Body parts I need to fix

Do you remember the one day last winter where we had some actual winter weather? On that particular day I was running on the sidewalk to my daughter’s school, late as usual, to chaperone an ice skating trip. I hit a patch that was slick and iced and down I went onto my left arm. “This is gonna be a problem,” I thought.   And now, four months later, it is.

Since then my arm has bothered me but I’ve ignored it thinking it would eventually go away on its own.  A recent strength training exercise that targeted the spot caused more pain and  I couldn’t do the exercise.  Jeff did some checking and concluded that the muscle is fine but scar tissue has probably developed around the tendon. He recommends I get some deep tissue massage or ultrasound to break it up.  Strength and proper functioning of my upper arm is going to be crucial to paddling and getting up on a surfboard, I really need to work this out.  

The second problem is my right toe. With no dramatic event to know how or why, my toe and the top of my foot just started to get sore and achy. I thought it might be arthritis but then one day, in a flash of awareness, I realized that I was constantly putting living room furniture back in place by cocking my right foot up under the chair or ottoman and pulling it. Little kids rearrange furniture a lot so I was probably doing this two to three times a day every day for months. 

When I stopped moving furniture with my toes there was vast improvement but the pain has never completely gone away. And like my arm, it's been aggravated by strength training.  It hurts when I do anything that involves bending my toes (lunges, planks, push-ups).  As per Jeff’s instructions, I bought some athletic tape and taped my toe in such a way that it pulls it away from the others and straightens it out.  If it works it will be the best $3.79 I’ve ever spent at Walgreens .

Little ailments or issues that we let drag on are impediments to one thing or another –  greater comfort, contentment,  fitness – and affect our daily quality of life. Why deny ourselves feeling as close to REALLY GOOD as we can get?  It’s so much better to address a problem, however small, properly at the outset. I wish I would have!