It has been two months since I made the floor abs exercises video, which turned out to be the final concentrated physical effort that put me out of commission. I had already been suffering from some Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI) in my shoulders left wrist and elbow. But, these I could somewhat deal with until, while finishing up the abs video, I had to do the One-arm One-leg LaLanne push up. That exercise made me feel like my L4/L5 were grinding into each other.. and it didn’t help the fact that I had to repeat this exercise a couple of times due to recording device malfunctioning.
Any way, it’s been two months already and I’m slowly improving, but I’m still not quite where I need to be in order to continue with my progressive calisthenics improvement efforts.
Here is a quick list of the RSI (I suspect) and non-RSI injuries and their current status:
L4/L5 recurrent herniated disk
The MRI showed a recurring stenosis at L4/L5 level – exactly where I had a microdiscectomy surgery about 13 years ago. This is how it looks like..
The disk at that level is completely dessicated and the fibrous part is sticking out pressing on my left sciatic nerve root and it’s making a contact with my right sciatic nerve. The orthopedist decided not to recommend another surgery right away (which would have to be a disc fusion – not something I’d want to even think about) but decided to treat this stenosis as a flareup, causing swelling in all tissues at this level which in turn is compressing nerve roots. I was given a course of corticosteroids. It seems to have helped and I’m slowly returning to more normal range of motion and less pain in my left leg.
Subacromial Bursitis
I was diagnosed with Subacromial Bursitis when I went to have my left elbow and wrist checked. Both of my shoulders are affected but the right one is worse. This is a major issue for me as an athlete because a lot of what I do requires my arms to be over my head or to be moved laterally (lifted to the side).
Metatarsal fracture in my left big toe
The Metatarsal fracture in my left big toe was the result of a handstand-gone-wrong + landing on the tip of my barefooted left toe. During landing a small piece of the metatarsal bone apparently chipped off. This is how it looks like on the X-ray:
According to the podiatrist these types of fractures start healing at about week 6. I saw the doctor at around week 7 or 8 and it has been another month or so since then – same sensitivity in this joint, but no pain if I don’t try to bend it in the joint. I doesn’t prevent me from being able to run and sprint.
I’m not sure how this is going to heal on its own it it’s taking so long already and it hasn’t healed yet. The podiatrist said that if it doesn’t start healing he may have to put a cortisone shot in the joint to give it a recovery boost.
Right ankle joint sprain – Anterior Dorsiflexion
I was supposed to land on a vertical wall on both my feet’s toes, but instead I landed on the right foot first, followed by the left foot. The problem – the first foot to land wasn’t ready and prepared, which caused excessive anterior ankle dorsiflexion and impingement. I received a cortisone shot in the right ankle joint to help with the removal of the excessive joint fluid buildup and thus remove the pressure inside the joint. I have improved some, but the injury was getting older any way, so I’m not sure if the improvement came naturally because the body was trying to heal already or it was due to the cortisone shot.
Left elbow and wrist injury
The orthopedic surgeon couldn’t provide a definitive diagnosis. The X-ray didn’t show any fractures neither in my elbow nor in my wrist. The doc said an MRI could tell us more, but getting an MRI at this point is unwarranted, especially considering the fact that I am self-paying (would be at my own expense). His suspicions were a torn ligament in the elbow (of which they are many in the elbow joint) or osteoarthritis.
The symptoms in my elbow are: limited motion – flexing and extension; slight temporary pain if I over-flex during exercise; a slight bump about an inch down my ulna bone; over-sensitive and painful forearm muscles.
The damage in the wrist was done again when I was doing a hand-stand. I felt a sudden pinching pain in my ulna joint at the wrist. Again, X-ray didn’t show any fractures or anything abnormal that could be seen via such a bone imaging method.
Symptoms in my wrist: pain in my ulna joint when I twist my hand backwards while pushing on my fingers; above normal sensitivity in this joint upon touching; sudden and sometimes unprovoked irritation, accompanied by swelling of the ulna joint.
The doctor said it could be tendon that’s affected, but he sees nothing wrong with the bones there. Puzzling indeed – this wrist elbow problem are at present my most bothersome.