Pain is my Friend

I came home one day to find a box of Lidocaine patches in my bathroom. I had no idea why they were there, so I ignored them. A day or so later my wife asked me if I was going to use them.

Huh?

I said they weren't mine, and she then mentioned my sister-in-law had dropped them off. They had them for some reason and noticed that I was limping, moving slow, or generally icing some part of my body on a regular basis. So they thought that I might want some relief from the pain.

For the most part I don't, and told them the next day that I appreciated the offer, but I wouldn't use them.

Pain is my friend. While it's not pleasant, it helps me to better understand my body. It often warns me that I'm flirting with injury, or more serious injury. It reminds me that I'm getting older and also lets me know where to focus my training. It tells me what's weak, and what I should be careful of.

And in my running, karate, and baseball, let's me know how hard I can go on a particular day.

I hate taking drugs, and hate masking symptoms. It's easy to hurt yourself more, or create a bigger injury if you hide the pain. Professional atheletes do it all the time, and with career-ending results at times.

Unless the pain interferes with recovery, I tend not to do anything. Even Aleve/Tyleno/etc is something I rarely take unless I'm hurting and might have trouble sleeping.

Pain helps me, and I appreciate it.