vendredi 5 avril 2013


I'll start of by saying right off the bat that I feel a bit strange talking about ageing since I am, after all, only 30 years old. But I can't help but think about it anyways. I keep telling myself that I'm just being silly, that I'm only imagining things and that I should think about how the 85-year-old woman hobbling down the street feels.

Am I the only one that wonders about these old ladies, all hunched over and taking one minute to walk 10 metres? What do they feel that they have to walk like this? Are they in horrible pain? Is it really arthritis or is the problem with their muscles? I just can't imagine a day when I would have to walk like this. But I have to.

Maybe this sounds ridiculous, but I am noticing the signs of ageing. It has nothing to do with turning 30 (although this is a blatant reminder that I am ageing) because I started to feel it 2 years ago.

So what's wrong then?

My right leg.

About 2 years ago I started to notice that it would hurt when I spent large amounts of time sitting at home working. The longer I went without exercising, the worse the pain became.

The pain is localized in my calf muscles. I have no pain in my other leg or in any other part of my right leg. So basically I feel pain in my calf muscles from the knee to the ankle of my right leg. The pain has been strong enough that it has kept my from sleeping at night.

I went to see my doctor to discuss the problem with my leg right after I came back from Canada after Christmas. The pain had been awful there as it was so cold that I never went outside walking. What did she say? That I have a circulation problem. What? How can that be already? Doesn't that happen to older women?

She prescribed compression stockings. I had to go to the pharmacy to get a fitting done for the stockings because you have to wear socks that are tight enough to stimulate circulation.

I hate wearing them. They are tight, especially just under my knees and they make me itch like crazy. I try to avoid wearing them at all costs.

So what do I do? Take my leg out for a walk. That's right, I think of my leg as a pet that needs to be walked everyday.

I almost never feel the pain when I have "walked" my leg. I need to be out there walking my leg at least 30 minutes everyday.

And then there is the walking itself. I used to be able to walk hours and hours outside without feeling tired. Now I've noticed that I sometimes feel exhausted when I am walking. I'll be charging along and all of a sudden I'll have an overwhelming urge to sit down, like I just don't have the energy and stamina to continue. This never used to happen before.

So I wonder about the old lades. If I feel like this now, how will I feel if and when I reach their age? I shudder to think.

Am I crazy or has anybody else felt any changes as well?

10 commentaires:

  1. Absolutely! I am twenty nine in a few weeks and I am fighting a losing battle with cellulite and gray hairs!! My boyfriend is the same age and he has crippling arthritis in his knees and wrists - I will be putting photos up of his poor knee x ray tomorrow. Crazy to already feel the effect if aging! Not to mention the wrinkles and bags that won't go away with a good nights sleep! I hope your leg gets better. My Dad (64 :p) has circulation problems and walking helped him no end.

    1. Hahaha, I've had cellulite so long that it feels like I was born with it. Maybe I was born with cellulite?

      Your boyfriend is in construction, isn't he? His problems are probably related to his work. My friend's father is a tiler and he has terrible knees.

      I'll keep on walking until I can't walk anymore!

      It's great to hear that I'm not alone at this age.

    2. Yeah he is a welder, so probably - all that bending down and crouching under vehicles he does. But no, you aren't alone. Hope you sort your leg out!!

  2. Okay, I don't know if it ca help but I had the EXACT same pain a few years ago. I thought it was my knee and I was freaking out because knee injuries can be pretty severe and complicated.

    I went to the doctor here in Ottawa who told me I had the "runner's injury". I laughed out loud (ahem, me smoker, me no run unless it's after the bus). But he was serious. Apparently, because I walk a lot, I had an inflammation to that muscle:

    Unfortunately, there wasn't much to do but massaging that muscle (and once I found it I was like "yep, that's where it hurts, not my knee!"). But look into it! Tiger balm on that sore muscle can help.

    Funny enough, I walk a lot more now than back then and never had the problem again. But that pain came and went for at least three years! Sometime it was so bad I could barely walk.

    1. I was looking at your Wikipedia link and you are right, that's exactly where my pain is located.

      Maybe you had experienced some sort of trauma and once you got over the initial problem walking actually helped heal your muscles.

      I've never heard of Tiger Balm. I'll have to look into it.

      I almost never feel the pain when I am walking. It's when I am sitting still, especially for long periods of time, that I feel it.

  3. Thank you for sharing this. You're not alone, feeling old and all. I'll be 35 in about a month and my younger years are definitely behind me. I hope the weather in Europe will warm up soon, so you'll feel better. I was in South East Asia for 3 weeks, and didn't have any arthritis pain during the stay.

    1. Well, it's still cold but at least the sun has come back out. That's a good point - maybe my leg pains are weather-related.

      With age comes wisdom, at least people don't consider me a naive little kid anymore.

  4. That really sucks about your leg! I hope the compression stockings help.

    I started feeling "ageing" pains when I was 25 or so. Right around the same time I started getting grey hairs. Though I find solace in the fact that the amount of grey hair you get is largely genetic and not based on age, so I can thank my mother for my greys!

    I think the only pains I experience regularly are in my back. But then I'm not sure how much of it is due to poor posture (sitting in front of the computer too much!), and from my car accident in 2008. But I can definitely see me hunched over and frail as an old lady!!

    1. Yeah, the compression stockings actually do help a lot. If only they weren't so itchy...

      I'm lucky that my mother and grandmother didn't go grey early. That doesn't stop me from looking for grey hairs every so often! So far nothing...

      I don't sit properly either. I try to sit up straight buy my shoulders start slouching eventually. I will definitely be hunched over and frail too.

      Oh well, at least I am in good health now - I am very lucky and thankful for that.

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