Aches and Pains

I suppose that's about the last thing anyone might be interested in reading about, but right now it's the first thing that's on my mind. Day and night. Standing, sitting, or lying. Aches and pains, and in this drought I can't even blame the rainy weather.

It comes with the territory, I say, without wanting to believe that. Oldtimer's Rule: the more candles on the birthday cake, the more pills in the medicine chest. The absolute worst part is when we (by whom I mean those like myself who are in their seventh decade, or more) start the litany of our medical wounds and woes, the response usually begins with something like, "Well, at your age..." Thanks a lot.


All this is prelude to the sad story of my hamstring muscles. There are three of them on each leg, connecting the knee to the pelvis, and while doing some striding I managed to tear one or more of them pretty badly. Major league hurt. But I tried to do as I was told: stay off your feet, give the muscles a chance to rest, pop ibuprofen for the inevitable pain. Eventually it got well, or at least I thought it did. So I eased back into my walking program.

Too early, I guess, because I managed to tear it again, this time much more painfully. Even lying in bed, trying to sleep, the pain was excruciating. I discovered that everyone seems to have an opinion on this kind of injury, opinions they are not reluctant to share,... but they don't work. Some people said to apply heat, others said ice was the answer. Some people said to elevate the leg, others said to walk gently around the house. Talked to three M.D.s, and they didn't have any more of a clue than the drugstore pill-pusher. Time, and Mother Nature, it seemed to me, was the best course.

Then a neighbor, and also a runner, told me of a massage therapist here who specialized in sports injuries and who did therapeutic deep tissue massage on sore muscles. Massage therapist? I think not. Let them do their voodoo on someone else, but please keep their oily hands off my bod.

The more I thought about it, though, and the longer it continued to hurt, that option began to look more and more attractive, so I finally called my friend's recommended guy. What he said made sense, and I was beginning to be desperate, so a few days ago I made my way to his shopping center office and got a half hour treatment. It was somewhat painful, but not nearly as painful as the leg had been doing nothing, and a few hours after he finished the pain had nearly gone. What relief! I've made another appointment to continue the process tomorrow.

It still hurts, but I know the muscle will heal if I give it time. This go-round I'm going to let several months pass by before putting stress on it again, and when I do I'll be more conscious about stretching the hamstring before starting to walk. The last thing I want is to go through this experience again, plus I know that my muscles aren't what they used to be. After all, I remind my self, at my age...



P.S. You wondered about the cat? Just a picture that caught my eye as I endured my recuperation, for the cat is doing hamstring stretches!