My left hand has been bothering me for a couple weeks now. If it doesn't improve soon, I'm going to have to lose some weight. A sore hand and a few extra pounds around the midsection may not seem related, but I assure you, they are. The pain in my hand seems to emanate from the middle of my ring finger. There is one place in particular that hurts when pressed. That part of my finger is also slightly swelled. Usually, just the finger hurts. Sometimes, my whole hand feels a little sore. A couple of times I felt some discomfort from my fingers to my elbow.
I can't really tell if things have gotten better over the last couple of weeks. I guess it probably hurts a little less - but it was never real severe. I'v noticed that I've begun compensating for the injury - when I grab a door handle with my left hand, I only use my thumb, index and middle finger. Gripping is what causes the most pain, so I try not involve my ring finger if possible. It hurts when I play the guitar, but not so much that I've stopped playing.
I don't recall any recent trauma to my hand. My left hand has ached periodically over the last few years but never in a concentrated location like now. If you read an older post called Pajama Man you may recall how I first injured my hand.
When I first noticed my hand hurting, I whined a lot. The unexpected twinge of pain when doing ordinary tasks would elicit a gasp. I don't gasp so much anymore, partly because the twinge isn't as strong and it's not unexpected. I mostly don't complain about my hand because when I do, my wife threatens to schedule an appointment with our doctor. I can't visit the doctor right now.
I like my doctor, I really do. She was my wife's doctor first. I had been going to a different clinic. I only saw a doctor when I was sick. I chose the clinic because it was across the street from an apartment where I was living when I got sick once. There was a doctor who was technically "my doctor", but I just saw whoever was handy. Usually, I saw this pudgy guy that smelled vaguely of cigarettes. He was the kind of doctor that I think many guys appreciate. If you went in with a problem, he focused on the problem and didn't stray into any other issues about your health in general. I liked that I always felt that I was in better shape than him.
I am not in better shape than my current doctor. And she is much more concerned about my overall health than the last guy. I was last to see her a couple of years ago (it seems much more recent). At the time, I thought I was in pretty good shape. I'd been eating well, exercising regularly, had dropped a few pounds. The visit went okay, but she encouraged me to lose some more weight. I trust her opinion and I do believe she is looking out for my best interests. Because of my family history of heart disease, she is particulary wary of belly fat. I'm not crazy about it either, so we're in agreement there. After the appointment, I did lose a little weight. And then I found it again, along with some more. If I went in to see her now, the finger would probably merit a referral but my extra pounds would be the primary discussion.
So, you see, before I can see my doctor about my finger, I need to lose weight.
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