Bursitis? Whatever It Is, Isn't Fun

Getting older is a do-it-yourself anatomy lesson.  You discover parts of your body you never consciously knew existed.  I discovered gout some time ago and know how to recognize it and stop it before it gets bad.

My knees have started giving me problems this year.  Well I did check with the doctor a couple of

years ago and had them take x-rays to see if I was close to causing real damage.  Turns out I still had space and was ok.  But this is different.  I had a bout of this in the summer.  Nothing bad enough to keep me from walking around, but it did cause me to pass up climbing a hill, and I took the elevator instead of the stairs at some places.

Ice, naproxen, and wearing a neoprene knee brace have been helpful in minimizing this problem.

Until yesterday when moving my lower leg in the wrong direction caused severe pain.  It appears I didn't take my knee brace on this trip.  Getting in an out of bed or a chair is hard.  I found my mom's old walker in the garage.  That's helpful.  Not sure what caused this.  There wasn't any excess walking the day before.  There was a lot of roughhousing with the little ones, but nothing that

And then I tried to figure out what it is.  Bursitis sounds right.

From Mayo Clinic on Knee Bursitis

Doctors often can make a diagnosis of knee bursitis with a medical history and physical exam. Your doctor will:

• Compare the condition of both knees, particularly if only one is painful

• √Gently press on areas of your knee to detect warmth, swelling and the source of pain

• Inspect the skin over the tender area for redness or other signs of infection

• √Carefully move your legs and knees to determine your knee's range of motion and whether it hurts to bend or flex it  (red checks (√) added)

And I'm doing the things they say to do - ice, anti-inflammatory pills.  Today I used the walker in the morning, but had a little more range of motion.  I'm hoping I'm a lot closer to normal tomorrow.  It's tender, warm, and a little swollen.  And hurts like hell when I move wrong.


 I'm also playing with a new (to me) computer tool - AutoDesk Sketchbook.  It's a free download and I was looking for something I could use to make quick markups without getting into Photoshop so often.  It seems pretty easy to use, though it's pretty basic.  Practice should unlock more power.  And I need to pay attention to how I do things.  I'm not exactly sure how I did the red saw blade in the illustration.



But remember if people aren't too friendly, they may have severe pain, even severe chronic pain.  It saps you of energy and sparkle.  I was hoping to have something more inspirational for the first day of the year.  Sorry.