Well That Was Embarrassing…
I have to tell you about my recent knee injury. It’s kind of an embarrassing story, but it turns out alright in the end.
On a beautiful winter day, I went skiing solo. I love being up there, just me and the great outdoors, with nothing to think about other than what fun run am I going to do next.
I was skiing in the Copper Bowl at Copper Mountain when it happened. Well, I guess I wasn’t exactly skiing when it happened…you see, I had stopped off to use the bathroom. I was super excited to see that they had a vault toilet back there now, because it meant I wouldn’t have to leave the back side. As I was stepping up to go inside I thought to myself “Okay, this is a big step. Don’t forget that when you come back out.”
You can probably guess what happened…opened the door, blinded by the bright snow, stepped down and OUCH!!! Totally hyperextended my knee. I saw stars.
I sat down on the threshold (which was conveniently high enough to be a regular chair) and took some deep breaths. Of course, my brain went crazy.
“Oh no! Am I going to have to ride in a sled UP the bowl and back down to the bottom?!!”
“Am I going to need an MRI?”
“I don’t have time for PT!”
“Seriously?! I’m not even skiing!!!”
And then I took some more breaths and remembered one of my favorite sayings, “don’t borrow trouble.” It came from generations before, but really applies to the mindful practices I use daily. So I decided to see what I was really dealing with and not worry about the rest of those things until I was there. I stood up and took a few steps. Okay, this isn’t too bad. Took a few more and figured out that as long as I didn’t try to straighten my leg too much I was going to be okay. So I strapped on my skis and hopped on the lift that would take me out of there.
On the front side, I started skiing down and found that I had no pain. At that point, the great debate began: Do I keep skiing or call it a day? I mean, come on, it was SUCH a beautiful day.
Fortunately, this all happened later in the day and I decided to head to the bottom. I also decided I was going to be proactive about healing my knee.
When I got home I took an Epsom salt bath, then applied some CBD oil that also has herbs and arnica in it. I also took some curcumin orally to help with any inflammation. I tried getting a knee support because that seemed like it would feel good, but once I put it on it just didn’t feel right so I listened to my body and took it off. Instead, I put a pain terminator patch on it, which also created just a little pressure that reminded me to be careful. (You can read about a couple of these items down below)
The next day I got an acupuncture appointment (and I would have seen Elena for Ortho-Bionomy but she was out of town). I continued with the topicals and curcumin for a few more days and the knee has been just fine since.
I do have to admit that I have been doing more strength exercises for my knees, just because I feel like I need them anyway, but jumping on treatment immediately was key for my quick recovery.
What’s the point of all of this? Just to share that I do stupid stuff, too, and that I practice what I preach, and guess what? It works!!
Hope you had a good laugh…
Karen
