Valen’s Vanity Square

For quite some time I had never felt knee pain or heard the cracking sound whenever I walked up or down the stairs. But I think they are coming back again, the both the pain and the sound.

The reason is simple. I had been working from home for two months plus, so I was spared from a lot of walking. For that two months’ period of time, I almost forgot I have knee problem. However, since I started to work in the office since two weeks ago, I stand, walk and climb a lot daily.

I stand in the train, I  walk three levels down from the train station in order to cross the road towards the shopping mall building, in which I have to walk up the elevator (because it won’t be switched on until 10 in the morning), then only pass through a side door to access the lift up to my office. It is quite a journey just to go to work!

And I do the whole thing again in the opposite direction after work.

I’m afraid that soon I will end up like my father, who has to wear knee sleeves for support when walking or driving. He sometimes still feel the soreness even with the knee sleeves on; may be he should start wearing donjoy knee brace instead.

Perhaps I myself should start wearing one of those knee sleeves when I go for brisk walking in the park, may be it will offer the support my knees need during exercise, and help minimize the pain and prevent further damage to my knee joints.

Hmm, the crunching sound on my left knee when I walk up the stairs has been ‘loud’ these few days. I certainly didn’t exert myself when exercising on the elliptical machine. May be it’s a ’side effect’ of my frequent shopping. Haha!

I can window shop for 2-3 hours non-stop. I won’t rest until I have bought all the things I need, or totally give up because I can’t find anything I like. May be that’s how I hurt my own knees because of this.

Besides my left knee is affected, usually I also feel a slight soreness on my hips. I’m just so prone to aches and pains all over!

That makes me wonder if I should start taking those glucosamine or chondroitin supplements, which are known to support better joint health. I know that prevention is better than cure. Before the problem gets worse, I should start taking care of my joints now.

I saw this website www.glucosamineandchondroitin.org that reviews glucosamine and chondroitin supplements. They have got some recommendations there. May be I should check out if they are available in my area.

But, I’m already taking a supplement Crowning Glory for healthy hair. I will be too lazy to take another supplement.

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!