Got Pain? Get It Fixed

I am no doctor, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

I little personal health tip for all of you out there putting off having an Orthopedic surgeon evaluate an ache in a joint.

You can say I am a walking orthopedic case, considering that I have had about a dozen orthopedic procedures done over the past 8 years. Yes,  age plays a part in all this, but these procedures were a result of sports-related injuries.

The moral of the story, if you have pain, get it checked out. If the Doc tells you surgery is an option, get it done early. By having surgery early, you minimize the risk of the injury worsening, which inevitably leads to arthritis in the joint, and will eventually lead to a total replacement of the joint, but not until you have suffered through years of unnecessary pain and discomfort.

And for those of you big cry-babies, the pain of an elected and preemptive procedure is minimal, with you down-time being anywhere between 4-8 weeks.

What I mean by down time is, you will be limited to your activities with that particular joint.

For example, I just had my left shoulder scoped-sling for 5 weeks, no lifting for 8 weeks. I started running at the 4 week mark, and has exercising my lower extremities and abs. After 6 weeks, I am up to 70% of where I was prior to surgery.

So, in no-time, my body will be back to its glorious self :)

Get it done, you big wuss!