Pain relief from doing the most painful thing
Today I have a personal rehab story. This is a science-free post, just a yarn about my running battle with “tennis elbow” (maybe), and how I’ve had some success by doing what hurts the most: lifting pots! Saucepans. Of all things.
Speaking of lifting things, to get this party started …
An example of minor disability from pain
I cannot currently lift even one end of my lovely e-bike.
I love my my “wheelchair,” a cool tool that I bought in 2023 to help me stay active and mobile when chronic illness is chipping away at what I can do. It has helped me reclaim a little youth. I don’t even use the motor all that much; it’s been amazing how much more I’m willing to do under my own power when I know that I’ve got a great motor as backup.
Unfortunately, storing expensive bikes in tiny, overpriced Vancouver apartments is a real challenge. Every centimetre counts, and this thing nearly doubles its footprint when it’s leaning over on a kickstand.
I need a wall mount, I thought. I’ve always wanted to hang a bike on the wall. It’s time.
But… if I cannot even lift a pot or pan without strong pain … and I cannot lift my bike anymore! And it’s not because I’m too old or weak. It just hurts too %@&*# much!
My right elbow and forearm are in some kind of trouble. It’s painful to pick up a pot, or even squeeze an earplug. I’m strong enough in general, but my grip is the very weak link. I could barely get the front of the bike off the ground before I had to let go.
A strange elbow
My elbow has been slowly worsening for about a year. It was just an erratic annoyance until the spring of 2024. Since then it has steadily ramped up, becoming intense and stubborn even by my rather exotic standards. Because of my health issues, I’ve had some some chronic pains that were whoppers, but this is the whopperiest so far.
Originally the pain seemed like elbow arthritis: morning aches in the joint. Over time, it spread into the forearm and started to seem more like an odd case of tennis elbow.
Tennis elbow is an overuse injury, a tendinitis of the common extensor tendon where all the muscles of the forearm converge on the outside of the elbow. But some things about the diagnosis don’t fit well at all:
- My worst pain feels like it’s right in the bone and joint of the elbow itself. That is definitely the epicentre of the discomfort.
- The pain spreads from my elbow into my forearm, but largely leapfrogs over the CET, which does not particularly hurt at all. So my secondary epicentre is about a third of the way down the forearm in the muscles.
- This problem isn’t actually much bothered by the things I do the most — like typing, fortunately — which isn’t very much like an overuse injury.
When things first got bad, I just tried to “take it easy,” my reflexive response to any new pain, and especially one that might be related to repetitive strain. But it just kept getting worse! So …
I decided to do more of what hurts
To fly right into the storm. Maybe the way out is through. I would overuse my overuse injury … if that’s what it is.
Lifting pots and pans has always been nasty, so pots and pans became my forearm barbells: lifting them like a cook slowly flipping a pancake, over and over again.
My plan seemed foolish, so I took it slow at first. It would hurt like hell for the first few lifts, then ease … and ease some more … and then I could continue without any pain at all. Amaze! (In the novel Project Hail Mary, Rocky the alien rock-spider says “Amaze!” when he’s amazed — and now I do too.)
Two hours after lifting pots, I could still pot-lift painlessly. Amaze amaze amaze!
I was doing what seemed like the worst possible thing to do, but it felt like the best. Yahtzee?
Nopezee!
Like Groundhog Day for chronic pain
My elbow challenge gets a reset every day. The pain always comes back within a few hours, and usually worse.
I can always beat it back with more pot-lifting — but less effectively each time, and it’s futile late in the day.
Then things calm down while I sleep and it starts all over again.
The analgesia I’m getting from doing the most painful thing I can think of is real and substantive, better than anything I have gotten from ibuprofen or Voltaren, icing or heating or both (contrasting), stretching, massage therapy, spicy ointments, and more. I’m slowly working through all the options (with very low expectations).
After many weeks of pot-lifting, I think it’s safe to conclude that it’s (a) very useful, but (b) also not actually solving the problem.
Why do I get such strong relief from something that is so painful at first? Why would anyone? We all wish I could explain that. And I could speculate for 2000 words, but it would be a poor value, just a wordy version of “I really haven’t got a clue.”
Ever had a pain that was eased (and quickly!) by doing whatever hurt the most at first? Reply with your story, or put it in the comments on the Facebook post.