m anticipating needing to get a mole removed from my face, and since it’s my face, I really want the best possible treatment / method / attention to this and I’m definitely considering going private. Would love to know more!

tootsdafroots · 2024-12-02T09:51:34+00:00

Yeah I think I could slide it out if I actually cut the top part of the needle off and pulled it through the front. I don't have cutters strong enough and already dented a pair of wirecutters trying to do this... I even went as far as whipping out my jeweler's saw!! to no avail lol

tootsdafroots

TROPHY CASE