Being employed by a company that works with the federal government, I have to take some bulls*** online trainings every so often, but 1 in particular was a doozy. It’s called something like “Trafficking In Persons” training or something…yes, it has to do with human trafficking. No, it doesn’t teach you how to perform human trafficking, as the title seems to suggest. It’s meant to give guidance when it comes to travelling overseas and what to do if you encounter certain scenarios that could tip you off to human trafficking, but part of the training utilizes some crude, 2-D, role play style videogame scenes…the training content is pretty “icky,” which I’m sure is an intentional scare tactic given the subject matter. I don’t want to make light of a serious issue, but if I could ever do a “Two Best Friends Play” style play-through video with running commentary, this would be the time. “Ok, dirty, dimly lit night clubs aren’t really my style, but I guess I’ll go inside,” and, “No, I don’t want to see what’s going on behind that dumpster in the alley! Nothing good ever happens there! Dear God, why!?!” Glad to see our tax dollars aren’t going to waste at least.
It’s been over a month since I’ve done any personal injury update kind of posts, and work is slow as of this moment, so I figured I would delve into that a little bit just to pass the time. I am relatively healthy right now (knock on wood), but let’s start from the head area and work our way down (that’s what she said).
Shoulders…I feel like my left shoulder may always be a problem for me off and on from here on out unless I go under the knife and get it cleaned out (or whatever would need to happen), and it still feels somewhat weak, but all things considered I think I’m finally starting to see it heal from whatever I did to tweak it a couple months ago. It’s just one of those things that I’m probably always going to have to monitor and be extra careful with. I actually felt some pain in my right shoulder, which has always been my good shoulder, when lifting sometime last week, but that pain has since gone away. Looking back now, I think that was just some general muscle soreness, and it’s probably something I don’t have to worry about.
Hands/Fingers/Wrists…These are a couple other nagging injuries that just don’t seem to want to get all the way better, and I’m doing something (whether it’s playing basketball, playing football, or lifting weights) that is putting stress on them just about every day too, so it’s not like they are going to heal any faster either. My left hand/index finger has actually healed to the point that I can basically use it normally. I can shoot a left-handed layup (just as poorly as ever, but still…), I can open doors with my left hand, and I can grip heavy or awkward objects with my left hand now as well, which were all things I was previously struggling with, so those are good signs. I still notice discomfort doing certain things like gripping heavy weights doing dumbbell shoulder presses, but I don’t think it’s preventing me from doing anything anymore, whereas I was avoiding certain activities before. For example, to break-up our training routines sometimes Krissy and I will go throw a football after work instead. I can recall at least 1 occasion where I declined because after an hour of catching balls my hand would be throbbing. Now, if I catch a pass awkwardly, it may sting for a few seconds, but it seems like I’ve gotten through the worst of it. Likewise, my right wrist has improved, but it’s something that’s not all the way better either. I can at least do a pushup now without much pain, but every time I hit the deck while playing football or basketball, I can’t help but use it to break my fall, which of course makes it sore all over again. Like a sprained ankle, it might be 1 of those things that never gains full strength again now that it’s been weakened.
Lower Back…Alas, my “old man” back. This is 1 of those injuries that just seems to come and go. I could take a hard fall while playing football or something, and my back will feel fine, but 2 weekends ago it started to stiffen up just from standing up too long after we finished playing basketball. This week it’s been fine. I usually shy away from doing dead lifts and other lower back exercises at the gym, but aside from trying to strengthen it and just babying it when I do start to feel it spazzing out, I’m not sure if there’s anything else that can be done.
Knees/Hamstrings/Groins…This is going to be a short section because none of these have given me any trouble lately. Let’s hope that I can keep it that way.
Achilles…2 years ago when I 1st started to feel achilles pain, it was on my left leg. Now, my left achilles feels pretty good, and it’s my right 1 that’s aggravated. Just as long as both of them don’t hurt at the same time (like they did last summer), it’s bearable at least. From everything I’ve read, pretty much the best thing you can do if you have achilles tendonitis is rest them. Because of that, I’ve cut down on my running at the gym during the week, and I’ve been trying to save any running/jumping/cutting for when we play different things on the weekend. I’ve also heard that the kind of shoes you where and how you run can contribute to achilles pain, but at the end of the day it’s still mostly an overuse injury, so I think I’m just going to have to deal with it for now. Maybe once football season ends, I will get some relief though.
Ankles…Krissy jokes with me that she’s not sure I have any tendons or ligaments even left in my ankles (especially my right 1), but it’s been like 3 or 4 years since I’ve suffered a serious or semi-serious ankle sprain. I did have a minor tweak playing football a month or so ago, and my ankles are weak enough that at this point even minor twists or exaggerated for me, but it hasn’t really given me any problems since the weekend that I sprained it. As I sit here at my desk, if I try to turn my ankle, it doesn’t feel so great, but I’m not sure it felt great before I tweaked it anyway. Summer is around the corner though. It’s time to try to get as healthy as possible. Maximum healthiness equals maximum playtime, and maximum playtime equals maximum fun. So, being “not injured” equals “fun.” There you go…the transitive property at its finest.
No comments:
Post a Comment