As I sit here in pretty immense back pain, already having taken an NSAID prescription (for the shoulder,) muscle relaxants, and Tylenol, I’m thinking ok, maybe I really need to get more anti-inflammatory foods. Yes, I know they have whole recommended diets, and books, and so on. I’ve read numerous articles off and on, and since that isn’t sinking in, I switched it up and watched a youtube video. As if that would be more convincing. It was not, but probably because I didn’t choose a great video. Here were some of the highlights they suggested.
Ginger, garlic, and omega 3s I’m more likely to get from pills than actual food. A few years ago I had high cholesterol and got that warning to do something about it. I already love garlic and used large quantities in food (actual garlic, not merely powder). I tried taking a garlic supplement religiously. I dropped 20 points in 3 months. I figured ok, diet is fine, but the supplement probably has more than I could realistically eat. Same with ginger. I used to eat ounces of dried ginger daily, at first because I thought it might be cheaper than pills. But in order to make it palatable, sugar is the usual go-to, and sugar causes inflammation. So again, taking a high dose pill seemed more straight-forward than eating it.
Broccoli. I’ve gotten so broccoli-ed out lately. It’s not evil, but . . . can we put it in a blender with all those other things like kale and somehow transform it into something I don’t mind ingesting? I jest, because I’ve been taught so adamantly that one should never drink their calories if trying to lose or maintain weight loss. Maybe I can do cauliflower sometimes. That’s still in the cruciferous category.
Chia Seeds. See above, but even more so. I know one can mix them into other things, but I haven’t found a desireable mix-in strategy yet. Still, I ate a spoonful today after being reminded that inflammation is one the reasons it's good or me.
Avocado. I can do that. Expensive, but not disgusting.
Leafy greens. Sure, I can do that (already am).
Berries – YES. I could do berries all day long, every day, if I could afford them and not get lightheaded due to lack of protein.
Of the options available today, I took my supplements for ginger, garlic, omegas, had some chia seeds, berries, and cauliflower. I know there are more foods out there; this is just what I looked at today. Still in enough pain that it is difficult to concentrate right now. Probably time for more biofreeze or salonpas or something.
Wednesday, August 21, 2024
Wednesday, August 14, 2024
Yay New Knee Sleeve
For starters, miracle of miracle, Amazon.com delivered to the correct address (gasp) and I didn’t have to go to a dozen apartment buildings, up all the stairs in an attempt to track down where they left my package. I put “special instructions” for them to verify the street address, and re-stated it. Gee, maybe it worked (knock on wood).
Even better, it fits how I want it to and feels great on my knee. The first one I got earlier this spring, professionally recommended and fit by a Durable Medical supplier, is too lose on my knee and keeps falling down no matter how I try to fold it over or jimmy-rig it to stay in place. Not sure if it wore out, or the 5 pounds I lost since then were isolated to my knee, but suffice it to say I needed a new one.
After way too much time reading reviews, evaluating total number of reviews and ratio of 4-5 star vs. 1-2 star review . . . measuring every which way and comparing to my exiting, sleeve, I took a stab in the dark while sleep deprived and ordered one. It’s a tad snug and sits a little lower than it should, but my body is not correctly shaped for these in the first place, so in my opinion, it’s perfect. Trust me, the last one was always baggy around the bottom because of this. Anyway it provides the perfect amount of compression and feels great (except a tiny bit itchy from being new). Happy happy joy joy. And it was a SET of two sleeves instead of one. I only need for one knee, so I have the luxury of using one and washing one at the same time (ooooh, aaaaah). I might actually be able to walk without my knee getting swollen and feeling like it’s going to explode. You know, the unwanted pressure, like when you have a sinus infection so horrific you have difficulty concentrating on anything except the fantasy about pounding a nail into your forehead to release the pressure? You don’t know that feeling? Ah, maybe it’s just me.
Fingers crossed this sleeve holds up well and keeps my knee supported for a few more months.
Even better, it fits how I want it to and feels great on my knee. The first one I got earlier this spring, professionally recommended and fit by a Durable Medical supplier, is too lose on my knee and keeps falling down no matter how I try to fold it over or jimmy-rig it to stay in place. Not sure if it wore out, or the 5 pounds I lost since then were isolated to my knee, but suffice it to say I needed a new one.
After way too much time reading reviews, evaluating total number of reviews and ratio of 4-5 star vs. 1-2 star review . . . measuring every which way and comparing to my exiting, sleeve, I took a stab in the dark while sleep deprived and ordered one. It’s a tad snug and sits a little lower than it should, but my body is not correctly shaped for these in the first place, so in my opinion, it’s perfect. Trust me, the last one was always baggy around the bottom because of this. Anyway it provides the perfect amount of compression and feels great (except a tiny bit itchy from being new). Happy happy joy joy. And it was a SET of two sleeves instead of one. I only need for one knee, so I have the luxury of using one and washing one at the same time (ooooh, aaaaah). I might actually be able to walk without my knee getting swollen and feeling like it’s going to explode. You know, the unwanted pressure, like when you have a sinus infection so horrific you have difficulty concentrating on anything except the fantasy about pounding a nail into your forehead to release the pressure? You don’t know that feeling? Ah, maybe it’s just me.
Fingers crossed this sleeve holds up well and keeps my knee supported for a few more months.
Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Score One for Sports Medicine
The verdict is in – rotator cuff tendonitis.
That was almost the last thing I thought I was afflicted with. Right above frozen shoulder (since my shoulder isn’t frozen). I thought rotator cuff ailments were only among active, or athletic people. I sit at a desk all day. Why would my rotator cuff tendon be inflamed from that? Yet it seems plausible. They said one thing gets off, and then everything gets off, or in the way, or effected by muscles/body trying to compensate. I can buy into that. Sometimes it’s this part of my arm, sometimes the opposite side of my arm. More importantly they didn’t simply ask me to describe, but they did the poking and prodding, and asked me to press this way or that wa to see what hurt or didn’t. They gave me a short-term anti-inflammatory prescription and some exercises. Some of them are ones I’d come across, some new.
The amusing part was where they asked me to press against their hands in various directions. Seemed almost surprised I had toned muscles. Yes, me fat, but also have muscles. Sure, not a lot, and pressing some directions I definitely gave up more quickly because it hurt so much. But yay, I have muscles. Maybe even a surprising amount to the doc, based on their reaction.
At least I have a name for it now. You know I’m not going to sit here with 6 exercises and only do them three times a week. I'm going to try to do them every single day. I’m going to keep searching for other exercises and stretches. But at least now I know if I’m in the right direction. I know that the freaking painful towel stretch is good for me and I'm not doing more damage.
That was almost the last thing I thought I was afflicted with. Right above frozen shoulder (since my shoulder isn’t frozen). I thought rotator cuff ailments were only among active, or athletic people. I sit at a desk all day. Why would my rotator cuff tendon be inflamed from that? Yet it seems plausible. They said one thing gets off, and then everything gets off, or in the way, or effected by muscles/body trying to compensate. I can buy into that. Sometimes it’s this part of my arm, sometimes the opposite side of my arm. More importantly they didn’t simply ask me to describe, but they did the poking and prodding, and asked me to press this way or that wa to see what hurt or didn’t. They gave me a short-term anti-inflammatory prescription and some exercises. Some of them are ones I’d come across, some new.
The amusing part was where they asked me to press against their hands in various directions. Seemed almost surprised I had toned muscles. Yes, me fat, but also have muscles. Sure, not a lot, and pressing some directions I definitely gave up more quickly because it hurt so much. But yay, I have muscles. Maybe even a surprising amount to the doc, based on their reaction.
At least I have a name for it now. You know I’m not going to sit here with 6 exercises and only do them three times a week. I'm going to try to do them every single day. I’m going to keep searching for other exercises and stretches. But at least now I know if I’m in the right direction. I know that the freaking painful towel stretch is good for me and I'm not doing more damage.
Friday, August 2, 2024
3 Months Post Op
I was reminded it’s been 3 months since my surgery. Doing pretty well. Honestly hadn't given it much though since I returned to work - thinking how long it's been. They say can take up to a year to fully heal, but I haven’t noticed any difficulties directly related to the incision sites. Scars still turm purple-black with temperature fluctuations. I guess I could hope that the muscle soreness/pain twinges in my arms and legs might be because my surgery site is grabbing extra feel good nutrients and the rest of me is depleted of nutrients and that’s why they’re cranky. Yeah, that’s it. Sure, let’s visualize that as a twisted logic and why one should have hope it’ll eventually feel better.
Want to go on record that I didn’t resume activity too fast after surgery. Although I was a smidge impatient to go back to exercising, I knew I couldn’t start up right where I left off. I did wimpy weenie slow modified movements of everything. The shoulder started aching a couple weeks prior to surgery. I still haven’t done any real weights yet. I pulled out the 1-pound wrist weights a couple of times but everything hurts too much to do much with them. And it’s now been a month and a half since I got the green light. It’s not like I whipped out the 10 or 15 pound weights and was surprised things hurt.
I experimented for two weeks on the shoulder and I give up on what to try next. If I push myself hard and long enough, it’s nasty, and then it eventually gets better late evening. I’m sure the lesson here is that I should exercise first thing in the morning. I cannot find words to stress enough how much I am not a morning person. Caffeine in hand, I head out to work bleary-eyed before breakfast. I might not even trust myself to send out important e-mails in the first hour if I’m still half walking up. To suggest I not only get up earlier, but early enough to hydrate and be conscious enough to not injure myself doing what seems like semi-strenuous activity, take a shower, and then go to work? Uhm, not unless I’m on a swing shift. All for the hopeful reward of possibly feeling better by late afternoon? I think not. 2 minutes of slow Cheater Tai Chi before work? Maybe. But 20+ minutes of regular exercise?
Two more weeks until I can get into see the doc about my shoulder and follow-up on my knee. Fingers crossed they have some ideas for me. If this is simply getting older, all I can say is this really sucks.
Want to go on record that I didn’t resume activity too fast after surgery. Although I was a smidge impatient to go back to exercising, I knew I couldn’t start up right where I left off. I did wimpy weenie slow modified movements of everything. The shoulder started aching a couple weeks prior to surgery. I still haven’t done any real weights yet. I pulled out the 1-pound wrist weights a couple of times but everything hurts too much to do much with them. And it’s now been a month and a half since I got the green light. It’s not like I whipped out the 10 or 15 pound weights and was surprised things hurt.
I experimented for two weeks on the shoulder and I give up on what to try next. If I push myself hard and long enough, it’s nasty, and then it eventually gets better late evening. I’m sure the lesson here is that I should exercise first thing in the morning. I cannot find words to stress enough how much I am not a morning person. Caffeine in hand, I head out to work bleary-eyed before breakfast. I might not even trust myself to send out important e-mails in the first hour if I’m still half walking up. To suggest I not only get up earlier, but early enough to hydrate and be conscious enough to not injure myself doing what seems like semi-strenuous activity, take a shower, and then go to work? Uhm, not unless I’m on a swing shift. All for the hopeful reward of possibly feeling better by late afternoon? I think not. 2 minutes of slow Cheater Tai Chi before work? Maybe. But 20+ minutes of regular exercise?
Two more weeks until I can get into see the doc about my shoulder and follow-up on my knee. Fingers crossed they have some ideas for me. If this is simply getting older, all I can say is this really sucks.
Thursday, August 1, 2024
Chi – Cheater / Rebel
Something more light-hearted here. Not meant to offend anyone.
A while ago I got (re-)interested in Tai Chi and learned its relationship to QiGong. Cool Asian-ish practices of well-being. Can be applied to well-being for physical health, spirituality, and martial arts/combat. I don’t mean to offend anyone who has this as their religion, especially as I’m a no-nothing Western-er.
I mentioned to a healthcare professional a while back that I’d tried some Tai Chi youtube videos and found them relaxing. They set me straight that I was doing it wrong. Very wrong. They lectured me on what it’s supposed to be like. Long story short, I tried some of their suggestions, but it made me not enjoy it anymore, so I stopped. But who cares? I’m not teaching others and corrupting the practice that way.
The funny thing is, from what I learned on-line the common thread is that even if there are similarities, there are hundreds of different schools and traditions of Tai Chi. There are thousands of different schools of Qigong. A family starts the tradition and passes it down, but a different family elsewhere has their own version and does the same, and that’s fine if they don’t match. Qigong is supposed to be a vast array of movements and practices, one move here, another move here, like exercises, where one doesn’t necessarily have to do them all in a specific order. Tai Chi, on the other hand, is supposed to be where you put those moves into a prescribed order and sequence. These ideas seem pretty common in what I read.
Boy did this person dis-agree. They said there is only ONE way to do Qigong, and it MUST be done in a specific order, and the order is always this, and if you don’t do it this way and you’re exhausted afterwards 5 steps, you’re doing it wrong. Felt like they really put me in my place. I looked into the ideas they had, and attempted some of the tips they told me were absolute, and it made it something I no longer wanted to do. But is there any reason I can’t go back to the possibly very warped and cheating way the internet says I'm allowed to do if if I enjoy and benefit from it? As long as I don’t go about preaching it to others? (shhh, don’t tell on me)
Not everyone builds great architecture. Some make little play forts in the back yard. Some people are world class champion ice skaters. Some of us try to get from one place to another on ice without wiping out and are elated if we can stop on our own without hitting something or someone first.
A while ago I got (re-)interested in Tai Chi and learned its relationship to QiGong. Cool Asian-ish practices of well-being. Can be applied to well-being for physical health, spirituality, and martial arts/combat. I don’t mean to offend anyone who has this as their religion, especially as I’m a no-nothing Western-er.
I mentioned to a healthcare professional a while back that I’d tried some Tai Chi youtube videos and found them relaxing. They set me straight that I was doing it wrong. Very wrong. They lectured me on what it’s supposed to be like. Long story short, I tried some of their suggestions, but it made me not enjoy it anymore, so I stopped. But who cares? I’m not teaching others and corrupting the practice that way.
The funny thing is, from what I learned on-line the common thread is that even if there are similarities, there are hundreds of different schools and traditions of Tai Chi. There are thousands of different schools of Qigong. A family starts the tradition and passes it down, but a different family elsewhere has their own version and does the same, and that’s fine if they don’t match. Qigong is supposed to be a vast array of movements and practices, one move here, another move here, like exercises, where one doesn’t necessarily have to do them all in a specific order. Tai Chi, on the other hand, is supposed to be where you put those moves into a prescribed order and sequence. These ideas seem pretty common in what I read.
Boy did this person dis-agree. They said there is only ONE way to do Qigong, and it MUST be done in a specific order, and the order is always this, and if you don’t do it this way and you’re exhausted afterwards 5 steps, you’re doing it wrong. Felt like they really put me in my place. I looked into the ideas they had, and attempted some of the tips they told me were absolute, and it made it something I no longer wanted to do. But is there any reason I can’t go back to the possibly very warped and cheating way the internet says I'm allowed to do if if I enjoy and benefit from it? As long as I don’t go about preaching it to others? (shhh, don’t tell on me)
Not everyone builds great architecture. Some make little play forts in the back yard. Some people are world class champion ice skaters. Some of us try to get from one place to another on ice without wiping out and are elated if we can stop on our own without hitting something or someone first.
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