Gambling on Life: The little necessary changes that come with chronic pain

This post, like others that will follow it, is a continuation of my Gambling On Life series.

Do you know what sucks?

Being forced to make significant changes in your life due to chronic pain or illness.

Do you know what else sucks?

Being forced to make tiny little changes to routine activities due to chronic pain or illness.

Today we've had some weather changes that have exacerbated my chronic pain. This means being extra careful performing some actions, and even avoiding some things that are now impossible to do.

One recent change I've had to make in the past month is how I cup my hands to catch water from the faucet.

Previously I'd cup my hands with my right hand on top, and my left curling everything in and supporting it. Lately, however, my trigger finger on my right hand has been significantly messed up; flexing it certain ways, or putting any appreciable weight on it causes excruciating pain.

So, I've had to start cupping my hands with my right hand on the bottom, which.. Feels wrong.

You never think about all the little rote actions you take throughout the day and how they will change due to a broken body.

I actually have a few different routines for washing my hair depending on how functional I am and where my pain is manifesting the worst (and one of those routines involves my GF washing my hair for me).

Hell, I've pretty much given up the idea of ever being clean-shaven, instead sticking to the vacation stubble that I trim down once a week, just because I can do that fast without having to stand or lean for too long.

I also frequently use a damned multitool just to help me open canned drinks, because I can't get my fingers to work right to lift up the tab on my own.

This is the shit folks like me live with every damned day. It's exhausting enough to have to work around my limitations, but having to explain to folks who stare at me in disbelief when I say I can't perform some action that seems inconsequential to them?

Yeah, that's especially exhausting.