Valen’s Vanity Square

The ‘cracking’ sound that comes from my left knee when I walk up the stairs or make any movement that bends my knee, such as doing the cycling exercise lying on bed, is getting more louder these days.

I’m afraid that I might have to start seeking joint pain relief treatment few months down the road!

Imagine, I have to walk up three flights of stairs to my office every morning, then another three down and three up during lunch time, and last three when I leave the office in the evening. All together 12 flights of stairs! Good for losing weight, but not good for my knees.

I already have a problematic knee, now this supposedly good exercise is adding more burden to it! While the knee pain is just occasional and mild, I’m worried that my knee tissues will get worn and torn very fast.:(

May be I should start looking around for a chiropractitioner. A Chinese traditional medicine doctor once told me that my hips are ‘out of alignment’ (don’t know how to better describe that). It’s not a life-threatening condition, but it will cause problems like knee pain and back pain as I get older.

I used to get better after the doctor did some alignment type of massage for me (I think that’s what chiropractitioners do) - no cracking sound from the knee, no pain when I climbed the stairs. After a while, somehow, the problem came back again.

I think I have to solve the root to the problem - my hips, otherwise I won’t be able to get rid of my knee problem for good. *Sigh*

Last night I finished baking cookies around midnight! So didn’t get to exercise on my elliptical machine. So today I have to double my exercising time to 30 minutes.

The main purpose of having an elliptical machine at home is so that hubby can exercise any time he wants. He doesn’t need to go to the gym, and we don’t have to struggle to wake up on weekends to go to the park. Also, I read that exercising using an elliptical machine has less impact and is therefore gentler for the knees compared to running on a treadmill. Since I occasionally experience knee pain, I figure having an elliptical machine at home is to my advantage as well.

However, I’m worried that I might eventually have to start taking joint supplements, and visiting websites like www.jointsupplementreviews.net to learn more about supplements for joint health or to relieve joint pain. You see, my left knee gives out a cracking sound whenever I climb the staircase, or bend my knee. Well, not always though, and it doesn’t necessarily hurts. This could be an early sign that I will be developing some form of knee arthritis 10 years down the road.

Jeez, perhaps I have to start researching on this topic to help my knee if I want to remain active and still be able to walk by the time I’m 60!

I’ve been sleeping a lot these two days. Went to bed by 10.30 pm, woke up 10 or 11 hours later, and took a 2-hour nap in the afternoon. I don’t usually sleep this much, but because I’m having a flu, I just feel so tired all the time. The more accurate term for this form of ‘tiredness’ is ‘malaise’ actually, which is a symptom of flu.

I do feel much better now, although I have this phlegm that makes my throat itchy and makes me cough from time to time. But I started to feel this ache on my shoulder and back. Is it because I slept too much or what? Or may be it’s because I’m not used to sleeping on my sister’s mattress and her pillow? Or may be I tossed and turned too much while sleeping?

Anyway, I bet all this ache and pain will disappear when I get to sleep on my own bed. (Well, that’s another two nights to go!) As long as it’s not a spine or shoulder joint problem, some stretching and massage will heal the aches in no time. If you have frequent backaches, on no matter which bed/mattress you sleep, then it might be due to some spine problem. You can either go to a chiropractitioner or specialist in spine surgery Mexico (if you are in Mexico, that is) to find out the real problem and have it corrected.

Nothing is more blissful than waking up feeling refresh and healthy from a good 8-hour quality sleep!