Health Thread🤸‍♂️

[Quintillus]

Snapped my Achilles clean in two

2 Months wearing a boot, potentially up to a year worth of recovery.

Ouch, man, that sucks. I hope the recovery goes as smoothly as can reasonably be expected. I've only partially torn a leg tendon so far (the quadriceps), which was much less limiting, but still took a few months to fully recover. Probably more similar is one of my colleagues who had a meniscus rebuilt last year, it was a good couple months that he was working remotely with very limited mobility, and he admitted that he underestimated how long it would take to recover, but he's on the other side of it now and was able to start running small distances about 10 months after the surgery. You'll get through it.

That is terrible Louis. I am sorry.

Lyme disease. Best not to get it.

Half a million people may suffer symptoms of Lyme disease this year. Learn about avoiding Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.

Show 1380: Avoiding Lyme and Other Tick-Borne Diseases

Half a million people may suffer symptoms of Lyme disease this year. Learn about avoiding Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.

www.peoplespharmacy.com

Oh man, Lyme disease. That's one of the ones that scares me because it's something that I could catch, especially since I enjoy hiking outdoors, including in more remote areas.

I've only been bitten by a tick once, before I considered myself an outdoors person. Hiking somewhere in Wisconsin, came home, found a tick. Bought tweezers, removed the tick, didn't develop any symptoms. I now keep a pair of tweezers in my backpack so that should I be bit in the future, I can remove the tick more promptly.

Part of the challenge is that I tend not to realize I'm heading to an area with ticks until I get to where I plan to hike, and then there's a "ticks are in season here" sign, and by that point I don't want to turn around, and don't have long pants with me (why are light colored pants preferable? Consumer Reports says they are but not why). It's also a good reason that I should carry insect spray. Mosquitoes are rarely a problem for me, so I don't use bug spray as a general habit to deter them, figuring less unnecessary pesticide resistance is a good thing, but it would be handy if I come across a tick meadow.

I hadn't heard of Permethrin. Have you tried/researched that? Reading up on it for a few minutes, I'm really not sure that the potential adverse effects outweigh the benefits of dissuading ticks, unless I were going into a knowingly tick-heavy area. The toxicity to cats is particularly concerning, as I occasionally make friends with the local cats when I'm exploring the outdoors. It certainly seems like it would be situational at most for me.

(Read the summary and a couple other articles, but didn't listen to the 80-minute podcast)

 

[Birdjaguar]

Lyme disease is terrible and if you don't catch it early, rash stage, it will haunt you all your life. IIRC not all ticks carry. Learn the difference?

 

[EvaDK]

Walk ~4km every workday.
Road cycling in the local country roads and bike paths around the big lake near my home.
Counting calories intake (I hate this so much )

I've tried the gym now and then, but too much noise and distractions for me. I prefer solitude when doing my 'thing'.

 

[Aiken_Drumn]

Ouch, man, that sucks. I hope the recovery goes as smoothly as can reasonably be expected. I've only partially torn a leg tendon so far (the quadriceps), which was much less limiting, but still took a few months to fully recover. Probably more similar is one of my colleagues who had a meniscus rebuilt last year, it was a good couple months that he was working remotely with very limited mobility, and he admitted that he underestimated how long it would take to recover, but he's on the other side of it now and was able to start running small distances about 10 months after the surgery. You'll get through it.

Yeah I am getting there. No longer on crutches. Taken 2 wedges of foam out of my boot. Slowly I am lowering my foot back into a normal position which will be a big relief.

When I take my boot off, there are pretty weird deformations in the muscles on the back of my leg.. im guessing it will be like that for life. Really hope it heal strong enough so that eventually I can get back into sport. Admittedly I am pretty scared for the future currently.

 

[CKS]

(why are light colored pants preferable? Consumer Reports says they are but not why).

Ticks show up better against light colors, so you may be able to spot them before they crawl under your clothes.

I hadn't heard of Permethrin.

My wife is deathly allergic to it, which makes the analysis of risks and benefits pretty simple for us.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Walk ~4km every workday.
Road cycling in the local country roads and bike paths around the big lake near my home.
Counting calories intake (I hate this so much )

I've tried the gym now and then, but too much noise and distractions for me. I prefer solitude when doing my 'thing'.

Up hill both ways in the snow?

I walk 2 miles in 30 minutes every other day, unless I don't. I go around our neighborhood park. My wife averages 10,000 or more steps every morning along the city's arroyos.

 

[thetrooper]

I think you’re safe if you remove the tick within one day.

 

[EvaDK]

Up hill both ways in the snow?

I walk 2 miles in 30 minutes every other day, unless I don't. I go around our neighborhood park. My wife averages 10,000 or more steps every morning along the city's arroyos.

Well, the terrain would be slightly bizarre if I had to walk uphill in both directions, I would say.

But no, flat city landscape and no snow, unless we're in December/January/February.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Well, the terrain would be slightly bizarre if I had to walk uphill in both directions, I would say.

In the US everyone who ever walked to school always walked 1-2 miles up hill in both directions in the snow.

 

[thetrooper]

Ah, the Danish hills. That’s a sight for sore Norwegian eyes! Poor EDK those stretches are possibly with 100 meters elevation gain.

 

[EvaDK]

Ah, the Danish hills. That’s a sight for sore Norwegian eyes! Poor EDK those stretches are possibly with 100 meters elevation gain.

More like 50 I think Phew!