My body, my body, my booooodeeeeee!

[dancerjodi]

I tend to be quite the nature-girl when it comes to physical ailments. I don't go to the doctor unless its absolutely necessary, I don't take medication unless it is (like, unless its for hormonal regulation to prevent pregnancy, or unless I need some amoxicillin for an ear infection).

It helps too that I have a high pain and annoyance tolerance.


This bites me in the butt sometimes though, because problems go untreated for a while because honestly - I just deal with them and go on and live my life. I've done this many times - like having athlete's foot for over a month, having asthma for many months before being diagnosed and getting the necessary meds, and for tolerating a "cold" which ended up being a massive sinus infection/ear infection two years ago that made me want to rip my head off.

A few weeks ago I pulled (I think) a muscle in my left arm. If you held your arm out in front of you, turned your palm to face the inside of your body, and feel the muscles in the inner part of your upper arm - that's the focus of the pain (though, the pain covers the whole upper part of that arm into my shoulder). I noticed it around the time of Punk Rock Aerobics. I can't even remember if I did it in class or right before class (I want to say the latter). I know nothing is broken . . . so really, what would a doctor do for me? In these instances I'm careful about what I'm doing with the muscle, I stretch it out, and let it heal. Only usually its healed by now . . .

Lack of lifting at the gym (i.e. Dancer has a weak upper body, again) combined with bad sleeping arrangements (read: stress and spending time over the weekend on an inflatable air mattress) caused the right side of my upper back and neck to jump, kink and be sore on Sunday. You know how you wake up one day having slept the wrong way on your neck? Its that kind of pain. Quite annoying!

I wonder, could I have pulled a tendon or something? I didn't do anything hardcore, but its weird that its still sore. I think the doctor's visit would be a waste. This happened last year when I had bruised my ribs. Those fsckers hurt for almost 2 months, though were just bruised. After the nurses I worked with convinced me to go to see my doctor she said "yep, bruised". In my current circumstance: first, I don't have the time to see a doctor; second, my co-pay has gone up to $20 and third, unless its broken there's nothing they are going to do.

I guess I'll keep babying the damed thing and trying to stretch to work it out. Hell, I'll even break down and take an Alleve or something. I don't like to numb the pain to the point of doing something bad to make it worse . . . but I do want some relief when I'm packing up boxes.


Damn, I hate feeling like this. I want to move dammit! I have so much respect for people that deal with these kinds of conditions on a regular basis; that takes strength and patience I'm sure.

Comments

[mizdarkgirl.livejournal.com]

Do you know any massage therapists? You do need to be functional for moving.

Also asprin & Advil treat swelling not just pain. So it might be a good idea to med for a day or two to see if that helps.

[synaesthesia.livejournal.com]

You could give my chiropractor a call:

Tom Larsen
617-783-2772

He's in Brighton, not sure how (in)convenient that is for you... My treatments from him have been a mix of chiropractic, reiki, craniosacral massage, massage thearapy, etc. I'll be seeing him regularly all summer to work on my carpal tunnel before school starts.

Pinched Nerves

[marisapw.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I pinch nerves in my neck and shoulder. It kind of gives the same feeling as sleeping on it wrong. I know it's not muscular because when I have a pinched nerve in my neck it hurts to bend the neck back towards the pinch. If it was a muscle issue, it would hurt to bend the neck against the muscle.

Anyway, not sure what to do about it. I always wait a couple of days and the pain goes away. And I've become more careful about flailing my neck, head, and arms around in quick flailing movements. That seems to lead to bad things happening.

Good luck.

[nazier.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm
For pain relief try some white willow bark tea. And try a lavendar hot compress it may ease it enough for it to relax into place. Or call some time and I can give you some more ideas...hey do you want some boxes tomorrow night? I have some bigger ones.

Boxes

[dancer.livejournal.com]

Sure! I'll take them :)

I'll call you when we're on our way to your place - my guess is that it will be around 8:00 or 8:30ish.

Re: Boxes

[nazier.livejournal.com]

That works for me, just chime the bell when you get there and i will let you in.

[goat.livejournal.com]

This is what a doctor is likely to tell you: take an anti-inflammatory, and use alternating hot and cold compresses/ice packs (10-15 minutes each). If this is a muscular or tendon thing, then it should help the healing time.

[mixedborder.livejournal.com]

Tendinitis lasts a lot longer than a pulled muscle, so likely that's what it is. I had it in my right arm for 2-3 months last winter. Doctors prescribe Advil for its anti-inflammatory effect. There are some herbal/homeopathic salves that seem to help too, like arnica.

[nepenthedreams]

If it swells up, definitely see a doctor because it means you ripped something.

Otherwise, try icing it and resting it. That's what they told me to do for my knee. The icing really helps bring down the inflammation. I iced every time I had to use it, and then it wouldn't hurt later on.