Listen to your body

[tjm]

I've said it a million time to others, but when it came to me I did not listen. No worries, all is well now, but I thought I'd share this as it may help others. Starting about the middle of August my forearms were starting to get real sore. I was skiing very well for where I am at, so I ignored it as I wanted the goal I set for myself, which seemed very reachable. I'd rub my arms down and ski. It was good for a couple of weeks, but then starting around the beginning of Sept., I noticed my performance started to go down hill, missing passes I make blindfolded and hungover. Again I ignored the pain in my forearms, and I was not willing to blame the slide in performance on the arms. Sure enough, on a Saturday morning in early September, I blew out my right bicep, with a complete tear and separation where it attaches to the elbow. No worries, all is well now, as I immediately sought medical attention, and was in surgery within 10 days having it reattached, on my 60th birthday to boot. Still doing PT, and rebuilding, but I will be ready for next season. I am not posting this for sympathy, but as a heads up to all that your body warns you, and you should listen to it. My sore forearms were warning me that something could happen. Had I listened to them, and rested for a few weeks, I believe I would have avoided the whole thing to come. That's it guys and gals, take it from a guy who's been around the block a few times, listen to your bodies.

[Andre]

Hope you're back soon!

I skied through a bad tennis elbow and paid the price for the next 2 seasons.

Good luck!

[Ed_Obermeier]

Words to live by @tjm. Thank you for sharing.

[Skoot1123]

Good advice. It's so hard to wait/rest when you want to improve and keep getting better especially at slalom!

[SkiJay]

I'm glad to hear you're on the mend @tjm. That's a spooky story cause I'd guess most of us are skiing through one pain or another. Question: did you hold onto a big hit or did you separate your bicep under normal skiing loads?

[tjm]

Normal loads. No hit or slack what so ever. And I keep myself in shape.

[skiep]

Andre, After sking through tennis elbow pain, what happend after that when you paid the price next two years??

[Deanoski]

TJM do you use a bent handle?

 

[6balls]

By the time it tears thru it was often hanging by a thread leaving minimal force to finish the job. My buddy is a sports med ortho surgeon and I was having bicep insertion trouble leading to a bench press tourney while training hard. I told him I could put up with the pain, but wanted his thoughts. It was early spring, no ice out yet.

He said "When it tears off next week see how you feel about wiping your ass left-handed all summer long while your buddies are skiing. Does that answer your question?"

[A_B]

 

Age also teaches you to listen to your body. I know an older guy who cut his skiing in half and his buoy count went up. He was always on low charge putting in rounds like a young buck.

[cragginshred]

Working in the PT field I always try to help climber and skier friends. No one listens (typically) until they are injured.

[tjm]

@deanoski. No to the bent handle

 

[tjm]

@sixballs. Agreed. In my case the early pain was caused by micro tears that may have scarred up and mended had I let it rest. However, since I did not they only got worse until nothing was left. When it finally failed, there was an audible POP that I heard over the motor as well as felt.

@cragginshred. Agreed, I am case in point, and I knew better!

[6balls]

@tjm, put a micro tear in a piece of paper, then pull it in horizontal axis and it shreds. Not the same without the micro tear as the paper holds up pretty well...and we are only talking paper. Tendons same deal. Pay now or pay later, I guess.

[tjm]

@6balls good analogy. Cool thing is our bodies will warn us. It costs less in time and money to pay now than it does to pay later.

[Waternut]

This is good advice in theory but at the same time, it's hard to progress at anything without some kind of pain. Even at my relatively young age of 33 compared to others on here, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't wake up with some kind of pain. Most of it I would consider mild and meaningless but is my assessment correct? I have no idea....

 

I usually try to "listen to my body" but it can be difficult to distinguish between annoying pains and serious pains. If I had to feel 100% or even 95% perfect before doing any kind of activity, I'd never do anything.

 

A perfect example happened 4 days ago. I took my first ever snowboarding trip last week. Snow skied a fair amount as a kid and my feet were always freezing doing that. My feet are always cold if it's below 40 outside or if I'm outside and it's below about 60. Even now, my feet are cold with shoes and socks sitting in my house upstairs and 71. So when my feet were cold snowboarding, I didn't think much of it. Well on the last day, two toes on my right foot never really went back to normal. 4 days later, they still feel like they've lost circulation or have a blister on the edge of them. Everything looks normal and believed to be some slight nerve damage to the deep peroneal nerve but my point is it can be difficult to distinguish between a lifetime of pain and that one day where things are just a hair worse causing something more serious.

[tjm]

If you are listening to your body it will tell you when it is more than an everyday ache or pain. Nobody said it was easy. In my case I knew I should take a few days off because the pain was different. I, to my own loss, choose not to heed the warning.

[tjm]

bump

[Razorskier1]

Tore mine a handful of years ago. No warning signs at all, but surgeon told me that only week used biceps tendons tear. Very common among physically active men in their 40s and 50s.

[Chef23]

If I listened to my body all the time I am not sure I would get off the couch.

[Booze]

@razorskier1 - "but surgeon told me that only week used biceps tendons tear. Very common among physically active men in their 40s and 50s."

Can you elaborate on that? I'm not sure what you were trying to say.

If you are a physically active man in your 50's, how are you supposed to reduce the chances of this happening?

Thanks

[The_MS]

Proper pull/chin ups and curls.

[thager]

When you can no longer see, walk, or function stop drinking beer and take a nap! I learned that from @Horton.

[Razorskier1]

@Booze if it's coming if it's coming.