224 - Joints

Knee joints that is.

My knees have been bothering me for the past several months. One day I was walking, put my foot down, and there was pain. I didn't do anything weird to cause it, but for the next three days my knee yelped at me any time I put weight on it unless I put one of those rubbery knee supports on it. Those things are magic. Luckily I had two of them already, because whenever I went hiking and walked down a hill for any length of time, one of my knees (they took turns), would always cause me problems. I hate going down hill more than most people hate going up (Brian...). But it always went away. And it was always from going down a steep hill for an extended period of time. Never from just walking.

When I went to Scotland, knowing that it was hilly, I pre-emptively packed one of my supports and was very glad for it. Pretty much right after we landed (probably due to the legroom, or lack thereof, on the plane) one of my knees started hurting.

It's one of the many reasons I started working out. I figured that if I exercised, maybe the joints would strengthen and/or the weight loss would help take some of the strain off my knees. I'm overweight, I need to lose about 30 lbs, but I'm not big enough that I thought my knees would suffer for it. But they are... lucky me. Unfortunately, as you may have supposed might happen, exercise also put stress on my joints... squats, knee bends, jogging, pretending to jump rope... all bad... My knees constantly feel tight, but they haven't reverted back to that almost grinding feel from several months ago. I haven't been to the doctor. I'm one of those people who suspects that I might have a problem, but doesn't want to hear it from a professional, because then I might have to do something about it... which is completely illogical, because if I do have a problem, it's just going to continue to get worse... How can I know I'm doing something ridiculous and still do it anyway? Guess I'm human after all...

Anyway, as I was scanning the ads this weekend I noticed that Walgreens has Osteo Bi-Flex on sale, buy one, get one free ($29.99 less a $5 coupon, so about $12.50 each when you get both). Hadn't considered it before, but it says it helps lubricate joints and rebuild cartlidge, and that sounds like a good thing. I read the user reviews, and everyone rated it at 4 and 5 stars, like it was a Godsend... usually there's a negative review thrown in somewhere. What the hell. I'll try it, but I was skeptical. Took two pills yesterday before lunch (supposed to take four), and this morning I could already feel a difference. All the tightness, gone, even when I do a knee bend. I'm astounded. Was it really this simple all along??? I'm going back tomorrow to get two more bottles (with my $5 off coupon *smile*), and I've already convinced one of my co-workers to try it out.

So I solved one of my problems. Bully for me. It will make exercise easier, and life less painful all around (well... I wouldn't call it pain... more like a dull ache... but a nagging dull ache).

Tomorrow I get to go to the orthodontist to have impressions of my teeth made. That's step one in the 'clear correct' process (my braces apparently aren't InvisAlign). Then once my trays come in, I'll be wearing a new set every two weeks for about two years. From the front my teeth don't look that crooked, but when you look at them from underneath, they're pretty bad. I know it's not going to be the most pleasant process, but I'm looking forward to having straight teeth, and even more forward to having my jaw properly aligned. I wonder what that's like...