I visited the doctor today. I was apprehensive and anxious…going to the doctor is not something I have made a habit of doing. I had demonized the medical community for years. My need to be perfect and the medical community never meshed well.
As a civilian I have mostly avoided the doctor because I am not entirely fond of mine, but I also have been too lazy to seek out a new one. She told me once when I went to her for my annual blood work that I should stop lifting so heavy. She doesn’t personally know me or my relationship with the iron but I did hold it against her. She didn’t get too excited when some of my blood work came back on the higher end of normal and that infuriated me. You see my need to be perfect has alienated a lot of medical advice I have gotten and had prevented me from seeking medical advice for years.
I have realized that I am never going to be perfect and striving for that is asinine. I am dying…not today…but that is how this journey will end – understanding that is comforting to me, and no longer threatening. I’ll do everything I can to prolong my life…and my sanity…and I am tired of self-diagnosing off the Internet…because the Internet always says I have cancer, and I think it is set up that way so you GO SEEK PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE.
Alternative medicine can be great, but it is largely dangerous. Herbs and essential oils are not regulated. And now that the dietary dogma has been lifted off of me I see that it is foolish to try and cure a thyroid with Wild Yam Tincture - and actually when I read that I shake my head at that craziness.
There are some great things about alternative medicines. One of my favorites is massages. Massages were the only relief I got from the bursitis in my shoulder; well that and quitting bench press. Which was what the doctor had advised when I was under treatment and I refused and kept benching for three years, it wasn’t really the massage – it was a combination of quitting, getting the knots worked out and not re-inflaming it.
Finding medical solutions on the internet is a convoluted process you need to be aware of. You have someone blogging about their personal experience but you don’t know all the variables. And mostly you don't know this blogger - it could be a nine year old for all you know. You have to take into consideration that their experience could be a one-off or was it even a legit ailment to start with or just one of those body flukes? A body fluke is when you show symptoms of something and then even if you didn't do anything it magically disappears. We've all had this happen to us in some form or another. How do you know this person didn't just have a body fluke, rubbed some coconut oil on it and drank chamomile and wola they were cured? You don’t. You can also have someone writing a blog for sensationalism and blog hits…you just never know.
No one wants to hear “seek medical advice from a medical professional”. That means waiting and no one in 2014 is good at that. You have to wait for the appointment, you have to take time off work and rearrange your schedule, pay your co-pay and of course you have to tell your doctor everything that is happening so they can work with you on a diagnosis and treatment plan and that may not fit your “urgent” needs. Or even worse….you get a referral to a specialist; which means more waiting.
Doctors aren’t perfect but the great aspect about a doctor is there are a lot of them out there and available to you. I agree it isn’t as fast as going to google and typing in your symptoms and reading seven blogs, WebMD and Live Strong then taking your self-diagnosis figuring out the typical treatment plan then typing that into Google and finding the holistic, home remedy or alternative treatment you can do yourself.
The hard cold fact is that sometimes what ails you needs a professional diagnosis and treatment.
Yes, a healthy lifestyle that includes eating nutritious foods in appropriate quantities, exercising daily, getting ample sleep, and refraining from too much stress, caffeine and alcohol are great approaches and good measures for health. They will do nothing but improve your health journey, but we are a complex organism and sometimes we need a little more than good foods and essential oils.
Being proactive in your medical care is taking care of yourself in the aforementioned health approaches, and even researching your ails but consulting a medical professional shouldn’t be shunned and it is. We are getting away from medical science and evidence based treatments the more popular blogging and the Internet become. We can’t forget the Internet is free and that anyone can post. There is a plethora of advice and information out there and not all of it is safe or accurate.
I know that someone will want to argue their horrible experience with a medical doctor and how they found salvation in going Paleo or going Raw...I'm actually really happy for the individual who found relief, however you cannot be 100% sure that your diet fixed you and you cannot be 100% sure that advising someone else to do the same vice seek treatment is safe. So stop it.
I've been infuriated with doctors myself, nothing will make you want to pull your hair out more than being in the Shock Trauma Unit of Baltimore's largest hosptial, surrounded by the best medical team and they are telling you that your husband is imagining spleen trauma. My husband ruptured his spleen in a unconvential (not heard of yet) way and this caused a lot of grief and waiting. The head doctor came with his disciples 12 deep and we had a nice chat where he did all the listening and I did all of the talking. If I would have sat back and just accepted their diagnosis it would have prolonged him getting treatment - it was a huge pain in the ass, it was the most stressful thing I have ever gone through but still....they were the only people who could help him. Sometimes you have to embrace the suck with medical treatment....like I said we are complex organisms.
If you are adversely against medication then discuss that with your doctor. I’ve been to my doctor three times this year: once for my annual, once for the flu and now today for a new aliment and she didn’t offer me drugs at any of these appointments and if I wasn’t comfortable with something she prescribed I would have discussed it with her.
I saw a FB post where a woman claimed to have healed her bulimia with fasting. This is baffling to read but I know that there are a lot of folks out there that are trapped in their dietary dogma and believe this woman in fact healed herself with a fast. Bulimia is a serious mental illness that needs to be medically treated – fasting only fuels her mental illness. The problem here isn’t the food, but her relationship with food.
I see dietary advice being dealt out in abundance on various FB pages (and mine used to be one of them) about different medical afflictions and how to cure them with various demonization of foods, herbs, kombucha and sunshine. Yes, sometimes it is the food – most of the times it isn’t, and it is wise to check with a medical professional to be sure – and if you don’t like what they tell you seek another opinion or do what you think is best for your health. It is after all YOUR health; you can do what you like with it.
My best personal advice for everyone out there is to stop getting medical advice from the Internet and take care of yourself and this includes the occasional unplanned trip to the doctor and your routine medical check-ups.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Friday, March 14, 2014
Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Bones!
The back bones connected to the hip bone, the hip bones connected to the thigh bone….do you remember this song? Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Bones!
Our bodies are this wonderfully organic and adaptable machine, almost too adaptable. Everyone I talk to lately is suffering from an injury – some are debilitating and some are just nagging. This got me thinking about how magical and wonderful the human body really is.
Unfortunately and fortunately the human body adapts when we are injured. Unfortunately because this causes other anatomical problems and fortunately because we can still function and be productive. Pain medications are almost detrimental for some – we go to the orthopedic specialist and they give us a shot of cortisone and magically that sore shoulder is “100 percent”; we pop 800 mg of ibuprofen and magically that nuisance in our wrist is gone! But then all the sudden your neck and jaw bone start to ache, or your elbow starts to ache and feels like it is on fire…but I didn’t even injury my elbow! What is going on?
Dem bones, dem bones, dem bones, dem bones!
Anatomy has always…and I mean ALWAYS…made my head hurt. WHAT ASSHOLE CAME UP WITH THESE NAMES!? Why can’t the tetanic contraction just be called a painful spasm? Or a plexus be called knitted? Oh that’s right….we can’t have a cult without fancy jargon. A short…very short…lesson on muscle connections. Our bodies have 250,000,000 muscle cells and 420,000 motor neurons. A motor neuron pairs up with a bunch of muscle cells to make a muscle fiber. The motor neuron is the messenger that runs back and forth between the Central Nervous System and the muscle fiber relaying messages…like contract – or for laymen like me…SQUEEZE. Or relax. One single muscle can be a number of motor units – and they all work together, when the muscle needs to do work the Central Nervous System sends out stimulating electric messages saying DO WORK! If your neck needs to do work it is going to rely on some of the muscle fibers from your shoulder. One central area….all dem muscles.
Nerves – they are everywhere!! Your Lumbosacral Plexus is a nerve plexus (knit) where your spinal nerves intersect. They work the muscles in the lower body, such as calves, knees, groins, thigh, abdomen and lower back. This is where an anesthesiologist would perform a nerve block for the lower body. So one central area….all dem nerves.
Bones – they support and protect organs and produce white and red blood cells and store minerals. They come in all shapes and sizes and a complex structure. Your bones have all sorts of tissues inside them: marrow, endosteum, periosteum, nerves, blood vessels and cartilage. Bones are amazing….a matchbox size of bone can support nine tons! That is four times the amount that concrete can. Dem bones, dem bones, dem bones.
I broke my foot last May and I found ways to keep training. I did one legged burpees and other exercises bilaterally. This was amazing that I adapted to this pain – I have done this with every single injury to date, I hurt my shoulder – I test out different exercises to see what I can do and then I just do them. Hyperextended my elbow…test out different exercises to see what I can do. Again I find this amazing because I have given birth twice and both times I cried, screamed and even threatened to cut people if they didn’t give me drugs. You would think that the idea of having a whole new human being to love, care for and call my own would have been enough to keep me focused – but threaten my mental health with an injury and the possibility that I can’t train and I am the terminator.
It’s all connected…just like the song we learned in pre-school taught us. So what can we do about it? Stretch, strengthen, massage and manage your pain….all appropriately.
Stretch…if you are over 30 and not stretching I don’t know how you are a productive human. Seriously, stretching for me was no longer a should-do and a must-do once I pushed 30. If you are young get in the habit of stretching – it is a very hard habit to develop and it fucking sucks developing it just because you are injured. Nothing sucks worse than working out and getting your muscles warm, the blood and adrenaline flowing and then saying fuck you stretches, then cooling off and trying to scrape your sorry ass off the floor/bench/couch and then hobbling around for three days all cause of your lazy inability to create a new habit (and when I say you…I mean me).
Strengthen…but do it the right way – if you have an injury and you still want to train, but if you are unsure of how to train the right way with an injury go to a physical therapist……..I SAID A PHYSICAL THERAPIST….not a personal trainer…sorry but they are not trained to deal with injuries. A Physical Therapist attends school for about 6 years and is required by LAW to be licensed. If your personal trainer who has their Level I (or Level II) Certification with XF or there online certificate from AFAA is telling you they know injuries they are full of shit and you should run away. The lines should not be blurred between medical treatment and personal trainers. A personal trainer or coach is there to design you a safe workout program and teach you proper form. Nothing more.
Massage…….I can’t tell you enough how much massage saved my fitness career – I get one at least once a month and more if I am hammering away on a goal. Massages have been hands down the best muscle therapy for me personally. I don’t believe in chiropractors – sorry. I think it is pseudoscience.
Manage your pain – if you get a cortisone shot and your orthopedic told you to rehab for 6 weeks. Rehab for six weeks. Just because the fire was put out by the medicine doesn’t mean the smoke is cleared. Pain is your bodies way of saying “hey asshole, don’t do that” – your body really does know best. Our bodies talk to us all the time, we just have to listen. If you are tired that means rest, or sleep not pound coffee, NSAIDS and hit it hard. I can’t explain enough how stressful lifting is on the Central Nervous System. Add in lack of rest, injuries, pain meds, caffeine and mismanagement of stress and you are asking for cumulative injuries.
Dem bones, Dem bone, Dem bones….be good to them, you only get one set.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-motor-unit.htm
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-lumbar-plexus.htm
Our bodies are this wonderfully organic and adaptable machine, almost too adaptable. Everyone I talk to lately is suffering from an injury – some are debilitating and some are just nagging. This got me thinking about how magical and wonderful the human body really is.
Unfortunately and fortunately the human body adapts when we are injured. Unfortunately because this causes other anatomical problems and fortunately because we can still function and be productive. Pain medications are almost detrimental for some – we go to the orthopedic specialist and they give us a shot of cortisone and magically that sore shoulder is “100 percent”; we pop 800 mg of ibuprofen and magically that nuisance in our wrist is gone! But then all the sudden your neck and jaw bone start to ache, or your elbow starts to ache and feels like it is on fire…but I didn’t even injury my elbow! What is going on?
Dem bones, dem bones, dem bones, dem bones!
Anatomy has always…and I mean ALWAYS…made my head hurt. WHAT ASSHOLE CAME UP WITH THESE NAMES!? Why can’t the tetanic contraction just be called a painful spasm? Or a plexus be called knitted? Oh that’s right….we can’t have a cult without fancy jargon. A short…very short…lesson on muscle connections. Our bodies have 250,000,000 muscle cells and 420,000 motor neurons. A motor neuron pairs up with a bunch of muscle cells to make a muscle fiber. The motor neuron is the messenger that runs back and forth between the Central Nervous System and the muscle fiber relaying messages…like contract – or for laymen like me…SQUEEZE. Or relax. One single muscle can be a number of motor units – and they all work together, when the muscle needs to do work the Central Nervous System sends out stimulating electric messages saying DO WORK! If your neck needs to do work it is going to rely on some of the muscle fibers from your shoulder. One central area….all dem muscles.
Nerves – they are everywhere!! Your Lumbosacral Plexus is a nerve plexus (knit) where your spinal nerves intersect. They work the muscles in the lower body, such as calves, knees, groins, thigh, abdomen and lower back. This is where an anesthesiologist would perform a nerve block for the lower body. So one central area….all dem nerves.
Bones – they support and protect organs and produce white and red blood cells and store minerals. They come in all shapes and sizes and a complex structure. Your bones have all sorts of tissues inside them: marrow, endosteum, periosteum, nerves, blood vessels and cartilage. Bones are amazing….a matchbox size of bone can support nine tons! That is four times the amount that concrete can. Dem bones, dem bones, dem bones.
I broke my foot last May and I found ways to keep training. I did one legged burpees and other exercises bilaterally. This was amazing that I adapted to this pain – I have done this with every single injury to date, I hurt my shoulder – I test out different exercises to see what I can do and then I just do them. Hyperextended my elbow…test out different exercises to see what I can do. Again I find this amazing because I have given birth twice and both times I cried, screamed and even threatened to cut people if they didn’t give me drugs. You would think that the idea of having a whole new human being to love, care for and call my own would have been enough to keep me focused – but threaten my mental health with an injury and the possibility that I can’t train and I am the terminator.
It’s all connected…just like the song we learned in pre-school taught us. So what can we do about it? Stretch, strengthen, massage and manage your pain….all appropriately.
Stretch…if you are over 30 and not stretching I don’t know how you are a productive human. Seriously, stretching for me was no longer a should-do and a must-do once I pushed 30. If you are young get in the habit of stretching – it is a very hard habit to develop and it fucking sucks developing it just because you are injured. Nothing sucks worse than working out and getting your muscles warm, the blood and adrenaline flowing and then saying fuck you stretches, then cooling off and trying to scrape your sorry ass off the floor/bench/couch and then hobbling around for three days all cause of your lazy inability to create a new habit (and when I say you…I mean me).
Strengthen…but do it the right way – if you have an injury and you still want to train, but if you are unsure of how to train the right way with an injury go to a physical therapist……..I SAID A PHYSICAL THERAPIST….not a personal trainer…sorry but they are not trained to deal with injuries. A Physical Therapist attends school for about 6 years and is required by LAW to be licensed. If your personal trainer who has their Level I (or Level II) Certification with XF or there online certificate from AFAA is telling you they know injuries they are full of shit and you should run away. The lines should not be blurred between medical treatment and personal trainers. A personal trainer or coach is there to design you a safe workout program and teach you proper form. Nothing more.
Massage…….I can’t tell you enough how much massage saved my fitness career – I get one at least once a month and more if I am hammering away on a goal. Massages have been hands down the best muscle therapy for me personally. I don’t believe in chiropractors – sorry. I think it is pseudoscience.
Manage your pain – if you get a cortisone shot and your orthopedic told you to rehab for 6 weeks. Rehab for six weeks. Just because the fire was put out by the medicine doesn’t mean the smoke is cleared. Pain is your bodies way of saying “hey asshole, don’t do that” – your body really does know best. Our bodies talk to us all the time, we just have to listen. If you are tired that means rest, or sleep not pound coffee, NSAIDS and hit it hard. I can’t explain enough how stressful lifting is on the Central Nervous System. Add in lack of rest, injuries, pain meds, caffeine and mismanagement of stress and you are asking for cumulative injuries.
Dem bones, Dem bone, Dem bones….be good to them, you only get one set.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-motor-unit.htm
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-lumbar-plexus.htm
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