Raynauds and Meralgia paresthetica

Okay turns out I have some more ailments that I forgot to add. 

“Raynaud’s disease is a rare disorder of the blood vessels, usually in the fingers and toes. It causes the blood vessels to narrow when you are cold or feeling stressed. When this happens, blood can’t get to the surface of the skin and the affected areas turn white and blue.” 1

This makes me intolerant to the cold. When my hands get even a little bit cold they hurt. When it’s very cold they hurt badly. So in the winter time I make sure I wear really warm gloves when I go out. I also layer up on socks if I’m out in the cold as it causes my feet to freeze as well. It makes it so I can’t touch frozen things for very long, like something I took out of the freezer, I have to hold it with an oven mitt or a towel so it doesn’t hurt my hands.

“Meralgia paresthetica is a condition characterized by tingling, numbness and burning pain in the outer part of your thigh. The condition is caused by compression of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve, which supplies sensation to your upper leg. Symptoms: Pain” 2

I know exactly when this started. I was on a long road trip and had been sitting in a van with my legs uncomfortably bent for a long time. We stopped somewhere in Iowa and it was insanely cold out, like 0 degrees Fahrenheit. I leapt out of the van because I was excited to get out and after my legs had been bent for so long, meeting the crazy cold, then suddenly extending them, I felt an extremely painful snapping sensation in the front of my left thigh/quad muscle area. I fell to the ground in pain. I was still able to walk but it was really painful. After going to the doctor they told me it’s Meralgia paresthetica and they say there’s nothing you can do about it. A physical therapist showed me some exercises to help it. Now it hurts about 50% of the time and there is always numbness there. That never goes away. It’s not that bothersome but if I do a bunch of new and different exercises then it hurts me along with my IT band. 

Back to the details of the other issues going on…

Left Wrist Pain

This started 3 years ago with no apparent cause. I was working multiple jobs and one of them involved carrying heavy trays. So, it’s possible that started it. Plus, I’ve been doing yoga for 15 years and doing yoga affects it the most. Perhaps it’s from overuse but my doctor at the time advised me to modify my yoga poses and to wear a wrist brace when I seep and other times to help stabilize it. The wrist brace helps and I always have to wear it when I do yoga or workout. But it would be nice if it would get better because it really affects my yoga practice and my workouts.

Right Knee Pain

For multiple years my right knee would occasionally hurt but it was so infrequent that I didn’t think much about it. In the past 3 months it’s been more often and more painful. Even when I’m sitting still like, right now… I assumed this was a compensatory injury from my left hip hurting for the last 13 years, but I see a chiropractor regularly and he noticed my right leg turns out so he showed me an exercise to do to strengthen the inner thigh muscle that will help correct it. This was very recent so I’m still waiting for it to feel better as I do the exercise.

So, I’m 35 years old and I feel like that’s too young to have all this stuff. Some people say it’s the joys of getting older but I refuse to subscribe to that mentality. I refuse to live in pain everyday and I’ll continue to be proactive and take the best care of myself so that I can feel good and remain active my whole life.

1. https://medlineplus.gov/raynaudsdisease.html#:~:text=Raynaud’s%20disease%20is%20a%20rare,areas%20turn%20white%20and%20blue.
2. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/meralgia-paresthetica/symptoms-causes/syc-20355635#:~:text=Meralgia%20paresthetica%20is%20a%20condition,sensation%20to%20your%20upper%20leg.