Things that are slowly getting better

[flexagon]

My neck/shoulder issue that sends pins and needles down my arm when it's in certain positions (in front of my body, rotated inward, especially). Yes, it started in late November and yes, it sucks. When I figured out it was probably a neck ligament thing like last time I assumed it would take four months to heal; it's been two, and it still sucks, but the massage I got on Thursday bothered it a lot less than the ones I got five weeks ago. So it seems to be moving in the right direction. If it were getting worse, I'd consider an MRI or something, but it is getting better instead... just slowly.

My handbalancing. It really is getting better. I did a successful, controlled pike-up (with forward roll out) today for the second time ever, my first time being last week's private lesson. I also hit a nice pencil croc, again, and did good work on other less dramatic things.

My hand. Got my stitches out early this morning, which is nice, as my skin was starting to react redly to the stitches themselves. Plus the nylon was sinking in to the skin in a creepy way. I don't have to go back to the doctor anymore after this, just keep an eye on the incision healing up and massage the scar tissue starting in a week or so.

My sex/love life? Haha, I don't know, but I am really pleased with the current three-boy situation. They are all so good, and they are all different (and nooooooo don't ask me to play the fuck/marry/kill game).

This isn't slow at all, it just took a long time, but my director came through for me today on fixing a thing for one of my directs. I guess it went all the way up to our VP, and I can't imagine why they said yes to fixing it (what they did was a rare thing), but I celebrated hard in my head.

ETA: I knew I forgot one! heisenbug's french braiding skills. After all these years I finally taught him how, and, after practicing on a yarn-and-cardboard contraption I made and then on me, he's braiding his own now. :-)

Comments

[drwex]

massage the scar tissue starting in a week or so.

I learned a couple good tricks for keeping scar tissue from forming, if you're interested in those.

don't ask me to play the fuck/marry/kill game

I've never heard of this thing and just from that phrase it sounds horrid.

[fandomonymous]

I don't know about flexagon, but I would be interested in learning how to keep scar tissue from forming.

The fuck/marry/kill "game" is a mental exercise where you name three people and have to decide who you'd do each to, but each person only gets one verb (assuming the marriage is sexless, I guess? I dunno). Sometimes it's three horrible people (so the "fuck/marry" options all feel bad), sometimes it's three awesome people. It was a common meme in my high school/college years in the mid to late 2000s.

[drwex]

For most people, rubbing lanolin into the skin will keep it soft and flexible and reduce scarring. Twice a day, for about five minutes at a time. Some people can't tolerate this, or are allergic to sheep/lanolin and for them Vitamin E oil is a reasonable substitute. Unfortunately most of the commercial E oils are too thin - it was recommended to me to get the dietary Vit E oil gelcaps and then break them open to get a more pure/concentrated form of the oil.

(All the above came from a really good PT I worked with years ago, so don't take as gospel. It's just what worked for her and her clients, including me.)

[flexagon]

Ah, thank you -- I'm somewhat more concerned with scar tissue forming in the muscle than in the skin, but for visual purposes complete skin healing would be nice, too. I have a lotion with a lot of lanolin in it, so I might use that if I can't get pure lanolin. I've heard the "vitamin E gelcaps" suggestion before, but never tried it in a persistent way.

"fuck/marry/kill" is just what fandonymous said, a meme or thought exercise rather than really a game. I never assumed a sexless marriage, oddly, but I did assume marriage-less sex. Best when played completely in the abstract but discussed semi-seriously, while slightly drunk. (Trump, Bannon and Sessions? What would you do?)

[drwex]

Both the lanolin and vit E oil will penetrate the skin and reduce the scar formation in muscle tissue. This is why one is supposed to massage it in, and one reason why the higher-concentration of Vit E oil is recommended.

(Trump, Bannon and Sessions? What would you do?)

Reject the premise and send them all to space in a Tesla open-top Roadster?

[fandomonymous]

I've seen pure lanolin sold in the stuff-for-babies aisle marketed as cream to keep nipples from chafing. (I use it as lip balm and cuticle cream - lanolin and lanolin-heavy creams are vital for my skin.)

[flexagon]

Haha! Baby aisle is exactly where I finally found it today, with help from the pharmacy staff. Excited to give it a try as cuticle cream too -- thus far, Burt's Bees lemon cuticle oil is the only effective thing I've found, and it'd be nice to have an alternative.