Because of my field choice and job type I live a very seated life style during the day. I spend 8 hours almost every day seated in front of a computer screen and while I do not mind this as I am a nerd to the core, it has an adverse effect on my body. Over the last few years I have developed varicose veins in my left leg due to a combination of my sit down working life and a hereditary condition called venous reflux disease. I had no idea that these were any kind of dangerous, I just thought they were ugly so I ignored them. In January of this year I was getting into the shower and due to the heat one of them ruptured and burst causing blood to fountain about 3 feet out of my leg in a thin stream. My wife rushed me to the ER where they patched me up and sent me home. All of this happening caused me to pull myself out of my Taekwondo classes. If the heat of a shower could cause them to rupture what would a sharp leg kick do in a sparring class?
About 2 weeks later I talked to a vascular surgeon who told me about a simple minimally invasive procedure called the vnus closure procedure which would not only repair the venous reflux problem but would even make the varicose veins shrink in size and almost look normal again. Well naturally I was on board with this so after a few annoying volleys with my insurance company I was approved for the procedure.
I was concerned that once this was all done that I would have to be careful at my Taekwondo school, and only returned after my instructor and I sat down and had a good long talk about what I should do. My doctor told me that there should be no restrictions on what I can do now that I've had the vnus procedure but to wait to go back until I was ready. When I felt good enough to return was an ambivalent day for me. I was happy to be back, but terrified that I was going to cause some kind of big problem with my leg. My first class I wore a sparring shin protector just to be sure, but after a day of that I was feeling back to normal and realized that the doctor had done a superb job.
I said all of that to say this... always be aware of your medical condition. Don't ignore anything on your body that's out of the ordinary and don't ever be afraid to ask your doctor questions. All of us as martial artists demand more from our bodies on a day to day basis than many people do. I use martial arts not only as a stress reliever and a hobby, but also as something to eliminate my sedentary problem I have on a day to day basis. I said that I'm in the process of losing weight before in previous posts and I'm still running that race and have a good way to go, but am down a good 60 pounds from my heaviest starting weight. This is not just due to exercise but also a diet change that I made when I realized that the varicose veins were made worse by my weight and poor eating habits.
You have to find an eating plan that works for you and make sure you do not ingest too many calories on a day to day basis. I use the Daily Spark to track my calorie intake on a day to day basis and monitor my weight loss. It also accommodates for the calories I burn when exercising and on the days I take off of exercising. I'm not trying to sound like a commercial for that site, but I have to say it has been a big help in opening my eyes to the importance of healthy eating.
I also am going to be adding boxing and possibly some biking to my exercise regime now that school is over for good and my leg issues have been resolved. I guess I'm just trying to get the message out there to be active and stay healthy. It makes for a lot less problems down the road. Don't focus on the end focus on the journey there. Life is much more enjoyable that way.On another note I'd also like to put a plug in for my martial arts school web site. My Taekwondo school has had nobody managing its site for a year and a half and I have volunteered my time to do so. It's nothing fancy but we have some very interesting video clips linked there hosted on our schools unofficial YouTube account, as well as images from local tournaments, demos, and school events. Also if you live in the central Connecticut area, I highly recommend that you check it out and if you are interested, come by for a trial class. I truly believe that my head instructor Master Jin Park is one of the best instructors in the area for our style and all would benefit from his knowledge and experience. I've visited almost all of the other Taekwondo schools in a 35 mile radius of here and no other comes close IMO. Join our family of students. We have a lot of fun and work very hard. Hope to see you out.
US Taekwondo of Manchester, CT Home Page
