A near fall into a frog pond leads to a pain flare

It’d been a great day, and despite my Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), I wasn’t feeling particularly sore. My brother and niece were visiting, and we’d gone to a botanical garden with a kids area. It had a splash pad, sensory garden, and other age-appropriate ways for kids to interact with nature. After spending about two hours there, we wandered some paths back toward the entrance, passing through a frog garden.

This neat area had small, winding paths between and over ponds and little water areas with a variety of pond plants, making for a perfect frog habitat. On one path, I came upon what looked like a human version of a lily pad that was part of a raised walkway. There was about a footwide gap across the water, which we stepped over to reach a small piece of walkway. Then we took another footlong step off the other side to get back on track. It looked simple.

At least until I made that step. That’s when I realized that the center walkway was partly free-floating. As soon as I felt it move underneath my foot, I knew I was in trouble. When I felt the walkway slide, every single muscle in my back tensed as my body tried desperately to keep me from losing my balance and falling in the pond. Thankfully, I succeeded in staying out of the water, and while my back felt a bit tweaked, it didn’t feel too bad. The whole thing, in fact, felt anticlimactic.

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Working through an uncommon type of EDS pain flare

Unfortunately, courtesy of my EDS, this mild tweak brewed over the next several days into a pain flare that made me so achy and sore I couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned, but just kept waking up because no position was comfortable for long. Sometime around 1 a.m., I gave up, got out of bed, and looked for my electric back and neck massager. I plugged it in and sat in my lounge chair, my two confused cats wondering what on earth I was doing this time of night. After about 30 minutes of painful but helpful work, I went back to bed.

After massaging myelf and lying on my heating pad, I eventually fell asleep and stayed asleep until morning. My body was both a bit less stiff and even more sore, as working on my muscles can make them hurt more before they feel better. At least I’d gotten some sleep and was semifunctional the next morning.

Handling my lingering pain

That was about a week ago, and since then, my back pain has gone up and down. Sometimes when that happens, the tightness in my back muscles travels to my neck, which gives me terrible headaches. That’s what happened this time. I’ve tried to remember my pain medicine, which I’m notorious about ignoring. The fact that I was even thinking about my pain meds made me realize just how sore I was.

Often that’s just how life goes with EDS. A small incident that most people would forget after laughing about has meant weeks of soreness for me until my next scheduled professional massage, which is the only treatment modality that gives me relief.

I learned years ago that it’s OK and even healthy to get frustrated about these flares sometimes, but I do my best not to dwell on them. I try to use realistic positivity to work through my frustrations and keep moving forward. Acknowledging and processing how I feel is critical to my emotional state. Endlessly stewing on things I can’t change only takes yesterday’s pain and keeps it active today, tomorrow, and into the future — and I have better things to do when I wake up each morning than be mad about my EDS!

Note: Ehlers-Danlos News is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Ehlers-Danlos News or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to Ehlers-Danlos.