How to Cure Health Problems You Did Not Know You Had

Believe me, I did not start out trying to cure health problems I did not know I had. Most of the time, if I’m breathing and can see when I open my eyes in the morning, I am content. As a general rule, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about my health. The most consideration I give is when I’m about to see my primary doctor for an annual checkup. Then I put together a list of irritating or annoying things, and she fixes them.

Never anything that’s a big deal. But as we get older, and I am heading toward 67, you and I might find that things on our body have stopped working in the way that we were once accustomed. We don’t realize it because we tend to compensate for it. Especially if we are a top Sacramento Realtor and always way too busy to spend a lot of time trying to cure health problems.

We leave that to our doctors. And therein lies the problem, for me at least. Because, by the time I visit my doctor, I have already compensated for some stupid defect and I don’t mention it. Or I hope it will magically go away. That somehow the passage of time will autocorrect. Except autocorrect doesn’t always work. Hey, when you get a text from me that says HO Away, you just have to sound it out, for crying out loud. Don’t text me back to ask what does HO mean.

I realized I had limited motion when I attended a Yin Yoga class a while back. Practicing yoga has been on my mind for years, I’ve just never acted on it. The instructor asked me if I had any questions. Yes, I mentioned once having the good fortune a few years ago to score tickets to a concert at The Crest Theatre to watch Mark Lindsay from Paul Revere and the Raiders fame.

That guy was born in 1942, 10 years older than me. Yet, there he was on stage, kicking a leg over his head. When he bent at the waist to bow in front of the audience, he could kiss his knees. He folded in two like an envelope. So impressive! I want that flexibility. So our yoga instructor gave me the Mark Lindsay pose. I learned a lot of poses, actually. Some of which are very hard, which only involve standing on one foot.

By the end of the class, I was sweating and panting, and all I did was stretch. And that’s when I discovered one of my legs would not move in a certain direction. Felt pain on the outside of my thigh. As though it was restricted. So I Googled those muscles and figured out which one it was. Followed by another search for relieving pain in that muscle and how to strengthen it.

The next few trips to the gym focused on working that area to try to restore movement. I used only low weights on the machines and moved slowly, not enough to cause any pain or harm. At a friend’s suggestion, I booked an appointment with a medical therapist who practices a wide range of massages, including relieving pressure points.

At home, I used my bands to strengthen that side of my body as well. I began to feel better and stronger. I lost weight, too. Sure enough, today, I can move that leg without pain. It’s incredibly empowering.

Yeah, people tell you all the time that you lose muscles when you age, but if you’re like me, you just pooh-pooh it. Never used those muscles when I was younger and nothing bad ever happened. So why should I have to care now, was my attitude. But it is true. You lose muscle if you don’t work it. It’s not gonna continue working for you if you don’t support it. This is not like TSA workers who had to show up for work like slaves without payment during Trump’s self indulgent and utterly childish government shutdown. No, sirree, those muscles go on strike when you’re getting old.

Well, I did not enjoy a lot of balance, either. In my defense, why would anybody stand on one leg when you have two perfectly good legs to hold one up. It can be challenging to balance on one leg, though, especially with my hands twisted into some weird contortion over my head. But I am doing it.

I have learned that I can’t reply on my body to just perform like it always has. Nope, need to nurture it and build those muscles for support. Makes total sense to me now. Plus, I’m very proud I could cure health problems I didn’t know I had until I stopped to acknowledge the pain and took charge of my health. Nobody else is gonna do it for you, you know.