what it takes me to get through the day
I went a little viral this week. I did a TikTok that showed me with “my ladies.” It takes a village to get me going every day and my ladies are the tools of my treatment. My chronic condition means that I pull muscles daily, even standing still or sitting still. I struggle with switching on the actual muscles needed to do the job they were made for. Instead, smaller muscles step in and take on too much, take on forces not for them. So I pull those muscles. And when you pull muscles or strain them too much you get injured. There are micro, mini, midi and maxi tissue that pulls and stretches. Too far and they will snap and tear. Then the scar tissue is created. Leave it too long and it becomes tougher and tougher to get the muscles to move properly.
Solutions to Hypermobility
So what is the solution? My ladies. I have a whole bunch of them. Firstly we have the fabulous Fascia Massage tool. This was recommended to me by my wonderful osteopath Alex. Actually I found her on TT and all her posts resonated with me so I had to go and get her help and skilled attention. She recommended that I use the fascia tool to gently scrape skin to encourage blood flow and loosening of tissue. She can explain much better than I but the result is that I feel so much freer in terms of movement after using this tool. Jill we’ll call her..;)
Next is freeze gel. It takes the edge off slightly, just eases the agony of the pain so that I can function and be mindful to not freeze the muscle too much (ha ha ha) or over use it too much. It needs to move but just enough. Honestly I am like the Goldilocks of movement. It has to be JUST RIGHT. Water of course because we all need to hydrate. I sip throughout the day which helps with suspected POTS (Postural Tachycardia Syndrome) which I feel I have managed to inadvertently find workarounds that have helped me. Then we have the wonderful trigger point ball. The ball helps at key points int he body and when you press them they muscle relaxes and it eases off its tension. This ball is spiky which I prefer than a regular round one with no spikes because oddly enough the pressure is lessened in my spiky ball case.
All of these things though, aren't so much solutions. Rather they are things, tools I use to get my body to an ok place.
Support Tools
Then I have the band which is excellent for clams to switch on muscles other than my glutes. I tend to over use the glutes and not allow the abs and other muscles to get involved so I use the band as an extra support to push against to know where things need to actually be. Clams are great for a workout and for me, allow me to build up strength rather than over sue muscles. Ah the wedge - now this is a recent acquisition. I love my mergers and acquisitions but this particular block helps me to put my lumbar back into shape. From my recent x-rays, it is clear that I don’t have a curve where there should be one. My lumbar is so straight that one joint is doing all the work and again, this really is not a good thing. So this wedge I hang out on so that a natural curve can form again and so that joints and muscles come back online and do their bit.
One cat - my kitty is a right drama queen. She is the reason I do what I do because she is a demanding Boss and so when she says jump I say Imeediately my lady. Plus she is so cute that I simply cannot resist. She really gets me up in the morning, a few purrs, a lick and sometimes a proper scratch just to keep things spicy! It does wake me up! And finally a brace. I have a few of these supports. I have a back brace, knees supports, ankle wraps, thigh brace and thumb supports. When I get tired, my muscles definitely go offline and have a cup of tea and do the crossword, so I use supports as and when I know the day is going to be difficult. I pack them with me so that I have them on hand to support me just in case.
Yes I am in constant pain
There are so many more little ladies that are part of my chronic club now and I welcome them. Anything to make things easier, to injure myself less or to support me in not injuring myself or to hold me up (actually do hold me up) when I need them to. I am very aware that I share my stories and talk about my treatments and it is all a lot. I make funny stories about them, silly skits and generally try and find the joy in it all. There are dark days, moments of desperation and frustration and anger. I rarely get asked how I am because I am always smiling and smiling people can never be in pain.
I.AM.IN.PAIN.EVERY.SINGLE.MOMENT.OF.EVERY.DAY. I’ve just learned to override it or employ it. But please don’t mistake ability with pain levels. The more I have achieved, the more I have pain I have felt. That is what it feels like at times. So remember please be sweet, be kind, my resilience is set to top level standard.
And when you fancy checking out that reel click here!
Keep going,
xx