Pain in my arse

Some time ago (blimey, nearly 20 years), when I was living in Stoke Newington, I took out a membership in a great gym. One reason it was great was that it was women only, but it was also just great. In addition to the gym itself with all its machines, there was a pool (and sauna!) and there were classes – all included in the price of the membership. (There were also treatments available, like facials and massages, but those were extra.) That was the first time I did a Pilates class and I quite enjoyed it. (Couldn’t believe how much my abdominal muscles ached after the first go, but that was good.) Then we moved to Walthamstow and that was the end of the gym.

Yesterday I went to my first Pilates class since. It’s something I’ve thought (off and on) for a while would be a good thing to do. Unfortunately, classes are not included in the cost of a gym membership here (not that I still have a gym membership) and I do live on a fixed income, so Pilates seemed like it just couldn’t fit in the budget.

What’s changed? Well, me, I guess. Age, you know. Creeping decrepitude.

Back in February, at the end of an extra long walk with Joe and Georgie, I developed a pain in my ass. Well, actually, a pain just above my ass, but definitely not in my hip. It was gone the next day, but returned during subsequent walks. (When I decided to check, it seemed to start somewhere around the 3,500 step point.) It wasn’t even a pain so much as an annoying soreness. Joe suggested seeing the doc, which I eventually did. Took a while as I needed an in person consult. (Bit hard to point to where the pain was over the phone.)

She told me it seemed likely it could be my SI joint. I scribbled this down, having no bloody idea what that was. Googled when I got home and discovered it is the sacroiliac joint.

Yes, I’d heard the word sacroiliac before, but I’m not sure I’d ever registered what it was. (Some sort of funny soft drink, maybe? Oh, no, that’s Sarsaparilla.) Guess it’s not included in that old bones song. (And why would it be, given it’s a joint not a bone?)

Anyway, upshot was I needed to get the ferry to town to get an x-ray, which I did. 

The results came back about a week and a half ago.

Good news is my SI joint is fine, although there is some mild narrowing and a hint of arthritis. Go figure. Hello, getting old.

Another mild thing the back x-rays turned up: mild scoliosis (curvature of the spine). Given that my posture has never been to finishing school and I’ve always tended to sit sideways on the couch with my feet up beside me, this wasn’t a huge surprise.

Conclusion: the pain in (above) my arse is probably a muscle problem. Treatment/solution? The doctor asks if I have extended health care that includes physio. No, I do not. Well, then, exercise and core strengthening. 

Exercise has been off the table since Georgie went on the disabled list several weeks ago. (Story for another day.) I keep telling myself I could (and should) just go for a walk on my own, but where’s the fun in that without being able to point out interesting trees to someone else or, you know, having a conversation? (I’m considering podcasts for company, but I need to find some earbuds that work with my iPhone 6.) 

But, hang on. “Core strengthening”? That’s the whole point of Pilates, isn’t it? Seek guidance from a mate I seem to recall had been going to a 55+ Pilates class. (That’s me.) Find out who ran it and do a check. Oh, there’s an eight-week class starting the next day. Contact the instructor (whom I know) to see if places are still available. Yes, they are. Suddenly seems as if core strengthening is not that expensive, if it will rid me of the pain in my arse and, you know, stop me turning into an old lady bent over almost double when she’s standing up.

It was a good class. Not enough to make my gut ache, which is probably just as well. But a definite hint that there are things I can learn (like exhaling the very last bit of air out of the body does engage the abdominal muscles – not sure I’ve done anything to engage these for years) that I could, if I got my shit together, practise at home.

Now I just need to get those earbuds.