The moment you knew you were old(er)

Plus: Tattoos for arthritic hands • Pole dancing • Working out with Hashimotos

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The art of Kintsugi | @KinBoru

“Kintsugi — which means join with gold — is the Japanese art of repairing broken objects, often ceramic pottery or glass. Traditionally, gold lacquer is used to piece shards together again, creating a more beautiful object through the acts of breaking and repair. Kintsugi encourages us to fix rather than discard, thus placing a higher value on the objects we bring into our lives.”

By Lauria Locsmondy

Have you ever felt broken?

Two years ago, I plopped like a soccer ball down the carpeted stairs of the gorgeous 100-year-old home I was renting from my girlfriend and her family. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, until my butt landed in the foyer with the rolled-up area rug I planned to hawk. So, that’s how this is going down, I thought, in repent for my incessant buy-and-sell decorating habit.

Dozens of sports massages (not complaining!) and geriatric gym modifications (totally complaining!) later, I again landed in an unexpected place — the Center for Spine Health at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Preparing myself for the long discussion of surgical options, my doctor pointed to my X-rays with a diagnosis I would've never expected.

See, I wasn’t new to surgery. A year ago I had a (very surprisingly super) painful operation to remove the bone-grinding spurs of Hallux rigidus. “I have an arthritic big toe!” I’d announce as needed. This was funny — albeit physically painful — to me since my condition was clearly reserved for nursing-home status.

If it were only that easy.

The kind, young, pretty spine physician pointed to my X-ray, moving her finger up and down the monitor. “See here, this is arthritis along your lower back. This is why you’re having pain. This is why you’re old as shit.” (Just kidding, she didn’t say that last part, but I was thinking it.)

“This is why you’re old as shit.” (JK)
— My Doctor

No quick fix. Actually, NO fix. This is now my normal.

With whatever youthful rebellion I had left in me, I refused to pick up the painkillers and muscle relaxers waiting for me at Target. I never called “any Athletico” physical therapist for bi-weekly sessions. I never returned to my hardcore gym. Instead, I joined the yoga studio in my neighborhood for what I intuitively knew would help this ache — of both body and mind. And it did, almost immediately.

Poking fun at arthritis | @badboysonly

I now wanted to “fix” the rest of me that cracked. Like both of my grandmothers and my mother, the joints closest to the tips of my fingers had formed into hard, painful knobs — Heberden's nodes, a symptom of osteoarthritis.

Remembering the art and philosophy of Kintsugi, I again decided to take my arthritis into my own hands by transforming what’s broken (my finger joints) and making something I find beautiful — hand tattoos. Since it will only be a matter of time before my thumb is permanently pointing left — and since I’m so grateful to experience this human life — I decided to empower myself to make it right.

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Writer Anna Jackson

By Anna Jackson

It felt like I woke up one day and my butt had grown twice its size. My belly was a little bigger, tender, and sensitive, and I felt tired, really tired. The last few months of 2022 went on like this with no reprieve. Until January 2023 rolled around and I felt like I was existing in a different body. 

How did I gain 30 pounds in two months? Why can I sleep for 10 hours and still need more rest? Why does every single joint in my body ache and I feel like I’m 80 years old? 

What did I do to create this problem?

Working out with Hashimotos

When I began to push myself to show up for movement last winter, I crashed. I’d show up at the gym or to P.volve class and get on with business as usual. Two hours later, I would feel like I got run over by a semi. I’ve actually been down this road before, and all of the same familiar mystery aches and pains were creeping back. About eight years ago, I was diagnosed with Hashimotos.

Hashimoto's is an autoimmune disease that damages the thyroid gland. It affects more women than men, most often appearing between the ages of 40 and 60. Hashimoto’s is the most common cause of hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) and can cause symptoms like fatigue, weight gain, depression, and joint pain.

Once I started my own research upon diagnosis, I discovered that women’s adrenal glands, especially when we’re in our 40s, don’t respond well to the “more is more” workout philosophy. Male-centric ideas that we have to push, push, push until we get stronger is not the right motivation to achieve results.