Re: [Paddlewise] Not young, never will be (fwd)

Hi guys- Judy says she intended to post her request on Pwise and not just
to me. So I will send it, and my answer, on since some of the rest of you
may have comments or suggestions. e

Elaine Harmon - eilidh_at_dc.seflin.org - eharmon_at_cs.miami.edu

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 1999 09:51:43 -0400 (EDT)
From: Elaine Harmon <eharmon_at_cs.miami.edu>
To: Jsh40_at_aol.com
Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Not young, never will be

On Wed, 20 Oct 1999 Jsh40_at_aol.com wrote:

> i'm 42 with arthritis and spondylolisthesis in my lower back, ie. L4/L5.  i 
> am hoping i can pull off another 30 years or more of activity.  i've been 
> extremely active all of my life, i'm not ready to slow down although i've 
> already been forced to slow down considerably. frustration is an 
> understatement.  i'm wondering what all my sea kayaking will do to my 
> condition??  doctors tell me to continue being active and take a rest when i 
> feel pain.  i don't feel comfortable with this advice but all the doctors 
> i've seen have said this same thing.  any aggressive paddlers out there with 
> similar conditons/ experiences?  
> 
> judy shultz

Hi- Well, I'm not a doc (although I seldom hesitate to express an opinion
on health matters, as I guess you've noticed ;-)) so the first thing I
have to say is to find a doc you trust and do what (s)he says. Now that
that's out of the way, a few things: for you even more than others,
working on getting the most comfortable seating in your boat is vital,
even maybe with help on that from your doc or physical therapist (from
what I've seen, PT's usually know more than docs about practical matters
like that). Sorry if that was obvious.

Back some years ago I thought I was going to have to give up caving
because of "arthritis" in my ankles, one especially which had lots of bone
spurs in the xray. My foot joints were getting bad too. One day I decided
to try megadoses of vitamin C, and started with 4-5 grams a day. In 2 days
I was able to walk upstairs first thing in the morning with almost no
pain, whereas it had been so bad I sometimes climbed up on my knees. In
another few days there was no pain at all. I tried after a few weeks
cutting way back on the C, but the pain came back. So I kept it up, and
very gradually reduced the dose. There is no problem any more. I don't
know if backs get the same problems as joints with respect to connective
tissue disorders; I have to suppose not. But I have fewer back problems
now than I used to have too.

There are fairly standard sets of exercises for strengthening the back
muscles. I assume your docs will have told you about them. Good muscles
help support the back and lessen the probability of unusual stresses being
put on weakened bone structures.

Another thing: don't automatically assume that each pain is caused by
something that shows up in an xray. I don't doubt that I still have spurs
in my ankle, and probably the other one too, but they were clearly not the
source of the pain. You might look as well at Bonnie Prudden's book "Pain
Erasure" and similar ones, which discuss trigger points. These are tender,
sensitised small areas in the muscle or tendons which apparently serve as
foci for local intense reflex-type reactions, or local muscle spasms,
which commonly cause pain. The pain can be literally erased by finding the
trigger points and applying strong pressure or cold, which interrupts the
nervous feedback causing the spasm. I can testify that this idea works on
most (if not all) muscle pains I have had, and the "sciatica" I sometimes
get from driving or paddling is also relieved by this technique.
"Alternative medicine" practitioners may know of and practice trigger
point location; or you can do a lot of it yourself. Better with help of a
friend since there may be points, especially on the back, which you can't
reach. (Be careful about the area right around the affected vertebrae, of
course, but the TP locations tend to be beside the spine, not on it.)

I hope some of this maybe be food for thought. Slainte! e

Elaine Harmon - eilidh_at_dc.seflin.org - eharmon_at_cs.miami.edu



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