Hello Happy Ears, Hello Better Night’s Sleep
Who would have thought it? But these wobbly, jelly-like babies (officially known as Happy Ears) are helping me get a great night's sleep. At first, I thought the sound caused by putting [...]
FeetUp (Then Take a Seat)
My endless efforts to find a way to get back into regular yoga practice keep falling on their head. Pardon my pun... but I am hopeful FeetUp may help with that problem. Prior to living in the land of pelvic pain, I lived in the land of bliss practising yoga regularly – four times per week! For 45 minutes I was part dog, part warrior, a cat, a cow, even a pelican at times. I became a tree, saluted the sun and enjoyed many various poses. To end my routine, I'd slide up into shoulder stand (8 minutes), then send my toes passed my head in plough pose (for another 8 minutes) before unravelling to a corpse in Savasana pose. That was before I went for a walk!
Foam! I Found Foam!
Foam! I Found Foam! Am I excited today! As I progress this path of pain, I retain my non-negotiable pointers – one of which is my need for my custom made seating aid. I would love to ditch this damn thing from under my backside and from my clutch every time I go out for a seated event, but it's just too valuable for my capacity. Figuring out the big 'dangers in me' (remember we talked about DIMS and SIMS?) has been key to my pacing forward.
Travel tips for Liz
Traveling isn’t an easy task, even for those with full capacity and no health issues. So when ‘Liz’ contacted me for tips, I thought I could reply here so that you all [...]
Encouraging Self Management
(Written by me, the founder of PainTrain) That’s easier said than done. When I first had my accident in 2007 and literally landed in chronic pain, the last thing I expected to [...]
Resources for Treating Chronic Pain by the Pain Specialists Australia (PSA) …MY pain team!
Forgive my bossiness but this post comes from a desperate experience that I lived for 4.5 years. That’s a long time for someone with increasing chronic pain levels and not much hope. [...]
‘Ouch’ just doesn’t cut it!
And neither does repeating, ‘it burns’, ‘it itches’, ‘it’s like fire’, ‘I get spasms’, or the various other words people in pain have to repeat for each consult in the effort to [...]
Take a seat… if you can!
With Pudendal Neuralgia, or any other pelvic chronic pain issue, it can be impossible to sit pain free (let alone get away without a flare up). Of course, I'm no pro when it comes to seating, but I've learned a lot from my own experience and from listening to the 'ouch' in my pelvis. The seating I needed, was most often hand-made! (Have a look at the one my gorgeous father in law made, it's the stool with adjustable foot rest!) Although I've worn out, thrown out, tried and tested so many more seating aids, I'm showing the ones that have lasted or worked for a while. These are the ones I often resort to.
How do I do it?
Absolutely nothing great about having to live by these rules but it certainly saves me alot of extra pain, I have more up time and, above all, I decided this is just temporary. I'll do what it takes to get by most comfortably (if I can dare to use such a word for a chronic pain site!): •I understand that everything I do counts, even a sneeze (ok they count alot!) so I make sure I pick and choose what I do •I learned and practice the word pace •I'm more selfish •I say "I can't" and recently I've even stopped apologising because "I can't"! •I let go of obligation (actually I need to work on that one) •Keep any visit short, close, soft (not too many parties unless you can walk away) •I email my WorkSafe case manager to eliminate hearing all unnecessary hogwash •I have a daybed and made a 'dayspace' no where near a television or my bedroom •I have a dog, he's one of my biggest aids