Author Topic: The health and fitness thread about random things  (Read 463554 times)

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #425 on: 19 August, 2015, 11:59:14 am »
Another possibility occurred to me - I may have fallen asleep with my glasses on . The perils of reading in bed!
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #426 on: 19 August, 2015, 12:10:11 pm »
It was always my bugbear working as a doctor in an area where kids' home language was not English that the kids learnt good English at school but missed out on colloquial 'toilet' and 'body' vocabulary.
I'd have thought they'd pick up most of that from other kids in the playground.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #427 on: 19 August, 2015, 12:26:11 pm »
It was always my bugbear working as a doctor in an area where kids' home language was not English that the kids learnt good English at school but missed out on colloquial 'toilet' and 'body' vocabulary.
I'd have thought they'd pick up most of that from other kids in the playground.

Yebbut they don't before the age of about seven.
They don't seem to talk about Rude Things when they are much smaller.

I have also seen evidence of adults missing subtle visceral literal allusions.

Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #428 on: 27 August, 2015, 10:28:59 am »
beta blockers.

Not a great fan so far. Yes they are helping a bit with the migraines symptoms. However my heart rate is through the floor; resting heart rate is normally mid 60s, it has gone down to 50. Can't do even medium intensity aerobic exercise, heart just doesn't speed up, not enough oxygen getting round the system.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #429 on: 19 September, 2015, 08:08:11 am »
After my stent in 2008 my BP ran a bit high for a couple of weeks & the cardiologist put me on BBs.  I suffered under the damned things for three years before managing to get out from under - it cost me my 2011 entry to PBP since I wasn't able to train properly.  Climbing was hell.

I remember the cardio mumbling something about athletes being more strongly hit by BBs than other folk, so it may be that your dosage is the standard one for the average punter.  The catch-22 is that once you're on them, cutting them suddenly can be dangerous - tachycardia risk - so the doc has to taper off the dosage to homoeopathic levels before discontinuing them.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #430 on: 19 September, 2015, 08:50:38 pm »
I'm a bit more stable now - still struggling to get any fitness, but I did manage to ride into work on Wed, and home on Fri.

One thing that has really changed is I'm prone to getting cold arms and legs. Used to not bother with much more than a short sleeved top until temp were below 5C; on wed it was 4 C, I wore a thin ls merino top, gloves, ss cycling top, legwarmers and my arms and legs frozen by the time I got to work.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #431 on: 21 September, 2015, 02:00:17 pm »
Bum - literally almost. I seem to have developed bursitis on one of my sit-bone contact points. Possibly as a consequence of my fall onto that side a couple of weeks ago, possibly quite unrelated. And next week I'm off for a 10 day cycling holiday.  :-\
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Chris S

Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #432 on: 21 September, 2015, 09:43:50 pm »
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-34290430

To the half who ignored the Special Invite. You squeamish bunch of Weiners - JFDI. It might just save your life.

Signed: A Squeamish Person.

PS: Strange that fewer women than men took up the one-off option. Usually, it's us blokes who are the weeds, when it comes to medical stuffs.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #433 on: 21 September, 2015, 11:06:23 pm »
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-34290430

To the half who ignored the Special Invite. You squeamish bunch of Weiners - JFDI. It might just save your life.

Signed: A Squeamish Person.

PS: Strange that fewer women than men took up the one-off option. Usually, it's us blokes who are the weeds, when it comes to medical stuffs.

I went for mine.
They found and removed a polyp.
This meant I needed a colonoscopy, which was clear.

My friend, who lives not to far away was not invited for screening. She would have jumped at the chance to be screened.
Her first husband died of bowel cancer.

My brother in law has passed the magic age of 55 but also not had an NHS birthday card.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #434 on: 23 September, 2015, 07:33:53 pm »
I don't want to hijack any other thread but as a moderate eater, slow weight loser and lover of CAEK and chocolate, I seem to be bombarded by emails and other encouragements to overeat.

Today it was Amazon Local inviting me to a Afternoon Tea at a bargain price and a Twiter friend pointing me to a blog from the Clandestine Cake Club (that is a Real Thing).
Yesterday it was Hungry House.

I'm really glad I don't have a TV and seldom go shopping.

Methinks sitting stock still in my kitchen, with the cupboards closed is less obesogenic than getting out.

By now I am hardly surprised there's so much obesity. There is so much junk food everywhere and portion sizes of 'good food' are HUGE for sedentary folk.
 Just had to vent...

Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #435 on: 24 September, 2015, 05:59:42 pm »
Don't know if this belongs in this thread - it concerns a random accident.

I had a mishap two weeks ago whilst splitting firewood - the afternoon of Wednesday 9th September, 2015. Got the splitting axe stuck in the end of a round so I gave it a good belt with a 4kg sledgehammer. Done it thousands of times before but this time a flake of metal flew off and hit me in the left thigh. Profuse bleeding, called local GP surgery thinking it needed a stitch. Practice nurse super glued it back together - this was about one hour after the accident by which time it had stopped bleeding. The wound looked clean - so far so good.

The next morning the area for about 4" all around the wound was very tender, inflamed but not hot, probably not infected. Spoke to NHS 111 service and they confirmed my view that I needed an X ray. After a very long wait at Chichester A&E xrays confirmed that the flake (6-8mm wide) was between 5 and 6cm deep in the thigh muscle (vastus medialis) as deep as, and to the inside of the femur. Really couldn't straighten or flex leg. Given option of surgery to remove it that evening and said yes. All gowned up and ready for operating theatre when, about 20:15, when informed that an emergency broken hip had arrived and could I go home. So home for the night, return to hospital Friday morning, see a different surgeon and discuss options again. Advised would require 6-7cm incision - leg had eased a little during the night. This time decided to leave it be and returned home. Can't see how to attach photo of xrays.

Mobility has gradually improved since then and it's now 2 weeks since I was scheduled for the surgery that didn't happen. On Saturday and Sunday (days 10 and 11) I had two short rides on a regular bike, no problem. Tuesday and Wednesday (days 13 and 14) I did about 16 miles each day in my usual ride, a Trisled Rotovelo velomobile, an 85lb recumbent trike with full body fairing. Aware of the wound but not in a painful way. Tried pushing it as fast I could go later in each ride and still no problems either during the ride or afterwards.

After about 1 week I could walk downstairs fairly normally and almost bend the knee to a right angle. Now I can sit cross legged comfortably one way and "just about" with the legs in the other orientation - albeit with an uncomfortable stretch. Quadricips stretch for the left leg - can get left heel to about 3" from buttock and getting closer every day.

It turns out that this is quite a common accident when two hardened steel objects are brought together with force. I've been very luck in a number of ways. Firstly the "safe" location of the wound - could have been an eye or could have severed nerves or arteries in the leg - or sensitive places not far away from the thigh! Safety glasses wouldn't have helped at all - this went straight through more than 2 inches of muscle. Secondly that some poor bugger broke their hip and I got a second chance to decide on the surgery. It might be that, in time, I will need to have it removed. If the healing plateaus and I get discomfort from pedaling - then maybe it will have to come out. I wouldn't have thought two weeks ago that I have have regained most of the flexibility and utility of my left leg. I've split that pesky log and a bunch more besides these last few days - but without using a sledge on the axe!

What really ticked me off when I first did it was that two days earlier, Monday 7th September I returned from a 4 day cycle camping trip in France and I'd done my biggest lifetime daily mileage on the Sunday with 82 miles at age 59. If I include the early Monday morning 21 mile ride home from the ferry then I did my first every "century" in 22.5 hours (with a crap night's sleep on the ferry in between) - and then shot myself in the leg two days later.

The main reason I'm posting this is document the recovery in case anyone else is ever in the same situation. I thought I was going to be off the bike for weeks - can't believe how quickly it has got better.

Other bits of relevant info are: I'm T2 diabetic which doesn't help with wound healing. I completed a 7 day course of antibiotics to protect against potential infection from the piece of rusty metal. The other issues will be airport security (metal detectors) and MRI scans. I understand that depending on field strength and location of metal debris an MRI is not necessarily contraindicated. The second surgeon did joke (I assume) about using an MRI magnetic field to pull the metal back out through the existing entry wound.

Who knows, maybe having a good source of iron to hand will help with the cramp that I usually get in that same muscle.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #436 on: 27 September, 2015, 03:48:56 pm »
By now I am hardly surprised there's so much obesity. There is so much junk food everywhere and portion sizes of 'good food' are HUGE for sedentary folk.
 Just had to vent...

Popcorn buckets have now reached France.  God bless America: they have their revenge for France's saying non merci to Bush's war on Iraq.

After lunch I had occasion to marvel at the power of fast carbs.  I did a 100k run this morning on a couple of bits of bread for breakfast and a croissant halfway and got home, feeling carb-deprived shivery, to find the missus just taking a cauliflower-crust "pizza" out of the oven.  Two portions of that followed by a hot shower & a cuppa and I still felt cold, but five minutes after eating two slices of gingerbread & butter I had to roll my sleeves up.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #437 on: 28 September, 2015, 12:36:56 pm »
“Junk food”, is food that scientists haven’t discovered what purpose it serves.

Basil

  • Um....err......oh bugger!
  • Help me!
Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #438 on: 01 October, 2015, 06:50:03 pm »
https://twitter.com/qikipedia/status/649638476602863618?s=09

Quote
According to at least two independent sets of research, man flu is real. Men really do feel worse than women when they’ve got a cold.

Just sayin', like.
Admission.  I'm actually not that fussed about cake.

Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #439 on: 06 October, 2015, 01:07:07 pm »
I've had this sharp, excruciating pain under my left shoulder blade for about a week. It goes away when the area is supported but is agony when I'm standing or moving about. A massage yesterday didn't help. Tiger Balm gives a tiny bit of relief, but mostly I'm hobbling about going owww.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #440 on: 06 October, 2015, 06:11:57 pm »
I swallowed a fishbone today. I'm on holiday in Majorca and had visions of seeking medical attention to remove said bone.

Then the sharp pain went away and I finished my meal.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #441 on: 08 October, 2015, 08:32:54 am »
I've had this sharp, excruciating pain under my left shoulder blade for about a week. It goes away when the area is supported but is agony when I'm standing or moving about. A massage yesterday didn't help. Tiger Balm gives a tiny bit of relief, but mostly I'm hobbling about going owww.

Try lying down for 20 minutes on one of those microwavable heat packs, as hot as you can take it.

"Funnily" enough I'm having a week off the bike after wrenching my weak shoulder by wrestling a heavy wooden shutter in through the window after the high winds last week pulled one of its hinges out of the wall.  The microwave bit was my doc's suggestion.

@Helly: Mediterranean fish stocks are down to 10% and you're eating what's left? Poetic justice.

(Hope the HCl took care of it.)
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

tiermat

  • According to Jane, I'm a Unisex SpaceAdmin
Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #442 on: 08 October, 2015, 12:45:40 pm »
I went to the hospital, this morning.

Nothing serious, I just had an appointment for a fitting for a new hearing aid.

Bloody Hell! Everything is LOUD now....
I feel like Captain Kirk, on a brand new planet every day, a little like King Kong on top of the Empire State

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #443 on: 08 October, 2015, 12:54:20 pm »
Bloody Hell! Everything is LOUD now....

Apart from the audiology receptionist, of course.

tiermat

  • According to Jane, I'm a Unisex SpaceAdmin
Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #444 on: 08 October, 2015, 07:01:46 pm »
Bloody Hell! Everything is LOUD now....

Apart from the audiology receptionist, of course.

Of course!

The audiologist was lovely but more than a little patronising. I felt like telling her that I do understand how hearing aids work, that I am not a child, nor senile and that I fully understand why she ran the tests that she did.

I swear I heard a spider spinning a Web,  today!
I feel like Captain Kirk, on a brand new planet every day, a little like King Kong on top of the Empire State

barakta

  • Bastard lovechild of Yomiko Readman and Johnny 5
Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #445 on: 08 October, 2015, 07:13:29 pm »
Audiologists and their special dumbing shit down games >:(

Inaudible receptionists is just lolz... This is why Kim gets the battery stash :D

Hope the tooloud settles and feels more normal and you're hearing what you need to hear better.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #446 on: 08 October, 2015, 07:21:14 pm »
I try not to get too upset by medics dumbing things down.  I'm sure most of the time it's a script that works successfully with the majority of their patients, and they don't necessarily know you well enough to get the right level.  And of course some of them don't have a clue about technology (it is usually technology) themselves, so aren't capable of a more intelligent discussion.

My favourite was the theatre nurse who described an ECG as a "special telly" about 2 minutes after I told them I was an electronic engineering student.  I may have upped the sarcasm on principle at that point ("Yes, I built one when I was a kid, the grounding can be really temperamental."), but it wasn't really their fault.

Eccentrica Gallumbits

  • Rock 'n' roll and brew, rock 'n' roll and brew...
Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #447 on: 08 October, 2015, 08:12:03 pm »
My favourite was the theatre nurse who described an ECG as a "special telly" about 2 minutes after I told them I was an electronic engineering student.  I may have upped the sarcasm on principle at that point ("Yes, I built one when I was a kid, the grounding can be really temperamental."), but it wasn't really their fault.
That might have been how it was explained to the nurse...
My feminist marxist dialectic brings all the boys to the yard.


rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #448 on: 09 October, 2015, 08:51:24 pm »
Eye operation (DSEK) next Friday.  Apparently they've got quite good at it now; it failed three times with my father and eventually they did a full penetrating keratoplasty instead, which basically means cutting out the cornea like a dustbin lid and sewing a donor one in place.  Ewww.  In my case they make a small incision and cut a slice from the back surface of the cornea, bung a slice of donor cornea in there and inflate it to hold it together until it sticks with scar tissue. Thankfully I shall be asleep while all this is going on.

If it works I can have the other eye done in about six months to a year (it takes that long for the scar tissue to disappear, hopefully leaving a clear cornea that is once again capable of clearing water from the stroma), then I am basically fixed.

This all sounds very hi-tech but corneas are the most common transplant and they've been doing the penetrating kind since about 1940.  No blood supply, you see, so no tissue match needed.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Genosse Brymbo

  • Ostalgist
Re: The health and fitness thread about random things
« Reply #449 on: 09 October, 2015, 08:58:40 pm »
I hope all goes well, Roger :thumbsup:.
The present is a foreign country: they do things differently here.