DAY 1
Let’s start out by saying I try to go every day to Yoga and I make it 90% of the time but since Covid started … I wasn’t able to go to yoga yesterday so I went trail running instead. Yes I know how that sounds, “she goes to yoga every day but can’t run a mile without tripping,” well it's true. Clearly daily yoga doesn't make me any less accident prone. Because the universe has a sense of humor, a mile in on my favorite trail by Tellico Lake, I tripped over my own feet. I’d like to say it was because I am so fast, but more truthfully it was because I was born uncoordinated. Now I sit in the mud with a big open sore on my knee, a small one on my elbow, and bruises everywhere in between on my right side. I wish this was a rare occurrence for me, it’s not. I wish the consistent tripping was because I am a ginger, it’s not. My incredibly sensitive skin bruises like a southern peach, scrapes and irritates easily like a child’s, which I can definitely attribute to being so gingery.
DAY 2
YOGA
I decided I’m going to yoga even though my sore knee hurts and the skin is still trying to heal. I have a dinner party with friends this weekend and I am going to fit into that pant suit no matter what so it's not a choice. First, I had to go back to my closet to exchange my normal yoga pants with the super softest easiest pair pants. I am not sure what hurt more, putting on the pants or staring at my busted up knee.
So I was expecting complete misery, tears, ultimate tragedy when the first thing I did after sitting on my mat was try to stretch my shoulders behind my back in reverse prayer and wanted to cry.
NO I HADN'T EVEN TOUCHED MY KNEE YET!!! I cannot fully describe the rest of the class because at some point there will be a profanity filter that will block this post entirely so let's move on to after class.
After class, taking my super soft pants off hurt only because a bit of yellow healing skin came off on my pants -- OUCH Holy Mother of F*ck.
Showering burns the cherry on my knee, but I use my favorite lavender cleansing bar all over, including washing the re-opened sore on my knee. Typical soap bars that leave my dry sensitive skin feeling tight and itchy because they are too harsh are a definite no, and using something non-irritating is a must.
Out of the shower I warm the Healing Balm between my fingers and gently rub it on my sores, ahhhhh, soothing comfort. “UH OH HERE COMES THE SALES PITCH!!!!”
No sales pitch, I created these products because I love them, need them, and have used similar products that are overpriced and made with garbage ingredients that no one should be using, even from the outside in. More tomorrow ...
DAY 3
Like a good girl, I am putting the Healing Balm on my sores more than 4 times a day just like my Momma taught me (do you ever hear her voice telling you to do something even though you're already late for work but you stop and do it anyway because even though she isn't nagging you directly, the sound of that reminder never leaves your head? Yeah, me too), so I run back in the house and put it on.
I use the healing balm a couple times at work on conference calls while pretending to care about how big the company logo looks in the catalog or why the new product launch is behind schedule yet again, and again at a red light on my way to yoga.
Yoga still hurts when I do anything with my knee. Shocker. But the muscle soreness has faded, and the bruising is not as tender either. Just that ouchy knee sore. However, my skin did not come off on my yoga pants tonight, and it looks like the skin is starting to develop a thicker barrier so it’s not quite so open. It’s still very red, yellow, and gross, but progress has been made! I cold shower after yoga to get the sweat off me, and reapply the healing balm, if momma’s voice reminds me.
The small scrape on my elbow is healing just fine, and it doesn’t hurt anymore at all. The skin has closed up and instead of a deep hard scab, it is a level layer of skin tissue over the healing area that I barely notice. Goodnight and hopefully enough healing sleep and avoiding nightmares about logo sizes...
DAY 4
YOGA STILL HURTS. My knee still hurts. The scab is trying to form, which hurts, because every time I try to put those pants on it tugs at the skin and hurts. Clearly I’m a slow learner, and now I pledge to not put pants back on until this heals better.
Yoga was actually less bothersome on the damaged knee skin without my yoga pants tugging against it, but I had to be super careful not to touch that knee.
I contemplated a human sacrifice that included my friend Liz’s crappy ex boyfriend but that was very anti-yogini of me. I’m really over this by now.
DAY 5
I’m going to the lake. The knee skin is still damaged, clearly. But a scab is forming over most of it, and I have been putting less and less Healing Balm on it, so it is getting drier but it is also closing up better. Watching this scab get bigger makes me wonder why I have seen some little kids pick them off and eat them… Little boys mostly, I hear that they usually grow out of this phase like nose picking and eating boogers, but maybe those bad habits are just replaced with an obsession with playing video games. Nevertheless, this is a thought that does NOT need further exploration and we will not be trying.
The 8 year old twins next door run to hug me before I leave for the lake. The oldest by one minute -- Evelyn -- takes a look at my scab and tells me it’s getting better, and points out the 7 different scrape scabs healing on her knees, ankles, elbows and feet. I now feel like I have been bitching way too much about my scrape, this girl is a champion.
DAY 6
My skin is red and awful looking but that sore is doing better and better. It is not open anymore, the sensitivity has lessened and I can move my knee well. Norris Lake is very clean and has great visibility so maybe the day spent in the water and in the sun really helped my healing process. Let's assume that it did even if it didn't because that helps me justify more time spent laying out on a yoga mat on the roof of my friend Natalie’s houseboat.
I am putting the Healing Balm on my knee two to three times a day to help with keeping it moisturized and the goal is keeping the scarring to a minimum.
Day 8
The skin is looking better every day now. It is red under the scabs that have formed, but it is getting less red every day, and it doesn’t bother me any longer, not even in yoga. Stretching around the scab is annoying, but it doesn’t cause pain.
DAY 10
It is healing quite nicely. No more pain at all. The skin is smoothing out and healing up, with the area looking much smaller than before. The scabs are gone completely, and the skin is smooth to touch, blending with the rest of the surrounding skin. The area is pink, but healing very well. I can put pressure on it without any tenderness or feeling any differently than normal. I have to point it out for people to even notice anything. Mission accomplished, remembering fondly Emily Dickinson, “I Dwell in the possibilities”... Although I might wait a little while before going running again.