Just a little question for other bloggers … are you getting AI comments? Mine go straight to the spam folder, but the first one looked so real I unspammed it and responded. Then I started getting more, so I now just delete them.
The level of detail is quite amazing. Sort of like my best friend commenting on every single thought I shared in the post and asking probing questions to stimulate dialogue. If that really is you best friend, I apologize for comparing you to artificial intelligence.
This is probably why I was never popular.
I’ve had some promising news on the creaky body parts countdown to eternity. As background, I exercise, stretch and strengthen religiously, but I still have a multitude of issues. I suppose it’s age, but I also wonder if my cancer history plays a role. No estrogen since 1999, and I believe that contributes to musculoskeletal problems. But hey, I’m alive, so yay!
I used to say I had three areas that needed constant attention – knees, back and wrists. I’ve been in physical therapy for about 15 months, and we’ve made excellent progress on all three.
But then my shoulder and arm started bothering me three months ago. Simple things like putting on a sweater is excruciating, but golf is OK. I finally got in to see the sports medicine doctor, who believes the issue is trigger points in my shoulder referring pain down my arm.
I don’t completely understand it all, but I guess trigger points are muscles that knot up for various reasons, including overuse. That’s probably me. I got new golf clubs this year, and I went to the driving range way more than I typically go, and hitting off mats doesn’t help.
It seems the solution is to somehow get the trigger points to release. Massage helps. Rolling up against a tennis ball – anything that puts pressure on those knots. I’ve also been doing a slew of exercises to strengthen the shoulder.
For some immediate relief, the doctor used dry needling. It sounds horrible, but I never saw the needle, and it didn’t hurt. He finds those tender spots, inserts the needle, and you can feel the muscle twitch and pulse. It’s wild. The doctor said it could be a case of one and done, but I might need to come back for a tune-up.
The shoulder and the arm are much better, but I will probably have to go back. I was afraid he was going to tell me to stop playing golf, but he said do everything you can possibly do. No restrictions. I might have some pain along the way, but as an active “aging” adult, some pain is to be expected. But he can help get it from a 7 to a 2 on the pain scale and to think of it as something that can be managed.
I like that mentality. In the absence of illness or serious injury, just keep going. I played golf two days in a row this week. I usually try to skip a day but thought, what the hell? I was no worse for the wear, but it did get a little weird.
A friend and I were paired with two women we didn’t know. One of them was decidedly unfriendly. Talk about trigger points! She made everything harder than it had to be, and it was frustrating.
As we reached our final hole, she looked us dead in the eye and said, “This is the last hole.” We’re like, yeah, OK, sure. Then she said it again is this creepy Grim Reaper voice.
“This is the last hole.”
My friend looked up and said, “Ever?”
I cannot stop laughing about that. Seriously, I have tears in my eyes right now.
And on that note, I leave you with fresh cherry scones with lime drizzle.
Yeah. Active aging. That means my knee hurts from an old MCL sprain. My hip hurts from L4-L5 compression that aggravates the piriformis. Oh, and now my shoulder hurts from too much ping pong (still going after that started during Covid lockdown). Dry needle? Been there, done that. So it appears I will be actively aging right up to the very end. I can live with that. I kinda sorta have to.
That pesky L4-L5. Oh, and the dreaded piriformis. But I’m kind of impressed by ping pong injuries. That sounds like a good way to go.
Who ever said “Use it or lose it.” for the first time was absolutely right. It may hurt a little to use it, but if you don’t move, you’ll eventually not be able to. At least things move around so it’s always a fresh surprise to see what ails one next.
That sums it up. It’s surprising to me that I have a sports medicine doctor, a physical therapist and a massage therapist, and they all say the same thing. Use it or lose it.
So like, A-hole.
I tried to stop myself at unpleasant.
I don’t blog but lately every time I google something, an AI explanation appears at the top of the page. In many cases the information is patently false, old or incomplete. There’s a disclaimer at the bottom saying the information may not be accurate but it’s really annoying me that so much of it is incorrect. We have enough disinformation and misinformation in the world already and now Google is adding to it by offering up AI in the most prominent spot (even above the sponsored results) where many stop their reading and searching. Grr!
I’ve also noticed the AI all over the search results. I guess this is our future whether we like it or not. If only more people cared about the difference between truth and reality.
Bowen therapy has helped the neck pain that had me waking up & going to bed with a headache. An xray revealed osteoarthritis. I can’t begin to explain how this therapy works but I have no need for a chiropractor after treatment.
I looked that up, and it sounds very similar to what my massage therapist does, although I’m sure it’s a unique variation. I’m so glad you got the results you needed. As they say, by any means necessary.