Posts Tagged ‘Health’

Testing the healthcare system

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

After pulling a muscle in my buttock (or so I thought) 3 weeks ago, I’ve been getting progressively more uncomfortable as time has gone on, and in crazy amounts of pain this last few days, with pain in my back, down my leg and into my ankle.

So today, I got up and headed to the hospital :) I’ve seen many films, where hospital gowns have been worn, whether for comedic effect, or just because, but I didn’t expect it to be compulsory, to have to get undressed and wear one of these ‘do up at the back’ gowns. But:

So $320 later, it turns out that my theory of a pulled muscle, was far from the truth, and in fact I have slipped a disc in my back, which is pushing against the sciatic nerve causing the pain, Yay.

Thankfully, thanks to trusty Doris, I had good comprehensive travel insurance sorted before I left, and I should be able to claim my expenses back soon.

OK, pharmacy for me, to pick up some narcotics – it’s not all bad.

Paruresis (Shy Bladder)

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Many, many guys out there know what I’m referring too. You need to pee, you may need to pee pretty badly, so you acknowledge your bladders signals and pee you shall do. You get to the bathroom, all set to release and then something gets in the way; something blocks your flow.

This ‘something’ can be one of an infinate number of things, although some are more common than others.

Public bathrooms are difficult, especially the use of urinals. I can pee at a urinal in a public bathroom, and have done on numerous occasions, however I have also spent many occasions looking at a bathroom wall with my Wang out, with no results. This is usually because someone has joined me in the bathroom, or even worse stood at a urinal next to me, causing the internal flow valve to lock closed.

There are numerous other things that cause closure: alcohol consumption, sample bottles, over thinking and other bodily functions. Thankfully, there are numerous things to help you tackle this problem like deep breathing, running water, wet hands etc. None of which are hugely reliable, although I’m sure help/work for some people, like cures for hic-up’s (which I’ll come too another day, yes I have it), but I’ve cracked it.

Yes, I have a cure for my shy bladder problem, and that is sneezing :) As if sneezing isn’t awesome enough on it’s own, it’s also now a hugely important part of my urinary life.

When using the sneeze method to combat Paruresis I prefer to be in a seated position, but you are your own person, and I’m sure will learn from your own mistakes. Take your position, relax and then you need to induce a sneeze – pepper is useful, or if you’re not happy taking condiments into the bathroom, a sharp tug on your nasal hairs will work wonders.

Stage 1 – The Build Up: As the sneeze is brewing, try and relax, allow it to take control of you, roll your eyes into the back of your head and the internal valve will start to loosen.

Stage 2 – The Spray: This is the forceful outburst of the sneeze, at which point your mind & body does it’s sneezing thing, shortly followed by….

Stage 3 – Relax: Immediately after The Spray, comes a moment of complete relaxation – it’s right now that you’ll be peeing like a racehorse, feeling relieved and able to continue with your day.

My job here is done.

Warning: Please be careful not to release one stage too early, i can’t stress that enough.