Body changes

[pandora_parrot]

Prior to about a year ago, I spent most of my time living a pretty sedantary life. Perhaps I would go outdoors and do some walking, but that was about it.

Nowadays, I'm doing rock climbing, skateboarding, hiking, roller blading, etc.

So I have a bit of a problem.

I don't really know much about my body and how it works and heals.

I'm covered in bruises, scrapes, and cuts. I have swollen elbows and knees. My limbs are aching in all sorts of interesting places. Some of those aches are pretty painful. I found yesterday that I can't do drumming in rock band right now because my arms are getting too sore, especially around the elbows. I'm having trouble walking up stairs, because it hurts to push down too hard on my left foot. I can't go running, because the last time I did that, I think I pulled a muscle. My right ankle is very sore.

I don't know what to do about all of this. Do I put ice on things or something? How do I know what the problem is and whether or not it is serious? How much pain should I allow myself to experience before I take a break from something that relates to that pain? How long should I rest something before going back and doing more work?

I don't even really know how to properly describe what hurts. People talk to me about it, and I hear words like "ligaments," "tendons," and things like that. Honestly, while I know they have something to do with the body, I don't really know what all those things are. I can look up individual things that people mention, but I just don't have the vocabulary to properly communicate about my body. I don't know what language to use to describe the part of my body that is hurting in any particular moment. If it is hurting *here* what part is that? How do I describe it to folks.

Any suggestions on what to do? I'm not even really sure on what to do, and I absolutely hate going to my doctor, as sometimes she seems to randomly charge me for the visit and i have no idea why.

Comments

[forest-rose.livejournal.com]

Feel free to ask me any questions you might have - I don't know whether you know, but I'm a student doctor. I don't know everything by any means, but I know some stuff! It's hard to diagnose problems if I can't see you, but I may be able to help you decide whether you need it looked at.

In general, you don't need to be able to say in scientific terms what part of your body hurts. Pain's a funny thing anyway, if it hurts in one place it may actually be coming from somewhere entirely different - like shoulder injuries which often hurt halfway down your arm.

For pain and/or sports injuries, we tend to use the mnemonic RICE or MICE. RICE stands for rest (of which more in a moment), ice (get a bag of frozen peas or something similar and wrap it in a cloth - not directly on your skin! - and cool down the area), compression (a tight bandage) and elevation (put the affected part up, like on a footstool if it's your ankle). These days we sometimes use MICE instead - complete rest can cause you to stiffen up, so gentle movement is good.

'It's hurting *here*' is a perfectly good way to describe pain, and that's what your doctor would prefer you to say anyway. Different people mean different things by words like 'ankle' - it's easier if you just point. As for the type of pain, they want to know whether it feels dull (like toothache) or sharp (like a knife) or burning, how quickly it came on, whether it's getting better or worse, what makes it better, what makes it worse.

As for whether you should keep going on an injury - that's really hard to say in general, because it depends on the nature of the injury. That's something a personal trainer or physiotherapist would be better able to talk to you about, as maestrodog very sensibly points out.

If there's anything in particular you want to ask about, feel free to drop me a PM or an email and I'll advise you as best I can.

And good for you for being more active! That's something I really need to do for myself. xxx