Daily happiness

[sasha_feather]

1. I went to the dog park twice today. My feet and legs hurt badly, but I still was able to walk around in the sun, and had a nice time with my dog. One man I was talking to (a dog park regular) asked if Sorcha ever wags her tail. "I can get her to wag her tail," I said, standing up from the bench. I danced around for a moment, waving my arms around, singing her name and generally making a fool out of myself. She wagged her tail.

1.5 I found my dropped mitten at the dog park. My mom made those mittens! :o

2. I caught up on Elementary and am still enjoying it. It will be nice when the election is over because, no more political ads for a while.

3. I plan to stay in and read fan fic tonight.

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Does anyone have advice for hurting feet/ankles/legs etc? I have the pains I'm used to dealing with: my face, head, shoulder, and stomach/gut. These other ones, I'm not used to and they are kinda rough. I am going to PT for the knee, but right now my feet hurt way worse than my knee, and all the walking I'm doing, which I thought would help (it usually does help my knee), isn't actually helping my feet.

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

. I danced around for a moment, waving my arms around, singing her name and generally making a fool out of myself. She wagged her tail.

HEE this is the cutest.

[j00j]

This. Also, does that mean she's not constantly whacking people/things with a greyhound tail? Those things are powerful.

Re hurting feet/ankles/legs: I probably have no useful information, but ice definitely helped with my tendinitis (the rest of the prescription for that is rest and anti-inflammatories). Or you could try a hot bath or other heat source? IDK.

[sasha_feather]

Not constantly, no; she wags her tail when she knows we are going to leave to go to the park, and other times when she is excited.

I've been trying hot baths and just bought some epsom salts, so we shall see how that goes!

[sasha_feather]

Always willing to make a fool of myself for my pets and friends! :D

[pantryslut]

Legs: warm bath, epsom salts. Feet: new shoes :/ or inserts, if they continue in the long term.

[sasha_feather]

Just bought some epsom salts and will try them, thanks!

[eggcrack]

1. Awwww!

1.5. Yay! That's one of the little things in life that should happen more often.

3. Sounds excellent.

[sasha_feather]

:D

[wintercreek]

I echo the suggestions you've gotten for helping hurting feet/ankles/legs: ice/cold shortly after onset of pain, heat if it's been more than a few hours since onset and moist heat (such as a hot bath) can be more effective than dry heat. I would also add that in my experience using pillows to prop up one's legs can be helpful - in the past I've helped knee pain by putting pillows under and to the sides of the sore knee to hold it in a comfortable position without requiring muscle tension.

IDK how you feel about swimming and whether you have access to a pool, but that might be a way to give your knee helpful motion without putting strain on your feet?

[sasha_feather]

I probably should swim, but don't know if I can make myself go to the pool. :/ I have been doing the pillow thing though! :)

[devildoll]

Yay about the mitten! What a great feeling, to have that back. <3

Have you ever tried compression socks? They haven't been a fix-all for me, but they definitely provide support and just make my legs and feet feel better in general. I do so many things that involve my legs (running, hiking, horseback riding) that I just put them on every night now for a few hours before bed (SO SEXY), whether my lower legs are feeling fatigued or sore or not. They also help my knee pain, because mine is caused by tightness on the inside of my calf, but that's obviously not going to be the case for everyone.

When I first tried them I didn't notice any immediate difference, like they were magic socks that fixed everything the moment I put them on, but the benefits seem to be growing exponentially over time. If I skip them for a few days I start to notice my knee pain increasing etc.

You can also wear them while being active, rather than during rest and recovery from the activity, but I don't find that it helps me much more. It mainly just makes my feet really hot to hike with those socks on. But other people have had different experiences, and you might well find wearing them while doing the dog park thing helps.

Anyway, I have fancy brightly colored $50 ones made specifically for athletes, and I also have the $10 ones from Walgreens aimed at senior citizens, and there honestly isn't much difference, except that one version looks like it was made for old people. So if you can swing $10, maybe worth a try.

[sasha_feather]

Now there is an idea I have neither thought of nor tried yet! Awesome!