Pain?
If All Else Fails, Listen!
Learn to listen!
Take off those earbuds!
Driving your body well, is much like driving your car well.
It’s making an odd sound. What is that noise? But the radio is turned up, so you don’t notice – disaster waiting to happen. Because you’re wearing earbuds = distracted -> car radio, worrying, talking on the phone, whatever!
I had an odd noise in my old truck, recently. Fortunately, I tend to like a lot of silence (never wear earbuds, while running, for example). I started up my truck one morning. As usual, the radio was turned off. So, I heard that noise. What is that? Sounds like a bad bearing? Not very loud, but it’s a new noise! Um! I open the hood (bonnet!), and the noise is coming from the region of the alternator.
Later that day, am I stranded on the Interstate, with a dead battery? Nope! I’ve got a new alternator, to replace the one that was self-destructing. It was literally falling apart. Diagnosed by a good mechanic, with a stethoscope. As he was listening, at the shop, I noticed metal filings escaping from the alternator casing, and so did he. An easy diagnosis!
Body Messages? Not always so easy to interpret, as they come in many forms.
There appear to be three major types of physical pain:
- Psychological, which I’ve discussed elsewhere.
- Local, the pain being exactly where the problem is.
- Remote or referred, as in the case of so-called plantar fasciitis.
Each type of pain takes careful consideration, and a correct diagnosis is key. Furthermore, you might have all three at once, as in the case of a heart attack:
- Intense anxiety, giving rise to psychological pain.
- Local pain, like an elephant is sitting on your chest – well, that is where your problem lies.
- Referred pain, in your left arm. As opposed to the case of ‘so-called plantar fasciitis,’ every doctor knows about the referred pain of a heart attack (due to the vicissitudes of embryogenesis – how you’re made, through emergent behavior – let’s not go there, right now!). You can read my thoughts on so-called plantar fasciitis, at this download link!
Learn to listen to your body, if you want to enjoy healthy aging. My old truck is approaching 400,000 miles, though I rarely use it for more than transporting mulch to our vegetable garden.
As you age, like my truck, those warning messages become more frequent.
Come to think of it, Fall is approaching. How do I know? The wolf spiders are coming back – they’re listening.
Are you listening to your body?
Take of the earbuds of life, and get a life, I say!
What is that pain?
Anyway?
I wonder?
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