Minicon Ruined My Health!

[dreamshark]

Most people have had the experience of getting a post-convention cold, but this is the first time I've had my knees go bad. It must have been the combination of a multi-level consuite and multi-level programming venues; I spent the long weekend pounding up and down the stairs dozens of times per day.

By Sunday my knees were both sore. The right one is just tired-muscle sore, but the left one has developed a disturbing habit of popping and clicking when I stand up from sitting or go down stairs. It hurts when it does this, in a nasty grinding/tearing kind of way. I've got it wrapped in an Ace bandage, and I think it's starting to feel better, but I'm not happy about this. Despite my rather formidable weight, I've never had problems with my knees, and I'd rather not start now. The Ace bandage was a worthwhile investment. It definitely helps reduce the sensation that my kneecap is coming off.

I also found the air in that hotel to be rather toxic. I had several attacks of sudden sinus congestion, especially in the noticeably smoky music room, and my skin went leather-dry despite multiple applications of lotion. My finger-tips got dry and sore around all my nails. I'm still putting antibiotic cream on one hangnail that started showing signs of infection; the other fingertips are pretty much back to normal now.

Comments

[pameladean]

Owowow on the knees. I hope the poppy one gets better.

That hotel was exceptionally, hideously dry, much worse than last year; and I talked to several people who were having unspecified allregic reactions to something unknown in the air, maybe just the dryness. I reverted to winter habits of moisturization, and still ended up with cracked fingertips.

Pamela

[jbru.livejournal.com]

So sorry to hear about the knees and other problems! Hope you can get a good, long bath to re-hydrate!

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to hear that your knees are so sore. (I mostly only took the stairs when going down, and rode the elevator when I had to go up).

I didn't notice smokiness in the music room, but got a headache after spending time with Aliera in the smoking lounge while she taught me a new card game.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Knee is feeling a bit better today - probably will be just fine. I think it was going downstairs that did the damage. Oddly enough, going down (stairs or mountain trails) is harder on the legs than going up (which is harder on the heart, I guess). It uses muscles that you normally just don't use at all.

I was complaining about my knee at work and my boss told me a funny story about a vacation where he went up and down a mountain trail too fast trying to get back to the tour bus on time. The next day his legs didn't hurt, but every time he tried to walk down stairs his knees buckled. He insists that he had to go downstairs backwards for two days to keep from landing on his head every time.

Anyway, my knee doesn't hurt particularly when I'm sitting down, walking or going upstairs. What hurts is going downstairs or standing up.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

Well, here's hoping your life lets you stay on a single level as much as possible until you've had a chance to recover. :)