Owen Reynolds Personal blog

All aboard the pain bus

As IT folks, we aren’t known for our good posture. Sitting at our desks all day, using ‘ergo’ equipment just offsets constant wrist and elbow abuse from a classic keyboard and mouse setup

In 2008, while doing an IBM server install in small town Canada, the server slipped while I was moving it from it’s box to the rack, and hit my right knee. It didn’t hurt a lot at the time, but I do remember thinking at the time:

“wow, that server was about 60  lbs, and it hit my knee cap directly, that’s probably really bad, I’m probably really hurt and will require a doctor check up, etc”

I mean, just look at this big bastard…

Avoiding further VAN DAMMAGE

The actual work that night was somewhat stressful. I had to complete the server install in the evening, drive back to the small town hotel, then come back the next day for follow-up support, then on the next small town. Throughout, I continued to focus on the pain in my knee

On returning home, I never had my right knee checked out via a formal MRI.  I don’t have any issues with doing your own health research , but some conditions require formal diagnosis, this was one of them.

My knee continued to ache now and then, I just assumed it was a permanent injury, and it something I had to live with. I started buying compression sleeves to wear , ice packs, TENs electro shock pads and the knee pain became a part of my life. I lived in fear of aggravating the injury, so avoided a lot of activities..

Fighting my man Bolo Yeung would have to wait 😉

The SYSTEM event log

What happened next, is well documented ; as you avoid using one part or side of your body, the other side compensates. If you’re not doing exercises to strengthen the side that’s over-compensating , the “good” side starts to suffer. As such, what started as a right knee issue, eventually started to impact my over-all posture, and other strains started to pop-up all over my body.

Here was the the log I kept:

⚡Right elbow – Mid 2012- to April 2018

⚡Right wrist 2014 to April 2018

⚡Left ankle 2014 – 20216

⚡Back left shoulder 2011 to March 2018

⚡Left knee – Nov 2016 to April 2018

⚡Left wrist – Fall 2017 to summer 2018

The plastic bin I used to keep all the gear contained a LOT of items. I will figure out a way to donate them, I’ve not used most of these items in 2.5 years as of Nov 2024

I often wore these knee compression sleeves through airport security, setting off the scanner ! A bit embarrassing. I’m glad to be rid of them!

Eventually, I had multiple MRIs done on areas I thought were impacted, none of the scans showed anything abnormal: “They can’t find anything wrong”. That dreaded statement that patients hate to hear

The path to a pain free life

In January 2019, I read a book by John E. Sarno called “the mind body prescription”

At the time, it wasn’t easy for me to put into practice what was prescribed by the book. I had a job I wasn’t fully happy with, and I was facing the end of my 6 year old marriage

The book describes the psychosomatic connection between body and mind ; pain can be made worse through negative reinforcement

“I hurt yesterday, I’ll hurt today”

However, it can made better through simple statements said aloud, or in your head

“my knees are strong, I can do this”

Towards the end of the 2019, I had left that job, and became separated from my now ex-wife, it was time to get back to practicing the lessons from the book!

The end of pain

In years prior, whenever I would bang into something, it set of a ‘pain timer’. Within 60 seconds I would ‘feel’ the pain at the location I bumped, then I would ache for 4-8 hours. Using ice or compression sleeves to deal with it. This is a logical mis-fire, and part of problematic side of the mind-body connection

In May of 2022 , I bought my first house. I didn’t want to ask for help from friends to un-boxing and assembling tables/chairs/etc in my first month, so, I did it all myself. However, I decided to adopt a normal position for any work that involved bending down. I used to lay out a towel or pillow anytime I needed to bend down for laborious tasks that involved assembly on the ground. No more! I started to drop into squat positions instead. Along with adopting a better position, I also started using a mantra. Anytime I was engaging in an activity that previously used to trigger pain in my knees, in my head, I’d say..

“KNEES ARE STRONG”

For whatever reason, it was said in a heavy Slavic accent, why? I don’t know 😂

Throughout the the summer, I completed all kinds of tasks I’d previously avoided, done slowly, or done with pain. Even those furniture assembly tasks marked for “2 people” , I did my damn self. by the fall of 2022, my knees no longer hurt anymore

Here is where the magic started to happen, not magic, but after 16 years of various joint paint issues, it certainly felt like magic. As I was no longer adopting movement that favored the ‘strong’ side of my body vs the ‘weak’, the issues I was having with my left knee, wrists and elbows all disappeared

In 2023 I undertook a physically challenging project to demolish and replace my front walk way, you can read about that project here, in years prior, I would not have considered doing this kind of work on my OWEN, for fear of injury

It’s now Nov 2024, and I’ve not travelled with any of my compression sleeves , pain numbing cream or ice packs in almost 2 years

The picture on the right shows two previous sources of pain, bending down to put my beloved dog coffee’s leash on 3-4 times per day, and hoisting my 50 LB suitcase around for travel. Neither are a problem for me anymore

I’m 45 years old, and living a pain free life and I’m really excited about the rest of what life has to offer me ❤️💙

Thanks for reading and if you’ve got your own story to share, reach out to me by the comments or Linkedin / X /

Owen & Coffee bean in Montreal, Canada