Arthritis

I beat the hell out of my body in college.  My roommate and I used to jokingly bet on who would be in a wheelchair first, as we would pop handfuls of anti-inflamatories after a game.  I am proud to say that neither one of us has the bragging rights just yet.

I played small college sports, no scholarships, just bust your ass because you love your sport.  And that I did.  I escaped college with only two "major" injuries...a broken wrist and a scratched cornea.  If you don't think the latter is a "major" injury, you have obviously never experienced it.  I would take multiple broken bones any day rather than having to experience that again.

I was an aggressive player.  I was the player that would dive, fall, or run into a brick wall for a loose ball.  And when you play three different competitive sports, concentrated in the fall semester, your body pays a huge price.  In addition, most of my years were spent playing basketball on concrete floors.  Wood floors were a novelty in the late 80's and early 90's, and I did not get to consistently play on one until I transferred to Dallas in the mid 90's.   Imagine hitting the pavement eight to ten times a day for ten years.  I cringe just thinking about it now days.

During my final season at Dallas, I had my hand x-rayed because of a swollen and badly bruised finger.  Although my finger was in one piece, the doctor noticed that I was already showing signs of arthritis in my hand.  At the time, that meant absolutely nothing to me.  All I cared about was playing in the upcoming game.  My grandfather had always struggled with rheumatoid arthritis, so, I was well aware what it was capable of doing to the body.  I just chose to ignore it.

Years after college, I dealt with lots of hip, lower back, and knee pain that I attributed to years of playing ball...and getting older.  When I returned from the CrossFit Games in 2009, I could no longer ignore the pain in my left knee and finally went to see an orthopedic.  Following a series of x-rays, he informed me what was causing the pain.  Osteoarthritis.  Basically, the cushioning in my knee had deteriorated to the point where bone spurs were now growing in its place.  These friendly jagged little pieces actually think they are helping the situation by increasing the surface area of the knee cap.  I hate to break the bad news, but they only cause more problems.

My knee issues only worsened as time wore on.  I could no longer even sit on the toilet without one of those damn bone spurs catching and causing pain.  And squatting was forever out of the question (or so I thought).  I found no relief through the supplementation of glucosamine/chondrition, but low and behold, beer sure did help!  So, I drank more to mask the physical pain as well as the emotional.  No exercise + a shit ton of alcohol = gaining a ton of weight, which also = more joint pain.  Before I knew it, sleeping was even painful...and getting out of bed was worse.

Fast forward to my new sober life, down fifty pounds, and lifting more than ever...how is it all possible with arthritis?!  After losing the first twenty pounds and regaining some muscle mass, I began to notice that getting up in the morning was not as big of an issue.  With the help of my coach, I learned how to squat correctly, gained strength around the area causing the majority of the problem, and bone spurs or not, the pain has subsided and is much more manageable on a daily basis.  My beat up hands have followed suit.  Although my job is pretty demanding on my hands, the increase in strength through lifting has proved as effective, if not more effective, than relying on pain meds.

My hips are a slightly different story.  It has been the slowest of slow climbs to gain hip strength.  Although I no longer sleep in pain, spending too much time laying in bed or sitting on the couch will cause pain.  So, don't get offended if I decline your offer to sit down, standing and moving around is much more tolerable.

When people are diagnosed with this, the most common form of arthritis, it becomes a choice as to how you deal with it.  Yes, it is painful.  But it is almost intolerably painful when you become sedentary.  Weight gain or muscle gain is very much a determining factor of the level of pain.  And yes, exercise is painful, but the benefits far outweigh the alternative.  The term fat and happy does not exist when you throw arthritis into the equation.  I have lived both lives, and turned to medicating myself first, which did not work.  Exercise does work.  It is solely your choice.  I choose to battle it head on and live in a lot less pain.