Since I last spoke of my Military Neck issue, my Osteopath Melissa has made great progress in giving me flexibility and taking away pain. It’s two-steps-forward and one-step-back, sometimes, as I’ve had a couple of weeks when my head has constantly felt like 50 lbs. of wet cement in a 5 lb. sack, but recently it feels like we’ve turned a corner.Â
My worst episode was a couple of weeks ago when I fell down the stairs at work. The first time, I actually landed on my butt on the hard tile stairs to the break room and the precious coffee machine. The second time, I slipped on the carpeted stairs and in the process of stopping myself from falling, snapped my neck back, hard. For most people, this causes momentary discomfort. For me, it’s several days of steady pain and a headache whose severity I can’t describe. It’s beyond anything else I’ve experienced.
How I loathe those staircases but using them simply isn’t optional! One takes me from the entry door to the newsroom and the other takes me to coffee. The Bell radio building in London has been cobbled together and altered over the years. These stairways used to be outside and they’re taller than the usual steps. Sheldon explained the science behind it well in The Big Bang Theory:
“If the height of a single step is off by as little as two millimeters, most people will trip.”
I’ve proven it. Apparently, dozens of others working in this building also have over the years.
One of Melissa’s solutions is for me to wear flat shoes. I hate flats. I have a couple of pairs of them but the way my short body is constructed looks better with a bit more height. Depending on what I’m wearing, I can feel like either a bridge troll or a circus clown in flat shoes.
The upside is telling myself I’ve been clinically recommended to go shoe shopping. I bought some new shoes that are more like platforms than high heels. That way, I still get some height but I’m not pitched forward as with a heel. But Melissa is right, I need flats. I am not cheap. I love to spend money on good quality stuff and hubby encourages it. But I just don’t see the value in spending the same amount of dough on a shoe with no heel as I have to spend on one with a heel. It irks me. I get this way about some things, like car repair and technology. I won’t buy cheap flats because they don’t last and more often than not, they hurt my feet. I considered just wearing my regular shoes and boots and bringing a pair of slippers with traction to work and putting them on every day. But then we get back to the bridge-troll feeling. Plus, my pants are longer and meant to be worn with a heel. It’s quite the fashion conundum/first-world problem.
While I figure out my footwear pickle I’ll continue working with Melissa on my goal of being able to wear a helmet and ride my beloved B3 motorcycle again, hopefully in the spring. I’d hate to have to give up riding and sell B3. She’s such a fun and lovable gal.