Within the navigational beacons*

Dinner last night was fantastic.  I'd scored some tilapia fillets on sale B1G1, so I decided to make them because I knew it'd be quick and easy.  I know a lot of people bake theirs, but I love broiled fish.  Leftover buttermilk became the dredging vehicle, and then a mixture of panko and parmesan cheese combined for the crust.  I broiled them for 4min on one side, flipped them, and put them back in for 5 more min.  I know I probably should've gone green for a side, but we did carrots instead.  Thew hole family raved, and the teenagers went back for seconds.  Now I wish I'd gotten more of them!

I had stuff to do last night, but had also planned on a light workout as well.  I've been in some pain lately, so I didn't want to push too hard.  However, one of the biggest mistakes someone with a disability can make is to stop moving completely.  Joints stiffen, muscles get tight, and soreness will increase, causing a nasty little cycle to ensue.  Bad move.

Every person who works out needs to learn and understand the difference between "sore" and "painful."  They are two vastly different things when it comes to exercise, and mistaking one for the other can have disastrous results.  When you lift weights and feel it the next day as your muscles protest your attempts to get out of bed and in the shower, that's soreness.  This is actually a good thing, as your muscle fibers break down, and then rebuild.  Stretching can ease this, along with heat and massage.  Resting the muscles before pushing them again is essential, but there is no reason to stop exercising. In the same example, though, if you are lifting and feel a sudden, sharp pain in a muscle or joint, it's time to stop immediately.  At this point, continuing could lead to some serious damage.  You need to assess whether it was a momentary torque in your body, or whether there is an actual injury that requires professional attention.

When a disability is brought into play, whether it's temporary or chronic, pain becomes a whole 'nother issue.  In rehabilitative therapy, there is and element of working through the pain a little in order to push your body into working again.  A lot of this come in knowing your own body, but be careful not to create excuses.  There are people in my life who scold me for doing various activities even though I'm in pain, and I have to laugh.  My honest response is, "If I 'rested' every time I was in pain, my sorry tail would never get up off the couch."  There's no exaggeration there.  I am in pain pretty much most of the time, but I am very used to it.  It's relative low level, controlled by medication, and I can ignore it without any trouble.  When it escalates, then I need to pay attention and make a better assessment.

Now, most people are pretty familiar with the visual pain scale, simply by having been to a doctor with an injury or illness.  It usually looks something like this standard one:

However, mine is slightly different than this one.  I thought I'd share it, simply to give you a little more insight into my perspective:

Pain, as a general rule, doesn't so much make me sad or depressed as it gets me mad.  It hinders me from doing the things I want to do, and so I get angry.  In figure 1, you see my normal, dorky self.  At figure 2, the pain level is rising such that I now notice it.  But it's more of an eye-rolling annoyance than much else, and I can go back to whatever activity I was enjoying.  At figure 3, I then need to address it.  And if I have to address it, I'm seriously pissed, because it means that I have to stop what I'm doing, and most likely use [more] mobility assistants or take to the couch.  If I hit figure 4, I don't actually cry, but I usually want to.  (No judgments on people who cry; I'm just not much of a crier for whatever reason.)  At this point, I am on my back with the knee elevated, packed in ice, and am popping pain killers like Pez.

You should always have your own version of this if you're going to exercise when you have limitations.  You need to know your body's boundaries for when it's ok to "push through it" or "ignore it" and when you need to "just stop.  As in now."  Last night, I was hovering around figure 2, so I went ahead and did my push-ups on the ball, and then used the foam roller to stretch out my back and hips.  I had wanted to do some all over stretching, but I've been at this long enough to know that it would not have been a wise idea.  My knee was swelling and slipping, which just would've gotten worse.

Whatever symptoms you experience along with pain need to be monitored closely to figure out your own baseline.  For me, it's swelling and instability.  For others, it might be totally different.  Learn your body, learn your limitations, and listen to them.

That said?  No excuses.  No playing the pain card unless you have to.  Don't ever use your disability as an excuse: you deserve better than that.  If you need to skip a workout, or cut it short, then do it.  Own it, accept it, and let it go.  But respect your body and your spirit enough to only do that when you truly have to.

Strength is within your reach -- you just have to stretch a little to get it.


*If you get this reference, you get a zillion and five brownie points!