Well, here's my rant. About a year ago I suffered a hernia while doing bicep curls. At the time, I wasn't sure what had happened, since there was no obvious swelling or lumps. I don't think I was even lifting that heavy, but I suddenly felt what I can only describe as the sensation of something collapsing in the left side of my gut. It wasn't that painful, so I decided to give it a few days and just see what happens.
The next day, my stomach started to swell like a balloon. The pain eventually got quite bad, to the point where I thought my gut might literally explode. After a few days, the swelling went down, though a slight pain remained. Obviously, I should have went to the doctor, but I hate hospitals and have avoided going to A&E many times in my life, even in life threatening situations. It's irrational but I'm too set in my ways to change now.
After about a month, I went back to lifting, but the sensation that something was off in my side was still there. I also started to experience constipation, which I've never had before. I visited my GP and finally had a blood test done, which came back negative. She assured me it was most likely diet related or due to inactivity, and said I should just rest.
After a few months with no improvement, I spoke to a different doctor about it and he immediately noticed a bubble in my navel. I don't know why I never noticed it myself, to be honest. I've gained a lot of weight sitting on my ass the past two years so I guess I just attributed it to that. I asked if this could be the cause of my stomach issues and he said it was unlikely, stating that the NHS won't do anything about an umbilical hernia unless they think it's life threatening. I used to be able to eat anything and everything, but since the injury I can't handle a lot of foods. I still feel a mild strain when I lift, which has made certain exercises quite anxiety inducing. To be honest, I'm still worried about it, but I've reached a point where I don't think the NHS are willing to investigate further. It's definitely made me nervous with some lifts.
On top of that, I injured my wrist boxing about a year and a half ago. I was hitting the pads quite hard, after a fairly long layoff, and I guess I must have thrown an uppercut with poor wrist alignment. The pain was around the scaphoid, beneath the thumb of my right hand. There was no sign of a break, so I just left it and waited for it to heal. At the time I thought it was just a mild sprain.
I ended up taking another six months or so off. Once the wrist felt good, I started sparring straight away. It was all going fine until I threw my first right hand that connected with his forehead. Immediately, I had the exact same sensation of a break, in the precise same part of the wrist as before. I'd already had a long layoff, so I was bloody pissed. I started to think there must have been a break after all, despite the lack of swelling, and the bone had failed to unite or something. This time I went to my GP, and had a scan requested. They told me I should get an appointment within the next two weeks.
Long story short, I waited another seven months, calling every few weeks for an update, but they assured me the request had been put through. Eventually, I called the clinic instead, and they said they had no record of it. I have an appointment to discuss the results of the scan with a physio tomorrow, but the impression I got from reading the results myself has left me quite confused. According to the scan, there is no scaphoid fracture at all, but I have an old fracture that failed to unite on the base of the ulnar styloid process, which is the opposite side of the wrist that I injured. The only explanation I have for that is I remember falling out of a tree when I was a kid. My parents put my wrist in a homemade cast for a few weeks, but I don't think I ever saw a doctor about it. It never hampered me in any way, and I boxed for five years without any issue.
I'm really suprised there is nothing wrong with the scaphoid part of the wrist. Obviously, I can't punch anything, but I also get pain when I lift weights, do pushups, or play guitar. I'm quite depressed about the prospect of having to give up boxing. It's been quite an important part of my life for a long time now. I'm not sure I will continue if I can only use my left.
