Achey Old Lady

Aside from healthy food porn, exercise, and discussions about oatmeal another common theme among health/food/fitness bloggers is injuries.  Aches, pains, strains, you name it.  We all seem to have something wrong with us.  Funny how the healthier and more physically fit we are, the more we seem to have wrong with us!

My main complaints…

- lower back pain – this one manifests itself in different ways at different times.  sometimes it’s just that, lower back pain…other times it creates a shooting pain in my bum, or reaches up my back.  it’s been a constant battle since I was about 15.  Chalk it up to height, growth spurts, and posture.

- neck pain – there is not a moment ever that my neck isn’t stiff and achey.  for the most part I just ignore it, but some days I can’t even turn/tilt my head…I spend a lot of time stretching my neck hoping for the one day that something just pops and everything loosens up.  I’m pretty sure that day will never come.

- shoulder/arm pain – two years ago I developed a shooting pain in my elbow.  with some chiropractic magic it seemed to go away.  figured it was just another side effect of my loopy back.  last year it returned…with a vengeance!  no warning, just wham.  pain that made my eyes water…when I was doing something as simple as sitting still!  two different chiropractors could not figure it out so I tried massage.  it helped and I don’t cry in pain anymore, but over a year later my shoulder still hurts all the time.  a sports medicine doctor says it’s related to my neck and that it will probably always be like that.  She recommended more chiro, more massage, and maybe physio.  Ya, who can afford all of that?

I have gone to a chiropractor regularly since I was 16.  In my mid-twenties I took a few years off…when I went from a standing job to a desk job a lot of my issues were alleviated.  But after being at a desk for several years the issues (and some new ones!) returned so I went back to treatments.  Any time I try not to go, I don’t make it more than a couple of months…so now I just go twice a month regardless of whether anything is currently ailing me.

- achey joints – this is the newest pain in my body.  mainly my pelvic joints…especially if i sit curled up too long, I can barely unwrap myself.  when I walk or run more than 15-20 minutes I can feel it in my hips…like bones rubbing together.  this is the one that makes me feel like an achey old lady.  on weeks when I’ve worked out a lot I can feel it in all of my joints.  when the weather changes I can feel it in my hands.  after a bit of self-diagnosis I’m pretty sure it’s the onset of osteo-arthritis.  Oh joy.  Gone are the days of arthritis being an old person’s disease.  At least I caught it early and can hopefully nip it in the bud.

Glucosamine Chondroitin is going to be my new BFF for the next 2 months.  After some easy internet research and chatting with a few real life people that have had similar issues with joint aches I am hopeful that adding this supplement to my daily menu will help repair the cartilage in my joints and help to alleviate the discomfort.  The recommendation is to take it regularly for 6-8 weeks to ensure healthy results…so I said to FH before he left that hopefully when he comes home I won’t be an achey old woman anymore!

Do you regularly visit a chiropractor, massage therapist, or other physical therapy specialist? 

Have you had to turn to vitamins, supplements, or other “medicines” due to body pain? 

Did your ailments present themselves before or after you found your way to a “healthy lifestyle”?