Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Momentary Whine About My Body

In recent months, for reasons unbeknownst to me, my body has begun to resemble that of an old woman. Since elderly people enjoy rattling off their many health woes, allow me to elaborate.

My right wrist and left ankle, when bent at particular angles, experience shooting pain. The joints in my knees make cracking and creaking noises every time I stand up or kneel. Most recently, my lower back has been rendered useless. Nothing particularly traumatic happened to my back. One day last week, I just started feeling a slight pain while sitting. The pain became progressively worse over the next several days. Now my back hurts constantly, especially when I sit for long periods of time, or bend over to pick up heavy objects. So it is a good thing I don't do too much of that. Oh WAIT. I have an 18-pound baby to nurse and carry all day.

I am twenty-eight, supposedly still in my prime. I exercise regularly, eat well, and generally do not have any health issues. So would someone please tell me what is going on with my disintegrating joints and muscles?

With no real explanation for the sudden onslaught of body aches, I have taken up the attractive habit of complaining daily to whomever is in earshot. More often than not, it happens to be my husband (that is the cost one pays for working at home simultaneously with their spouse - maybe that is why some people inexplicably choose to work in a cubicle). "Ughhh...my back is killing me!," I will grumble for the fifteenth time that day. And for the fifteenth time that day, my husband will reply ever so pragmatically, "Go see someone about it" (which I shall do if the pain persists).

This foreshadowing of the aging process is beginning to frighten me. My body is already starting to deteriorate, and I haven't even reached middle age. How will I ever survive my thirties, forties, and beyond?

Okay, enough griping. I'm going to Yelp (yes, I've made Yelp into a verb) massage therapists in Los Angeles.

12 comments:

  1. Yes definitely see someone!
    And get your husband to give you a massage ;)

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  2. I need to Yelp a chiropractor...

    I have many pains at the moment: my right wrist is sprained, many of my joints feel stiff if I don't crack the regularly (hands, neck, back, ankles, toes), my right shin has a bruse (that might even be a frcture), I have constantly been coughing for the last 4 months, my allergies are killing my sinuses.

    This past year has taken a toll on my body.

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  3. you're lifting a baby, Larissa! your body, like it or not, went through a lot relatively recently and is struggling to shrink back to it's former self while simultaneously putting on new muscle and readjusting itself to carry an infant... I know the birth must seem like it was ages ago, but there's a reason women are considered postpartum for the first full year. I went through the same aches and pains, and they do ease up!

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  4. I swear if we all got more massages the world would be a happier place. I want one!

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  5. Ugh, sorry to hear about your sore body! Have you been to a chiropractor? I have not but many friends of mine swear by them!

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  6. Wouldn't it be cool if we were made like Mr. Potato Head? Then when something--like a wrist or head--broke (or just got boring), we could pop it off and put a new one on!

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  7. oh boo about the aches, but hopefully the massage will be lovely and all sorts of help :)

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  8. I know this is gonna sound crazy, but...YOU JUST HAD A BABY!!!!! Give yourself at least a year before you start feeling somewhat human again. My youngest will be three on 09/11 and every morning when I wake up there is sensitivity in my feet...don't know why but there is. Aging does have something to do with it, but you just "lifed" (new word) a baby and that is a lot for one body to do. Don't worry, you'll never be the same, but it does get alot better from here--I promise.

    In the meantime, keep pampering yourself with massages! ; )

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  9. Yeah, Brad!

    I agree with lots of the other comments. Probably less the aging thing, and more the effects of the baby thing ... new physical routines --> overuse "injuries" ... chiropractic is good.

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  10. Hi Larissa - Could your aches be a by-product of nursing? I found myself with carpal-tunnel syndrome and arthritis while I was nursing Baker. Not sure what the solution is ... but a massage can't hurt ;-)
    - Amy Elson from Lodi

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  11. I just found your blog and wanted to drop you a note and tell you that I really fell in love with it!

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  12. 28 here, and even though I did actually injure mine I really didn't think I could do that at 28. Now my back actually bugs me, where as it didn't before : / .

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