Goodbye Coffee and Coca-Cola – Hello Teas
So last week was basically a week without exercising. The reason is that sometime during the previous week I reinjured my knee.
It all began about a month ago, when I fell near the end of a four-mile run. I scraped my knee and a finger or two. Both of the scrapes healed over the next few weeks, but there was still some discomfort in the knee, particularly, when I put pressure on it. Then on Thursday night November 9th, my knee really hurt, when I climbed into bed. I worked the following morning at Target, but my knee hurt really bad. I even complained about it to one of my co-workers.
The Diagnosis Prepatellar Bursitis
Throughout the rest of the day and into Saturday my knee continued to throb.bBy Saturday night my knee looked like there was a tennis ball attached to it and my calf was swollen. It was time to head to Patients First! After an examination and some x-rays the final diagnosis was Prepatellar bursitis which is:
……an inflammation of the bursa in the front of the kneecap (patella). It occurs when the bursa becomes irritated and produces too much fluid, which causes it to swell and put pressure on the adjacent parts of the knee.
- MendMeShop TM ©2011. Prepatellar Bursitis, suprapatellar bursa, infrapatellar bursa, patella tendon, perpatellar bursa, sartorius tendon, gracilis tendon, semitendinosus tendon, pes anserine bursa –
Anyway, I was given a prescription for prednisone and told to stay off of the leg as much as possible for the next several days. Patients First told me to make an appointment with an orthopedic specialist by Monday and to either go there or back to Patients Furst by Monday. I ended up going to my own doctor . By Monday the swelling had gone down, so he said just finish the prednisone and if it’s not better call. By mid-week everything felt pretty good and I did go to work on Friday.
The only exercising I did during the week was my morning easy yoga routine. That routine does not have any asanas that would put any pressure on the knee.
This morning I did a light 25 minute workout that included some Kundalini, light weights and resistance bands. Also about eight to ten minutes of movement to music, which for me is dance-like movement for the dancing impaired! But it works, it elevates my heart rate and burns calories!
This afternoon, as I was writing this post, I found some knee strengthening exercises, that are good for recovery from prepatellar bursitis. I will have to check them out and incorporate them into a workout.
The Resultant Positive Changes
Now with all the above said, there have been something’s happening that will hopefully have a positive effect on my anti-aging campaign, or at least on my overall health.
About three weeks ago, I finished reading The Brain Warrior’s Way by Dr Daniel Amen. In the book Dr. Amen and his wife Tana provide a great program for getting your brain in great shape. And while I haven’t started the program completely, I have started making some changes in my diet.
First, I have started to make more meals from scratch. But the big things I have done over the last three weeks are : I stopped drinking Coke.Then I quit drinking coffee. The Coke has been replaced with water and green tea.! And the coffee has been replaced by herbal teas.
One of my new coffees!
So far the results have been positive. While last weeks seemingly more energy may have been the prednisone working. I do believe i still have more energy this week sans prednisone. I am nowhere near as tired as I usually am in the afternoons for example. And while I have been drinking four or so cups of tea a day, my stomach feels a whole lot better and I am not nearly as gassy.
Hopefully, I can get back to my regular workouts (30 to 40 minutes) and maybe I can even start running again. In the meantime, the Eggplant Parmesan I made in the slow cooker the other night was great!
Prepatellar Diagram from MeandMyKnee.com
