Am I Injured, Or Am I Just Getting Old?

At this point, I am really having trouble telling the difference between if my knee has something wrong with it, or if I just have a bad case of being 40.

I was on my intuitive healer's table recently, and she asked me if I have trouble with my knees.

"No. Thankfully." I replied.

As I walked away from the appointment, I thought more about it. Yes, in fact, sometimes, I do feel a little weakness in my right knee. Digging deeper, I was able to pinpoint the times where I feel it.

Now, to say I am an active adult is an understatement. I play, play, play, and as I considered the punishment my knees have to endure, it didn't surprise me that, energetically, they may be crying out for help.

This year brought a lot of jumping, as I joined a volleyball team and moved in next to a paved basketball court and some neighbors who love to play. Also, the move my family made put us in a great spot for skateboarding, and it is one of my dog's favorite ways to play, so I skated a lot this year.

That's a lot of pressure, especially on my knees, and they aren't getting any younger.

Fear, reality, and vulnerability filled my head.

The trouble I'm having is telling the difference between whether or not I'm just feeling the pain getting older, or if I have a problem with my knees, like a torn cruciate ligament, or something else that needs real medical attention.

Well, the answer to that question is forthcoming, though I have been trying to figure it out for myself. I've made one appointment, with my acupuncturist, a reliable source for whether or not I should visit a doctor from the American Medical Association side of things. I hesitate to do so because, while I have respect for the help doctors give us, they can sometimes be too quick to move to pills and surgery.

In the meantime, one of my BFF's is a physician's assistant, and he often helps me diagnose things like this.

He thinks I have pateller tendonitis, or jumper's knee, as it is known. That would make a lot of sense. He made a suggestion of what I should do about it, and I didn't like the sound of it. It was for me to get off the knee (not enjoyable, but that part I would do) and take 800mg of ibuprofen 3 times per day for 2-4 weeks. This part I was much less excited about.

That's 360 pills, and frankly, I don't want to put my liver or kidneys though that. Yes, the ibuprofen would tame the inflammation, but then all the other ingredients in those pills have to be processed by my body.

Not saying I won't take pills to solve a problem, because if necessary, I will. But it's a last resort. As far as I can tell, our bodies were built to be bombarded with food and water, not all kinds of pills with excipients that I don't know what they are doing for or to me.

So, I sought a more natural form of anti-inflammatory, and found Wobenzym and a few others.

Plus, I cut down on activity. The brutal truth of this situation is undeniable. I'm youthful in attitude, that can be the case forever. However, my body will not stay youthful forever, and frequency of activity is going to have a lot to do with the amount of pain I feel. My neighborhood is just too skate-friendly, so I was on my board almost every day. At 30, that's probably no issue. At 40, maybe it is a bit too much.

My Peter Pan complex runs deep. I don't ever want to stop playing. However, I am willing to play less so I can continue to play at all.