Once again, I pay attention to my body, and surroundings, and solve a mystery!

treeguy64

treeguy64

Hari Om, y'all!
Location
Austin, TX.
OK, I've discussed, in here, before, about how the majority of folks go running off to their doctors to get their medical shamans to magically figure out what's wrong with them, and then prescribe magic potions, instead of paying attention to what's going on with themselves, and thereby come up with why they're currently suffering this or that malady. When you consider that doctors make BIG mistakes, at times, in their diagnoses, and the pills they prescribe can make things worse and/or kill a person, I think running off to your doctor should be your LAST option. Most people make it option #1, unfortunately.

Case in point: In the last few weeks, I've noticed that my rib cage, on either side of my sternum, and the area right over my navel, have been getting very sore. I was wondering just what the hell was going on. It actually felt like I had a few, broken ribs! I tried to figure out why I was feeling the way I was. I reviewed my work days: Had I had any logs hitting the area, as I rigged them down? Did I fall, OTJ, and bruise the crap out of myself? Was I wearing new clothes, new jackets that sat on the sore area? Was I eating anything new that, possibly, was damaging me, from the inside out? I pondered, to no avail, until.......

Eureka! I believe I mentioned, in here, that I bought a standing desk, a while back. I love it, as it eliminated my lower back pain, completely. That back pain came from sitting long hours in a chair, at my old, "normal," desk, doing paperwork and filing. Now, I stand as I work. Great, right? Not so fast!

Today, as I stood at the desk, I noticed that I hunch over it, pressing my lower rib cage and upper navel into it, to relieve a little weight on my legs and feet. AH-HA! I've solved the mystery, Watson! Everything lines up with my standing at the bloody desk! Every area that has been hurting me, lately, is pressed up against the top of the standing desk! In addition, as my band is preparing to play a Halloween gig, and go into the studio, three days later, I've been working at the desk for much, much longer hours, than before. (A side note: Once, when leaning over a fence to grab a saw on the other side, I put most of my weight on my lower ribs, taking my feet off the ground. Suddenly, I dropped a few inches down. I knew, exactly, what had happened: I had broken my two lowest ribs. Nothing I could do but let time heal me up, which it did over the next month.)

So, I say to one and all, again: Pay attention to your body. Pay attention to your surroundings, and how you're interacting with the same. You, too, have the power to solve your mysteries. Don't run off to your MD with every little malady, ache or pain, that may suddenly manifest. Think back, think sharp, and you will be able to figure out what's going on.

I wish everyone the best of luck! You can be your own best detective and healer!
 

treeguy64 said:
Today, as I stood at the desk, I noticed that I hunch over it, pressing my lower rib cage and upper navel into it, to relieve a little weight on my legs and feet. AH-HA! I've solved the mystery, Watson! Everything lines up with my standing at the bloody desk! Every area that has been hurting me, lately, is pressed up against the top of the standing desk!
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I've had that problem twice, the first time I put up with the pain for 16 days because I kept hoping it would go away, since I hate going to doctors. Then I got scared that it wasn't going away and I gave up and went to a clinic and they took x-rays and then gave me an anti-inflammant(?) and it went away in 3 days. After those two times I discovered that it happens when I get up from a bed or couch leaning on my left side, the feeling is like that area is ''folding''. It only happens on my left side, I don't know why, but now I'm more careful how I get up. The doctor said that the inflammation was between the lower ribs and the muscles covering the ribs.
 
I agree somewhat with you treeguy64 and I worked until I was 69 years of age as a Pediatric Physician. There are many people who go to the doctors as the first resort for every single ailment that comes down the line when most of the time as you have said if you just keep close tabs on your body you can get over most simple ailments most of the time with over the counter treatments. Now saying that this is not always the case. If your ailment or sickness turns worse in a short period of time than it is time to seek professional help. There has to be a lot of common sense used as well.
 

Silverfox said:
I agree somewhat with you treeguy64 and I worked until I was 69 years of age as a Pediatric Physician. There are many people who go to the doctors as the first resort for every single ailment that comes down the line when most of the time as you have said if you just keep close tabs on your body you can get over most simple ailments most of the time with over the counter treatments. Now saying that this is not always the case. If your ailment or sickness turns worse in a short period of time than it is time to seek professional help. There has to be a lot of common sense used as well.
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I was hoping you'd weigh in here, SF. Thanks!

My old pcp, a good guy whom I went to for twenty-five years, until Obamacare put us asunder, used to say that 90% of the patients he saw had problems that would self-resolve, in less than a month, if those patients would just refrain from the activities that brought the problems on. I took that to heart, and went a little further with it by actively pondering what, exactly, was causing my problems, in the first place.

I also turned him on to some treatments he was unfamiliar with. To this day, he still suggests that his patients with elevated trig levels try Red Yeast Rice in alternation with Niacin. That cut my levels in half, in a few weeks, when I was still ovo-lacto. I told him about it, and he was a doubter, at first. Later, I got a call, out of nowhere, from his nurse. She said, "Steve wanted me to tell you that he'll never doubt you again!" That felt pretty cool, in truth.

Again, listen to your body, think about what you're doing with it, to it, and make the necessary changes. Do your own research. Solve your mysteries!
 
treeguy64 said:
I was hoping you'd weigh in here, SF. Thanks!

My old pcp, a good guy whom I went to for twenty-five years, until Obamacare put us asunder, used to say that 90% of the patients he saw had problems that would self-resolve, in less than a month, if those patients would just refrain from the activities that brought the problems on. I took that to heart, and went a little further with it by actively pondering what, exactly, was causing my problems, in the first place.

I also turned him on to some treatments he was unfamiliar with. To this day, he still suggests that his patients with elevated trig levels try Red Yeast Rice in alternation with Niacin. That cut my levels in half, in a few weeks, when I was still ovo-lacto. I told him about it, and he was a doubter, at first. Later, I got a call, out of nowhere, from his nurse. She said, "Steve wanted me to tell you that he'll never doubt you again!" That felt pretty cool, in truth.

Again, listen to your body, think about what you're doing with it, to it, and make the necessary changes. Do your own research. Solve your mysteries!
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The thing I always told the parents of my patients as I saw patients from infants to the age of 17 and a few that were 18 years of age that they have to follow the signs of what there child's body is telling them. I can listen to there child and use the knowledge that I know from what I have studied and learned, but in my case the parents know how there babies act and in the case of the older children they know there own bodies as well. Fish Oil has been known to be great for triglycerides as well. It sounds like you had an amazing Physician you gave you many alternatives which is always a great sign of a good physician.
 
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I totally agree with you treeguy. I recently had a problem that I figured out for myself also. I was raking leaves a few weeks ago and noticed a tight dry feeling when taking deep breaths, it bordered on being painful. At first it didn't register but the same thing happened last year.
I have a huge patch of Bugle weed growing on a bank that I planted for a ground cover. When I planted it I had no issues but we had a dry spell and while raking over the area I'm pretty sure I inhaled the dust from those plants. I stayed away from the area and in a week or two my symptoms disappeared.
I since have read that many people have a problem with that type of plant.
I was so close to going to the doctor and now I'm glad I waited.
 
treeguy64 said:
So, I say to one and all, again: Pay attention to your body. Pay attention to your surroundings, and how you're interacting with the same. You, too, have the power to solve your mysteries. Don't run off to your MD with every little malady, ache or pain, that may suddenly manifest. Think back, think sharp, and you will be able to figure out what's going on
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So true.
I messed up my knee a few weeks ago.
Kept walking our 3 miles
The knee didn't recover as fast as I'd have thought it should
Took three days off from the walk
The knee is good now
Back to doing 3-5 miles
 
Gary O' said:
So true.
I messed up my knee a few weeks ago.
Kept walking our 3 miles
The knee didn't recover as fast as I'd have thought it should
Took three days off from the walk
The knee is good now
Back to doing 3-5 miles
Click to expand...
You understanding your own body would have known right away if your knee would have needed professional medical attention right away and you would have sought that. There is a huge difference between bruising a knee and tearing something in a knee and someone who is in tune with there body will know that pretty darn quick. You see that on the athletic field a lot.
 
At my age, I pay close attention to any new aches or pains I may be feeling. I also try to keep track of what I was doing shortly before I noticed the symptoms. Usually, whatever I feel is due to overexerting this old body with my outdoor activities, but I still pay attention to what my body is telling me. If I have any doubts or concerns, I do some research on the Internet on sites such as WebMD, or MayoClinic, and that usually confirms my suspicions. In the rare case when I see a doctor, at least I am armed with enough info to hopefully get a correct diagnosis, instead of having a doctor start from scratch.
 

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