tendinitis: the invisible disability people don't see

 

tendinitis: the invisible disability people don't see

One of the hardest things about living with a chronic condition is having to explain your pain to people who cannot see it.

Tendinitis is one of those invisible disabilities that can be easily dismissed. You look fine, so people assume you are fine. They don't see the stiffness, the aching, the difficulty moving your hands when the weather turns cold, or the effort it takes just to get through an ordinary day.

Back in the late 1990s, I was unable to get retraining because they didn't believe me. I had been taking naproxen for six months, attending physiotherapy and wearing braces. I was doing everything I could to manage the problem, yet I still wasn't believed.

My doctor eventually told me there was nothing more that could be done. It was chronic tendinitis.

I've worked outdoors and in cold places for many years. I'm 64 now, and I think about everything this body has carried me through. It has stood up remarkably well, but time takes its toll.

I've had some nasty falls, too. I nearly broke a wrist once. I fell awkwardly, bending it badly, and although it wasn't broken, the sprain was terrible.

Now, after decades of working, creating and simply getting on with life, my body is reminding me that it has its limits.

The last two days have been particularly cold, and my whole body hurts. But it's my wrists and hands that are suffering the most.

And oh, my poor, beautiful hands.

These are the hands I use to clean houses, paint pictures, type stories, write blog posts and make art. They have worked hard for me. They have helped me earn a living, express myself, tell stories and create things I hope will bring a little beauty into the world.

Sometimes I look at my hands and think about everything they've done. Every brushstroke, every word, every task completed when I was tired, every time they kept going even when they hurt.

I love my hands. I am so grateful for them.

I don't want to take them for granted just because they have always been there for me.

But I also wish people understood that invisible disabilities are real. Chronic pain doesn't have to be visible to be debilitating. You shouldn't have to prove your suffering over and over again before someone takes you seriously.

And you shouldn't have to look broken for your pain to matter.

As we get older, our bodies carry the history of our lives. The work we've done, the falls we've survived, the hardships we've endured and the things we've loved enough to keep doing.

Mine has carried me through a lot.

I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful I can still paint, write and create.

But on cold days like these, I wish the world understood that sometimes simply getting through the day takes more effort than anyone realizes.

Please be kind to people whose struggles you cannot see. You never really know what someone else's body is going through.

And if you have chronic pain or an invisible disability, I hope you know this: you do not have to justify your pain to deserve compassion.

#InvisibleDisability #ChronicPain #Tendinitis #LivingWithPain #DisabilityAwareness #ChronicIllness #AgingWithGrace #ArtistsLife #Gratitude #BeKind