Thursday, February 7, 2013

Lateral epicondylitis(Tennis elbow)- A chronic health condition that i am suffering from.



Yes,this is the reason i had to stay away from my blog for the past 3+ months!

Not everyone is familiar with "Lateral epicondylitis" which is commonly called "Tennis elbow" in layman's terms.So, here's a brief info on what it is:

"A painful and sometimes disabling inflammation of the muscle and surrounding tissues of the elbow caused by repeated stress and strain on the forearm near the lateral epicondyle of the humerus (arm bone)." Source




So,this is the painful health condition that i've been suffering from.And no,tennis is not the reason in my case and neither is any other sport.I really don't know the exact reason but my best guess would be either  'excessive mouse/keyboard use'!(Ya..i've read that it could be a reason too) or 'Lifting heavy objects incorrectly'.

Here's everything in detail..

Febrauary 2012:

It first started in my right arm a week before my wedding in Feb last year.But the pain disappeared after a few days.I thought it was should be some general pain and just didn't take it seriously.

April 2012:

Everything was fine until mid april when the pain started to slowly show up again.I was so confused and frustrated as to what was causing it and why it wasn't reducing.It kept on increasing day by day and i wasn't even able to perform daily activities like eating food or bathing with that hand.Finally after two weeks my family decided to take me to an orthopedic.After listening to my symptoms he diagnosed it as "Lateral epicondylitis/Tennis elbow".He prescribed some pills,an ointment and a week long physiotherapy treatment.

To my horror,the physiotherapy session was really not what i expected it to be like.It was a whole 15 mins of torture i had to bear every single day.But even after a week of that torture there was no improvement whatsoever! So,finally the doc decided to give me an injection which he told would solve my problem forever.I felt so relieved and agreed for it.He injected it on the right side of my elbow(right beside the bone) and oh my god! it was extremely painful!!! I resisted so hard from screaming the hell off! The doc even apprecited me for that! :P It seems that people who take such injection generally can't bear the pain and either scream out loud or cry a lot.

So,after a week or so the pain from both the injection and the inflammation started to fade away.And after a few more days it was completely gone.I was sooo...sooooo... happy.Life was back to normal.

November 2012:

Little did i know that it was going say Hello to me once again and that too with some unexpected surprises(bad ones)!!! 

It all started again during diwali in november.I thought it wasn't going to last longer than a day or two since i had the injection and trusted what doc said.The pain was mostly bearable but it did not go away even after a week.I was at my parent's home and my dad took me to a homeopath who happens to be our distant relative.I told him about my previous treatment and he immediately adviced me not to ever take that injection again! He told that it is a steroid injection and will not in any way work as a permanent solution for this condition, and if taken every year it will have some adverse effects on our health.(came home,researched online, found it to be true!) He even refused to believe that it was "Lateral epicondylitis/tennis elbow"!!! He declared it to be a general inflammation and prescribed some homeopathic pills for two weeks.I came back to my home in chennai and started using the pills.Even after two weeks there was no visible improvement!

December 2012:

I went to my parent's home once again and visited the doc.This time he increased the dosage of the same pills and told to use them for another week.This time it worked,but for only two days.I was getting soooo frustrated and visited the doc 4 days before the date he set.To my horror,it seems that he never really listed to what i was exactly saying!!! He repeated the same questions again and when i answered them he was like.."you did not tell me about this last time!!!" I felt sooooo irritated and decided to stop that treatment and to not visit him ever again.

I returned to chennai and was thinking of taking the ayurvedic treatment this time.We were on the lookout for a good practitioner and one fine day here comes the surprise.......

My left arm started to show the very same pain!!!!!!!!

The pain started to increase day by day and became unbearable in both the arms! I couldn't even bear the slightest touch of a breeze on my arms!! I was not able to literally do anything at all!!!
My arms were almost completely disabled!

Because of disability in both my arms it was becoming extremely difficult for me be home alone after my hubby leaves to office.So,i had to go to my parent's place because my mom was there to look after me.She fed me,bathed me,dressed me and did almost everything she did to me when i was a newborn except lifting me :)

Love you soooooo much mom!
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
January-February 2013:

My dad took me to an ayurvedic practitioner who was one of the best doctors i've ever been to.He listened to each and every problem i said very very patiently(Me and my parents talked to him for more than 30 mins!).I told him about everything that was bugging me both physically and emotionally.After this,i felt extremely relieved from all the emotional baggage i was carrying.He prescribed some ayurvedic pills which he makes himself and adviced to restrict and avoid the consumption of some foods.Almost all my fav foods are in this list! :(

He strictly told me to stay away from emotional stress which can possibly increase the inflammation and make me suffer more.I found this to be 100% true because whenever i got frustrated and depressed,the pain increased severely!

Even this doc was totally against the steroid injection that i had and explained how it will stop working gradually and show adverse effects on health.He also said that the steroid injection was still present in the affected area and could delay the healing time with any other medicine.

So,according to him it may take 3 - 6 months to completely heal this!


So,from january i am on his medicine and have been almost following the diet restrictions(err..i have cheated by sometimes eating those restricted foods.Temptations you know.. :P).

I am sooooo happy to say that i am seeing a considerable improvement! :)


The pain has reduced by atleast 40% till now.But even now i can't perform all the general activities and do all the household work by myself.I can now slowly eat,bathe and lift a small glass of water..that's it. 

My dear husband has been my greatest support(both emotionally and physically) and has been juggling both the job and home making all by himself.It is because of him that our home still looks and feels like home. He's the most precious gift god blessed me with. 
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3<3

It has been really difficult for me to go through all of this.Sometimes i used to get extremely depressed and kept crying silently the whole night or while in the bathroom.But with all the support from my family and dear hubby i lived with a ray of hope that one fine day everything will be back to normal.Even now i sometimes get so frustrated on not being able to lead a normal life and even about blogging like i used to.Life seems like a stuck dvd which refuses to play forward.  

But after a while i gather immense courage and hope by thinking about all those people who even after suffering so much more than me,have lived with a beautiful smile on their face.
:)

So,this was all that has been happening in my life..I am hoping to get well as soon as possible and start blogging  much more regularly.

Love,
Siri.

8 comments:

  1. OMG !!! Siri...we were so not aware about this..u r so brave girl..I am glad it has healed 40%..I so wish u recover soon..tc.. :*

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  2. get well soon.hope u recover well..Even Sachin tendulkar faces similar problem..he had got surgery done as far as i remember.

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    1. ThanQ anamika :)) ya..i know..and thankfully,mujhe surgery tak nahi jaana pada.So,atleast that's what me and the master blaster sachin have in common :P :D

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  3. I hope u are better now Siri!! don worry you ll be fine soon!! Take Care... :*

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    1. Ya jyo..i am feeling a little better now..that is why i was able to slowly type this article.ThanQ :))

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  4. I want to cry :(
    Just a month ago I started with all these symptoms, and I put the injetcion last week and I start therapy tomorrow, please tell me what is the pill that I take to avoid all that time you spent with that pain.

    Keep me posted, and I wish you get better soon and thanks for sharing your story, I agradesco.

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    1. Turns out it's Multiple sclerosis that caused me all these pains. Don't worry daysi you too will find a way out of it. :* :)

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