Sailing with aches n pains, what helps you?

[snort]

I do think a decent sized catamaran would be more ideal in the long term.

[Cadence]

I won't go into my ailments and don't want to be the bearer of bad tidings. I sold, gave away or donation all my boats. I hate it but sometimes you need to make logical decisions. Only you can weigh that.

[SeeMonstrEd]

I have to agree with the other posts here. Keep sailing and eat a clean diet focused on anti-inflammatory food. Mostly high fiber, high nutrient plants, and clean proteins. Limit the carbs as much as you can. One added benefit of this type of diet and lifestyle is you will loose fat and gain lean muscle.

I am diabetic and have had surgery on knees and shoulders from sports and martial arts. Sailing and cleaning up my diet has made my life better in so many ways. I celebrated my 52 birthday this year and people often mistake me for someone in my 30s.

A good stretching habit can also do wonders in the morning to warm up and prepare for muscles and joints before hard use climbing and pulling. isometric is good, yoga also works.

Best wishes and keep sailing.

[roverhi]

Getting old and have the aches and pains associated with that and old injuries. Get very stiff and bending over and/or kneeling, lifting moderately heavy objects above the shoulders, etc is very painful. Tried the usual joint supplements without effect. Happened to see BioAstin at Costco, tried it and it helped a lot. Pure Hawaiian Spirulina
Other than that, Ibuprofen helps also but I'm sure you've tried that. Have had a bleeding ulcer so don't like to take drugs like that unless I have to.

Other than the above find Boat Yoga is good for loosening me up. Contorting into awkward and too small spaces and just moving about lessens a lot of my pain and stiffness.

Hope you find something that works for you. Living with constant pain is a burden.

[ixtlan22]

Chronic pain doesn't worry me as much as going out on the ocean on piece of plastic!

More seriously, I live in gratitude that I can still get up the steps (or even get on the boat for that matter). I used to think I'd get off the boat when I no longer could get ON the boat, but lately I've been eyeing a boom-hoist system sort of like hauling in my outboard....meaning I can hurt at home in an apartment or house, or I can hurt on my boat in the water. For me, boat's better.

I figure we all live and die by the weather anyway, so I just pay closer attention...in fact I've become a weather expert to the Nth degree. I rarely go out when there's any wind or waves, or there's going to be any wind or waves, or the sun's not shining...or I'm drunk or have a hangover.

I also work closely with my doc trying to convince her of my need to become an addict, and like a lot of people, I have sciatica (due for surgery in July). I have no faith that's going to help. I've tried the "natural-food-healing-thing," ate tree bark, drank eucalyptus pee, even spent a week in a wheat field eating dirt and wheat grass sandwiches. I felt better but lost my will to live. I take ibuprofen by the barrel, do regular PT, and use gallons of Capsaicin Cream (works pretty good but don't get it on your hands!). Alcohol helps but I notice I fall down more, (on the other hand I do notice that I don't care as much).

My conclusion is, even if I got "fixed" there's the problem of diminishing returns just due to the normal aging process. Tomorrow I turn 70...I wake up in the morning amazed that I wake up in the morning! Everyday is a surprise for me! I figure the next 70 years is liable to be even less comfortable, realizing that all repairs are going to be temporary at best. (I keep praying for Star Trek doctors but not much chance of winning that race). I live in Mexico...you wanna know why? I also suffer from kidney stones and through my old doc, I found they make wonderful stuff that "cures" anything instantly! I got a good stock of emergency prescriptions for a long-range voyage but used them all up in the testing phase! (I've since revamped my plans about sailing around the world in the Roaring 40's). I only date girls 18 to 25 because they are more physically fit and can do stuff I cannot otherwise do for myself.

Right now I'm training the fish around me to jump into my boat so I don't have to go out as far. (Now if I can just teach them to clean themselves....). I guess what I'm saying about all this is, for me, it's all about adaptation and attitude, a fair amount of luck...and money of course. I believe that if you have enough money you can even pay someone to suffer for you....I used to have someone like that...but she divorced me.

[SURV69]

I'm in constant pain almost from head to toe ...

But being on the boat DOESN'T CAUSE MORE pain and the scenery makes me more tolerant to the pain.

Sailing ... rough sailing, does cause more pain, but the thrill makes it worth it. Easy sailing doesn't cause any more pain than being at the dock(usually).

So, I'm in constant pain no matter where I am and I choose to be on a boat where I enjoy everything ... sometimes, even the pain(in a sort of perverse manner).

If you enjoy being on a boat, make it work however it needs to work, unless being on the boat actually causes more pain or distress. Then you'd have to gauge your situation.

A forty some foot boat sounds like a two person boat(or more), maybe find someone who likes sailing as much. Unless you're in need of nursing, I could imagine a sailing buddy to make things a little easier, either as a temporary crew to a new port or even a more permanent sailing companion.

[oldragbaggers]

Originally Posted by SeeMonstrEd

A good stretching habit can also do wonders in the morning to warm up and prepare for muscles and joints before hard use climbing and pulling. isometric is good, yoga also works.

Best wishes and keep sailing.

I should have mentioned this also. Yoga is the other part of what keeps my husband's back healthy. He had been using yoga as a therapeutic measure even before we found the diet. It's a great regimen.

[VOYAGER II]

I have been living aboard and cruising for 20 years, however, at 77 I am rethinking the sailing part. Unfortunately when cruising we can't control the weather. Weather reports for a 20 day crossing are sketchy at best. Working the foredeck in a gale when you're young is not easy and it becomes dangerous as you age. If your cruising is going to be coastal with a 1 or 2 nite crossing you should have minimum problems. Long distance sail cruises are no longer an option for me. However, I am going to continue long distance cruising in a 44' Defever with a walk in engine room. I also keep a bottle of Aleve handy. Good luck!

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Cherise

"Go cruising now before you are told old!". We have all heard it, right?



I am young, but I have chronic health issues that often keep me in a good deal of pain, daily. Therefore, I'm concerned if I will ever be able to "go".



That being said. If you have chronic pain, what do you do for it while cruising? What tools do you use? What mods to the boat? Did you buy a different boat to meet these needs? From a mono to a cat, or heaven forbid, a trawler?!



Cheers!

I suspect people you do the same thing on the boat as they do on land for the problem ....... Drugs!

At least that is pretty much what I do.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[dlymn]

My wife suffers from AS and has had many painful sessions in her life. Since we started sailing,, she has significant reduction in the frequency and severity of attacks. Maybe it's the constant movement, the climbing in an out of the boat or maybe it's connected to the need not to be ill when we're so far from home and sailing. Whatever the reason, she hasn't been so well for the last 10 years. Best therapy ever.

[tinkrman69]

Hi Cherise.

I've broken 14 different bones in my life and four of them in my spine No 1 and 5 in my neck and L 2 and 5 in my lower back. I've had surgery on both shoulders and the meniscus in my left knee removed. Sailing keeps me in fare physical shape. I also eat a healthy holistic diet. I take Turmeric capsules 750mg one to two times a day. You can buy them at health food stores which cost quite a bit Or you can buy empty "00" capsules there and fill them with turmeric from the grocery store. the health food places will tell you " theirs is the only one that works" but Island spice has worked for me for years. the Pharmaceuticals all have side effects, which most if not all are undesirable. Turmeric even toke the place of steroids for an auto immune disease " poly miagia rheumatica" Main stream medical says 1 to 4 years steroids to cure ......9 months of 5 grams Turmeric did the trick.

PEACE LUV & HAPPINESS

[thinwater]

I don't accept the statement that cruising cannot be accessible. It is lazy thinking, shared by some, but not all, builders. I have sailed with my wife and others with very serious issues, had multiple surgeries myself, and often it requires thinking outside the box. But relief can come from accommodations, not just pills, a stiff upper lip and PT.

I went to the last boat show, with my wife, with the express purpose of helping her identify access issues for an up coming writing project. When I asked sales folk what they though the age of the average buyer was, 50s and 60s, or 30s, I got only dull stares in most cases. A few were responsive. Many suggested things that were plainly stupid, beyond the abilities of a person with physical issues. When you consider these boats were all >$200,000 (some much greater), I found much of this just mean.

1. Steps. They should be 7 1/2" like the rest of the world.
2. Ladders can be improved or made into stairs.
3. Handholds for boarding, entering the cockpit, and in the cabin are often lacking. I guess they don't look good.
4. Many cockpits could benefit from stairs or at least a large fold down step.
5. We can all agree that winch placement is often stupid.
6. Proper helm foot rests are a rarity.
7. Dingy boarding is a complete after thought, and that is a dangerous omission that we accept. I built transom extensions to help my wife. Best thing I ever did.

As for access for maintenance, that is a whole nuther topic. But even though I am a dedicated DYI, I understand that most can be contracted, certainly the painful stuff.


When you go to shop boats, point these things out to the salesman EVERY TIME, even if they don't matter to you now. They may in the future, and only if we ALL push will it change.

[jkindredpdx]

For stiff muscles magnesium tablets... and stretching. I consider living on a boat to force "Boat Yoga" always reaching and bending into strange positions...

For Injuries that don't go away, I go to the Acupuncturist.

[jeffsoley]

Find a good chiropractor who will make a proper diagnosis and prescribe a treatment plan for your specific condition.

[Time2Go]

All I can say is that
Pain be damned
I'm planning my circumnavigation
To start in 4 years ( I'll be 65)
Until then I
Sail the paint off my day sailer
Crew on other boats and
Am going for RYA Day Skipper
In a few weeks
And I'm bringing my Titanium
parts along for the ride
I'm just not letting my sports
injured body get in the way
But for pain I have a four step process
Of escalation
1. Suck it up
2. Advil
3. Celebrex
4. Is the nuclear option
Medrool 5 day dose pack
With Vicodin
The nuclear option is usually in response to a specific incident that brings on a major inflammation
Have had knee back hip ops in the
Last 4 years
Thanx to all that have inspired me to
Keep dreaming, keep planning
I will go someday soon