Chronic Pain (original) (raw)

Hello there! My name is David, and I live in Fairbanks, AK, and next month I turn the ripe age of 20.

That being said, I'll introduce why I'm joining this community. I've been into swing and ballroom dance since my freshmen year of high school, but didn't get serious about it until my junior year (when I started competing). In the spring of 2005, I started getting pain in the left side of my back (ranging from just the middle sometimes, to up and down the entire side). Presumably this was from performing a lift incorrectly multiple times.

The pain got worse from stress, tiredness, etc., but it still hasn't gone away three years later. A year ago I realized that I couldn'y sit comfortably on the floor because of discomfort in my left hip. Then, half a year ago, after taking a ballet class, I woke up the next morning with my left knee in pain, so bad that I had trouble walking for two weeks (one of the reasons I dropped out of college that semester).

Lastly, I slipped on the ice in December and pulled a muscle in my left shoulder, and that still hasn't healed (I can't sleep with my left arm under my pillow, and I can't hang from a bar, like at a playground, on my left arm).

So, I've had pain in my left side of my back, left hip, left knee, and left shoulder. I've been multiple doctors, three orthopedics, and a chiropractor. The doctors have told me that a)it'll heal on it's own, b)it's just inflammation, c)it's just anxiety/stress, and d)it'll go away if I stretch (this was all within the same hospital).

The strongest medication I've been prescribed is naproxen. I have no idea for the cause in my hip, shoulder, or back, but after an X-ray, it turns out that my knee is being pulled inward by my quad (I was told this and then sent away, saying it'd heal on it's own).

Because of the knee pain, I have stopped doing ballet, jazz, and modern (due to the heavy knee motions), and since I'm out of high school, there is no place for me to do ballroom dance in Fairbanks, so I've stopped dancing. Also, I don't know if I could do ballroom (Dancesport, olympic training) for ten to twenty hours a week (like what I want to do).

This has lead to depression, and I think that all these physical ailments are related to my chronic fatigue (I need 16 hours of sleep to feel refreshed, and that's if I'm lucky...). I wouldn't be surprised if my depression is just the result of my body seemingly falling apart on one side!

Anyway, my only solace is my chiropractor (I've walked in with hip pain, and walked out with none). I've been trying to find a good deep massage therapist (someone who'll completely ravage my back to get all the knots), but to no avail. I'm starting to look into diabetes, chronic fatigue, auto-immune diseases, and the like so I can find a reason why I have pain in so many places, why it isn't healing, why I'm depressed, and why I'm so exhausted all the time.

But, this entry is already long enough, but thanks for reading! If you have any input, suggestions, tips, or want to talk about dance or anything else, just leave a comment!

(PS- my insurance is the Native Health care because I'm part Inupiaq. So, I can only go to there hospital, which is understaffed, and the staff that is there is underpaid. I received Medicaid for three weeks, but I was then employed full time at minimum wage and lost it.)