Over.  Over.  To the right.  Now up.  Ah, that's the spot.

I don't get back scratches from Dyingwife much. but she gets them from me because she, naturally, can't reach everything herself.  I haven't needed her services very much because I CAN reach almost every spot on my back.  While my tight hamstrings mean I can't even touch my shins if my legs are straight, I appear to have fairly flexible shoulders.  That is... I used to.

A month ago I hurt myself.  I don't even know how.  I think it may have been when I was playing a boxing game on a friend's Wii system.  I was getting into the moment and pounding on the poor electronic opponent pretty badly but he may have had his revenge.  He was down for the count, but I was put on injured reserve.

Throwing punches is nothing I've ever practiced and by golly, if you don'
t practice something then do it with everything you got, well...  you can't be too surprised if you overdo it.  It isn't hard to do.

Anywho, I first noticed this a few days later as I tried to wash my back in the shower.  (Why didn't it hurt the next morning?  I don't know.  Bodies are odd things.)  I was a good 10-12 inches away from the spot on your back that's the hardest to reach.  Usually I can get within an inch, but not that day.  I could get a little past the small of my back, and then the pain told me it would be unwise to push further.

The Wii game was all I could think of at the time.  It seemed quite mysterious.  Something that damaged me that badly should have been memorable, but old bodies aren't as helpful as that.  There appear to be delayed reactions where the body starts the healing process a little late and takes longer to finish.  Could it be that this delay means we stress our injuries more?  Unaware that we are damaged? 

It was time for self-administered physical therapy.  Each morning over the past month I would monitor how far up the back I could reach and it seemed as if I got nowhere.  Then  a few weeks later I got halfway to that unreachable spot.  I'd gained 4-5 inches in a single night.  This has ramifications for physical therapy.  Constant effort my not bring constant reward.  It may come all at once:  in spurts.  This may prove very demoralizing for other people in physical therapy when daily struggles get no results.  Those recovering from serious damage like strokes could be inclined to give up.  Perhaps I can remember this and fight against the feelings of futility that the slow recovery provided by physical therapy may produce.

Today, I feel signals of stress when I reach to within an inch of that spot on my back, but I'm about as flexible as I was before.  All I had done was reach as far as I could to get a SMALL twinge of pain.  This small stress I was applying is common in physical therapy.  "No pain, no gain" goes the saying, but too much of a good thing is definitely NOT good.  Two weeks ago when I recovered those 4-5 inches, I stepped up a bit and perhaps you noticed the return of bench presses to my workouts.  This was a result of my physical therapy regimen.  I needed to push those muscles to recover strength as well as flexibility.  The results have been undeniable.

 In the event of a serious injury, pay attention to it.  Set aside more "me" time that your otherwise would.  Mother Theresa used to chastise her volunteers when they gave their food away to those who were hungry.  "You'll be no use to me if you get weak," she'd say.  This applies to all of us who need to work and provide for our families.  Without our strength, we become a burden.