Lessons from Painful Days

Updated in May 2023

I am feeling A-OK now. It turns out that rest is truly the key, and patience (or a proper distraction) was key to prevent premature intervention; I am reminded of the concept of Iagtrogenics - the harm that may be caused by the intervention itself

I was in a lot of pain during the last month, with aching that started in the hands, then the elbow, and the shoulders
I went to Urgent clinics, got X-rays, went to a General Primary Care doc, then to a Specialist, all to be told that the issue was not serious, probably just some pinched nerves
I wasted time on money going through ergonomic chairs and mouse, just to find out that they didn’t help as much (I do like my new keyboard though)
I learned valuable lessons going through the discovery process of what’s wrong with me, and got a kick in the butt to start getting my health in order

I have been ignoring my posture and regular exercise for a long time, and it’s finally catching up to me
Pinched nerves are not just on the locations where the pain is felt, it’s always the ones above it: my neck has been like a crane, and my elbows pressed onto the rigid arms of my cheap chairs, and my sleep disrupted by a high wedge pillows
The pain started to go away when I started to exercises to strengthen my neck, to sit upright, and to care about my body more

I tried all types of exercises online, and I made a huge mistake of trying to do it rigorously many times a day, cycling between different things without rhyme and reasons
In the end, after days of recovery, it started hurting badly again, and the cycle of panic continues until I got some time to reflect, and stopped doing anything drastic and actually just relaxed
I was in a cycle of worrying about being to work, and to do what I love again, but in that cycle I forgot to take care of myself, and I ended up hurting myself more