My physiotherapist says I am grounded from golf. Yes, NO GOLF until my pain subsides and the medications kick in. “Grounded???? Can’t I just stand in the corner for a few hours as my punishment and still play golf tomorrow?” I asked my doctor with my “pretty please pleading look”. Unfortunately none of my charms worked. “Well, if you continue to ignore my professional advice then you deserve all the pain you are feeling” was all he said.
It started with a feeling of numbness on my middle finger, which I had ignored for the last two years. Then a creeping pain appeared on my neck and shoulder area. At first the pain was easy to dismiss. Nothing a good massage at the spa couldn’t take away. But my neck and shoulder perpetually felt like there was a 20 pound bowling ball resting on it. This prompted my visit to the radiology department at the hospital for an MRI scan of my neck and cervical spine. Results showed that I had a posterior disc bulge with moderate right facet joint hypertrophy that was producing neural foraminal narrowing and possibly contacting a nerve root. What the f***zz??? Translation: countless sessions of physiotherapy that included transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), an Ultrasound that gave me some kind of deep heating at the tender area around my neck and shoulder and 20-minute neck traction. These sessions also included a neck and shoulder massage. These all helped ease my pain although I did feel I was getting away with murder because the “massages” were being covered by my health insurance.
On top of all these therapy sessions I was given a cocktail of “nerve medications” and a dose of vitamin B which all added to my increase of appetite, water retention, hyperactive oil glands and drowsiness. “Hmmph, is this all worth it so I can play GOLF?” I thought. And of course the answer was a resounding YES!
In between all the physiotherapy sessions and drug abuse, I was still playing golf regularly including taking part in our Team Forest Hills WGAP (Women’s Golf Association of the Philippines) tournaments where I participated in two legs. I also managed to squeeze in a Business World - Raul Locsin cup tournament and an invitation to the SAP World Tour President’s Cup Philippines.
So did I fell better? Did my pain go away? Did I heal faster???? Can you guess??? Not only did the pain not go away. It got worse! And I had no one else to blame but myself.
So it was back to the hospital for me and this time for a Trigger point injection (TPI). This is a procedure used to treat painful areas of muscle that contain trigger points, or knots of muscle that form and hurt when muscles do not relax. My doctor inserted a small needle into my trigger point that contained a local anesthetic with a little steroid. This injection is supposed to alleviate my pain and reduce the inflammation.
It’s been three days since my trigger point injection and I am feeling some muscle soreness and pain. I further tortured myself by going to my local golf club Eastridge not to play but to watch the men’s federation (Eastridge versus Orchard with Eastridge sweeping the home games!). I never thought it could hurt so much to be at a golf course and just watch others play. Not fair!
So I am grounded. No GOLF. It’s the weekend and I am grounded!
As my dear golfing girlfriend Bernie would say, “My body is present…. But my mind has teed off!”
Fore!