The Discomfort Thread

Quote: petroglyph

What would you have to lose by trying an epidural right in the hip socket, they work.

There's a lot of risk involved in hip
injections and I'm not willing to do
that.

I use a Swissgear hiking pole that's
adjustable when I walk.

Quote: rxwine

Speaking of bites, anyone ever have a poisonous bite (spider snake, scorpion, etc.,).

Plenty of spiders, though none of note. Just another "bug bite". Guy near here got nailed by... was it a brown recluse? I know it's one of the "ooh and aah" spiders, and it wasn't a widow. Ate a hole right in his arm. It wasn't pretty.

Been bit by plenty of snakes, last bite was just 4 days ago. But we have almost no venomous snakes here. I've heard of Eastern Diamondbacks being sighted in what I would consider my stomping grounds, but I've never happened upon one. And since I'm in the woods often and am always turning up fallen logs and whatnot, if they were here, I figured I'd have seen one by now. Pops got whacked by a water moccasin back in his Navy days. Sick as a dog, he said. Wanted to die. He's scared of them all now =)

There's not much to be scared of in WNY. Bees, maybe.

Quote: Evenbob

I have bursitis in both hips...

What does that feel like?

I get what I call "hockey hip", as I only have ever gotten since I've been playing, and only get a case as a result of playing. I've figured out it's whatever muscle/tendon flexes when you lift your leg, as if you were doing high-knees. Extending back or out, I have no problem. But whatever engages to bring the leg forward, god almighty.

I always just goes, whenever I have to give it the juice and put on a burst. I can skate normal, skate hard, skate fast, and it's all no problem. But one burst into hyperdrive and it blows out, and remains blown out for months.

It ain't groin, though it's in that same location. Like right in the crotch. But I can't rub it without jamming my fingers into it as hard as physically possible, with all my strength, and then can just barely touch it. It feels like it's inside my hip itself. Definitely on the inside of the hip, never on the outside.

It's always the right hip, which isn't my power hip. I have no idea what it is.

Quote: Face

What does that feel like?

The bursae is a fluid filled sac that
keeps tendons and muscles from
rubbing against bone. When they
get irritated, it's painful. Feels
like the joint is swollen when you
move. I've been told all my life that
I walk with a slight limp, though
I'm not aware of it. One leg is
shorter than the other, which
will eventually cause bursitis.

Where does Face go when he disappears
for days. Got a job, maybe?

Quote: Evenbob

Where does Face go when he disappears
for days. Got a job, maybe?

?
Rides a horse

Drives a truck

rounds up cattle

enter wrestling contests

My bet is fish or hockey playoffs.
Or he fell down and can't get up..

/sigh. I wish I had a horse. I only have "access to a horse", and that's more trouble than it's worth.

Just busy with completely regular life stuff. It finally nice and I had my boy, so lots of blowing bubbles and bike rides and digging for worms. Finished that damnable brake job and got another side repairing an exhaust. Pulled the motor from the race car and have been researching / teaching myself how to rebuild it. Mowed the yard, weeded the garden, took care of paperwork for court and job apps... and of course, went fishing =)

Nothing exciting, other than explaining to my little monster why we don't wipe our butts with paper towels ><

Here's where I am with the back, let's call it 'getting the medication properly adjusted'* as is the plight of modern man

My back is getting better incrementally. It's hard to gauge due to slow progress plus the effect of good days, bad days. The latter seems unconnected to any lifting I do now, but I am careful about excess and also proper technique.

I regret to say that I had to figure out that I have become sensitized to excess caffeine. One day for the hell of it [not just an expression] I skipped any meds but drank a lot of coffee. I still had the excess trips to the John, only in the morning. Next day back to taking Aleve, which I had defamed as "the worst", and I had no more of this intolerable problem [I think I had bulimia symptoms]. Thus my somewhat but not exactly scientific conclusion is that taking the meds and a lot of coffee too was my problem. This ticks me off a bit, as I love coffee. However, I don't miss it like I did when I tried to quit when I was working. One 5 ounce cup is all I drink now, and that sometimes threatens to cause a minor problem. BTW a lot of people don't realize their coffee maker probably measures 5 ounce cups or similar - those are not 8 ounces marked on the machine there guys.

Plus I am taking the smallest doses and sometimes skip a dose. Not in the morning, though, which is still the worst time for pain [I'll grant that is much reduced]. I figure this is going to be like tennis elbow, something that takes months and months to finally get completely well.


*this expression became quite the joke amongst some friends, but that is a long story

Caffeine is a drug that is metabolized by the Xanthine Oxidase Pathway. Same as a good many other drugs such as Angel Dust,amphetamine, etc. Its effects are subtle but excess coffee intake, caffeineism, can be a problem.

Never heard of caffeine sensitivity. A few years ago I was drinking 6 cans of Code Red a day, every day. Never noticed any adverse effects, except perhaps an increase in tooth decay =p

I don't like it quite as much anymore, so I just don't drink it. Sometimes I go days without any caffeine at all. I notice no change in anything whatsoever.