Slowly, turtle, slowly

[deborahjross]

So this is a post about aches and pains. Mine. (Yours, too -- feel free to share.) Last Sunday, I went splat face-down on the sidewalk. My own damned fault, as I was wearing a pair of very, very full-cut pants that had already wrapped themselves around my legs once. I thought I'd fixed the problem by shortening them, silly me. Anyway, it was one of those falls that you just can't roll through. The good news is that I didn't hit my face. I thought I'd gotten away with only some abrasions on my palms and one shin. An hour later, my left wrist was aching. Two hours later, it was swollen and so painful I couldn't even move my fingers.

I was so good. (On the other hand, I really didn't have the option of just ignoring it.) The treatment for sprains is RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation). Plus quantities of naproxen. Plus ranitidine to keep the naproxen from eroding my stomach lining. As a result, the wrist is healing speedily -- I can type, but no piano yet, or putting weight on it. It'll be a while before I can do downward-facing dog again. And oh, my, did it turn pretty colors, no only on my palm (small hematoma) and around the swollen areas, but the entire back of my hand. We've gone from technicolor sunset to sullen undercast. As the wrist becomes more comfortable, I am aware of all the lesser injuries -- a sort muscle here, a slightly swollen joint there -- that were insignificant/unnoticeable compared to the greater injury, but now require TLC.

I think one of the gifts of being older is that I've been through injuries this bad, not so bad, worse, before. I know my own tendencies (ignore it whenever possible; return to normal activities too soon -- I am hardly unusual in either!) and what they cost me in prolonged recovery time if I indulge them. I know that my older body takes longer to heal than it did when I was a sproutling. I know it's okay to ask for help, and to use gadgets and things for comfort measures. Taking anti-inflammatory medicine or medicine for pain is not a sign of weakness.

It also reminds me of how much I use my hands, and how important are the things I do with them.

Comments

[noire.livejournal.com]

You know I can really sympathize with this! Glad you did the smart thing with your wrist though--I didn't. But so good to hear you're on the mend...

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

I definitely thought of you! (With many empathetic ouchies!) Are you all better?

[noire.livejournal.com]

I was so glad to hear you didn't hit your face! I still have to use a knife to eat an apple (and I'm going apple picking on Monday so there will be loads of apples) as the teeth have not entirely settled down. Given that, there is some hope that I won't lose any more than I've lost. (I miss biting apples though. Eating veggies burgers with a bun also takes a knife and fork which just feels entirely wrong AND has earned a few strange looks...)

I'm just so glad your fall wasn't worse. Wrists are both vital and fairly delicate (Henry at Launch Pad and I had a few long and serious discussions about wrists and wrist injuries) so I'm glad you did the right thing. The hard part will be to continue to do so and not go back to activities too quickly.

Please, please be very careful!!!!

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I need to remember to take a pain killer when I'm in pain. Which seems so "duh", but I so hate taking pills. (Ironic, given how many I have to take now.)

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

Why do we treat this form of taking care of ourselves as a moral failure? We wouldn't hesitate to take insulin if we were diabetic, so why should the treatment of pain be any different... but it is.

[tcastleb.livejournal.com]

Owie. I'm glad you're okay and looking after yourself. Worst injury I had was when Tia kicked me on the side of my knee in May, and I still have a knot from that.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

Hope it's just a slow-healing muscle injury and no damage to the joint. Says she who had a torn meniscus from a kung fu accident and eventually needed arthroscopic surgery.

[equesgal.livejournal.com]

Glad you're ok. I have something going on with my right hip. Sometimes it's even too sore to put much weight on it when I walk...hence a limp. My left hip is fine so what the heck? Guess I should go get an x-ray....;-(

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

Well, at least have an orthopedically knowledgeable person take a look at it. X-rays are no good for soft tissue problems, so you want a preliminary sort-through-of-symptoms and a clinical exam first.

[kyryn.livejournal.com]

Out. I've sprained wrists before and remember what a problem they can be. *sigh* We don't realize how much we move and use all those little muscles, ligaments, and tendons until they hurt. Here are good thoughts and wishes for healing.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Yes, hands/wrists are these marvels of flexible design and strength. We do indeed take them for granted.

[imhilien.livejournal.com]

Ouch, I'm sorry to hear that. *offers chocolate*

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

Chocolate gratefully accepted!

Wow, I feel better already.