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So, yesterday, I went to see the orthopedic doc about this minor problem I've been having in my right hip. In particular, whenever my leg's in a certain position, it feels like I'm being stabbed. This isn't some exotic kicking position where my foot would be on top of your head or anything like that; just rolling over in bed at night is enough to set it off, which makes sleeping difficult.
As part of the diagnostics for determining the exact problem (to paraphrase: the likely culprit is the bone chip in that area has shifted, but let's rule out other things before we decide it's necessary to pull your hip joint apart...), I got to experience the joy of having a roughly five inch needle inserted in to my joint. The process here involves freezing the surface nerves with what must be liquid nitrogen's close cousin (it pours like a liquid on to the skin, evaporates on contact, taking any and all heat with it), inserting the needle, then rotating the leg a little to insure it's where it's supposed to be (and lucky me, I can now say that yes, I know what it feels like to have a needle ground between ball of the femur and the socket of the hip), screwing the syringe on to the needle sticking out of the body, and injecting the contents of a can of Coke into the joint (well, 7CCs, but it felt like a fucking fire hose). Oh yes, let's not forget the preparatory step of locating the femoral artery before stabbing you, with a needle whose diameter would make the over sized straws McDonald's distributes jealous, so we don't puncture it inadvertently and have you bleed to death in seconds on the exam table.
I have a really nice bruise where the needle went in, and the joint fucking hurts. Initially, it was great. There was Novocaine (probably Lidocaine in reality, but we all know what Novocaine is, so docs sort of use it generically to indicate that class of local) in that there injection, along withe the cortisone, but it has long since vacated the premises. Once the cortisone kicks in, my hip should feel better than it has in years (but if it doesn't, I get to have this done again, only next time it's a syringe full of dye so I can get irradiated with the nukular MRI thingy.)
If it does make me feel better, I suppose I get to look forward to having a piece of bone dug out of my hip joint. That should be a Ton o' Fun! If not, I have no idea what they're likely to find in an MRI.
Oh, and the pain I've been feeling in my right wrist is a minor sprain, which is nice since the symptoms are normally associated with the bones in the joint spreading apart (it's only painful when any pressure at all is applied while the wrist is bent upward (where upward equates to arm out horizontal to ground, palm down)). Sprain is good. This will heal. That other thing? It's a lifetime affliction.
As part of the diagnostics for determining the exact problem (to paraphrase: the likely culprit is the bone chip in that area has shifted, but let's rule out other things before we decide it's necessary to pull your hip joint apart...), I got to experience the joy of having a roughly five inch needle inserted in to my joint. The process here involves freezing the surface nerves with what must be liquid nitrogen's close cousin (it pours like a liquid on to the skin, evaporates on contact, taking any and all heat with it), inserting the needle, then rotating the leg a little to insure it's where it's supposed to be (and lucky me, I can now say that yes, I know what it feels like to have a needle ground between ball of the femur and the socket of the hip), screwing the syringe on to the needle sticking out of the body, and injecting the contents of a can of Coke into the joint (well, 7CCs, but it felt like a fucking fire hose). Oh yes, let's not forget the preparatory step of locating the femoral artery before stabbing you, with a needle whose diameter would make the over sized straws McDonald's distributes jealous, so we don't puncture it inadvertently and have you bleed to death in seconds on the exam table.
I have a really nice bruise where the needle went in, and the joint fucking hurts. Initially, it was great. There was Novocaine (probably Lidocaine in reality, but we all know what Novocaine is, so docs sort of use it generically to indicate that class of local) in that there injection, along withe the cortisone, but it has long since vacated the premises. Once the cortisone kicks in, my hip should feel better than it has in years (but if it doesn't, I get to have this done again, only next time it's a syringe full of dye so I can get irradiated with the nukular MRI thingy.)
If it does make me feel better, I suppose I get to look forward to having a piece of bone dug out of my hip joint. That should be a Ton o' Fun! If not, I have no idea what they're likely to find in an MRI.
Oh, and the pain I've been feeling in my right wrist is a minor sprain, which is nice since the symptoms are normally associated with the bones in the joint spreading apart (it's only painful when any pressure at all is applied while the wrist is bent upward (where upward equates to arm out horizontal to ground, palm down)). Sprain is good. This will heal. That other thing? It's a lifetime affliction.
