The wonders of Aloe Vera!
Most people look at me funny when I casually mention squeezing the gel out of Aloe Vera leaves to rub on my pole bruises. Which I suppose when you put it like that, it does sound slightly odd. I used to use Arnica cream to help clear up bruises from my pole sessions after a friend, who also pole danced, recommended it. Arnica cream is a great product and I used it for quite a while but after a Brutal!! session on the pole looking as ripe as a banana someone offered me some Aloe Vera extract that they'd squeezed out of a few leaves. I used it and my bruises disappeared almost over night. I think you can buy the pure extract in a bottle in drug stores but having a plant at home is so much cheaper. The first thing I do after a session is rip a leaf off and cover the common bruisey areas (top of foot, thigh and bingo wing) as well as anywhere that looks a bit tender.
I just started using it as a moisturiser on my face at night and in the morning my skin seems to be quite nice with hardly any spots!
Check out this article I found:
Five ways to use Aloe Vera Gel for skincare
For anyone that is considering buying your own aloe vera plant, I would definitely recommend it!
If however, you have more confidence in pharmaceutical companies mixing up decent concoctions for your skin - there are some good products out there that will help get rid of bruises quite quickly.
I remember before I started using bruise remedies, the looks my boyfriend at the time got. Me (with very pole bruised arms) and a friend (with a brilliant shiner from being mugged on the way home) took our respective boyfriends shopping at Meadowhall. Now, shopping is almost physical exercise as it is so I took off my coat when i got warm. Now our boyfriends were getting some really nasty looks and I noticed some poor ladies' eyes dart to my arms and my friends eye before giving the boys the stink eye. Obviously me and my friend found it hilarious but the poor boys were feeling very uncomfortable and the situation could have gone from bad to awful if a stranger had confronted them.
So three cheers for all the bruise remedies out there that help us polers avoid those kind of awkward situations! Hooray!