Pain sucks!

Ever since my little snowmobile versus tree incident before Christmas I have had limited use of my left hand, the one I need the most. I have learned to do more things with my right hand, nothing major like writing or anything but the simple things you don't think about and some I really don't want to talk about here. Now that the broken bones have healed the hard part begins.

I started physical therapy last week to clean up whatever damage was left behind when the force of me, the object in motion tried to pass through the snowmobile, the object recently at rest. There are 13 bones that make up the carpals and metacarpals in the palm of the hand and during the impact I separated all of them causing strain on everything that holds them together. Just when I thought everything was getting better I met my physical therapist.

The first visit consisted of the therapist pulling and sliding twisting my hand around to get the bones moving to break up any scar tissue that had formed in the joints. Then he applied heat, then cold, then an ultrasound, all meant to loosen up the workings of my hand. The real pain started with the exercises that they gave me as homework. Different stretches and movements designed to give me my range of motion back. I've been doing them twice a day as instructed since last Friday and it has caused a whole new world of pain.

Now it feels as if my left hand is constantly being crushed in a vice, sometimes lightly and sometimes with a good hard squeeze. I don't mind the pain so much, it means that things are healing but the tiredness that comes with it is what I hate. I'm not getting much sleep because I'll roll over on my hand or it will just act up during the night and keep me awake for hours trying to find a comfortable place to put it.

Then for the rest of the day I'm just tired and lazy. I don't want to do anything because I know it will just be painful. Then I get bored because I'm not doing anything and boredom leads to more tiredness. Then you're too tired to do anything which makes you even more bored and so on. No wonder people with long term injuries become depressed. Pain sucks!