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

[ellie-l.livejournal.com]

One thing you could do, and I've done in an attempt to more accurately locate what's going on with my body, is pick up a copy of Gray's Anatomy. You can get it at pretty much any book store for about $20. Although it's not the most up-to-date book around (the copy I have is copy-righted 1901), it does have a lot of useful general information about the body including lots of pictures of things I remember from high school. I'm not sure how you should be taken care of yourself given the activities you've been doing, and someone experienced with it would be a good person to ask, but as a translator it might work well for you.