A pain in the… well, everywhere.

It’s practice time. You’re pumped and ready to hit someone. But while skating during team warm ups, that familiar pain seeps through your muscles and bone and into your mind. Practice takes a quick turn from a positive experience to a session in pain management as you pull out every mental trick in the book, forcing your body to push through till the end.

Many of us are experts on pain. Whether it’s because of a roller derby injury, an outside injury or something you were born with, we all suffer pain while playing our favorite sport. The trick is learning how to overcome the pain to keep playing.

Don’t let the pain keep you from playing.

I have an old knee injury that acts up sometimes. Solution: better knee pads and knee gaskets. Low impact exercise like bicycling or swimming.

My lower spin is slightly crooked which causes occasional issues with my hips and legs. Solution: yoga, massage and visits to the chiropractor.

Skating on sport court causes foot cramps. Solution: better arch support insoles in my skates.

These aren’t solutions I immediately came up with. It took trial and error (and sometimes a trip to the doctor). Sometimes I forget to utilize my solutions, and then wonder why something feels off. (Wow. One leg feels longer than the other. Oh, yeah. I stopped doing yoga. Crap!)

As women, we endure all sorts of pain unique to our sex. We learn to deal with a lot of it. But when it comes to derby, the pain you feel isn’t something you should always have to accept. There are solutions to much of it.

I don’t have all the answers, but someone in your league might. Ask around.

Foot pain keeping you grounded? Here are a few possible causes and solutions.

Shin splints slowing you down? This article says it could be time to rest or look at changing your routine.

Back pain making your derby stance hard to hold? It may be time to see a chiropractor. We do play a contact sport, and it isn’t uncommon to get hit so hard that it throws your spine out of alignment. I also highly recommend yoga. There are tons of different styles from which to choose. Sign up for a few different classes and see which style best meets your needs.

Ignoring the pain you feel when skating can hold you back from developing as a player. It can also lead to further injury. Listen to your body and take steps to remedy the situation.

Also, if you need to classify your pain, I recommend this pain scale.