Coping Mechanisms for Vasectomy Pain

I was talking to my pain mentor last week and he told me that when my behavior changes because of the pain, that I am coping. I can see his point, but I wish I could engage in those activities without having to worry about pain. I'm tired of coping, but it will be with me the rest of my life - for better or worse.

Well, I've learned about another coping mechanism or behavior change. As everyone knows, I have been on a walking program for a while now - about 2 months. The walking not only helps my nerve pain, by getting me off my backside, but it also helps me with my cardiomyopathy (weak heart). My heart is supposed to be normal again, but I still don't feel like it's all quite right.

Anyway, I've been walking about 2 miles in 30 minutes - or about 4 mph. This isn' very fast, I know. When I was walking last year, before my pain, I'd be up to 5.5 mph and I'd be running a little bit too. But pain has a way of reeling all that in a bit. However, I have been getting a little more aggressive with my walking. There is a route I take by my house that incorporates a lot of strenuous hills and steep grades. So, even though I'm only walking 4 mph, a lot of that has uphill grades which increase the cardio workout.

Sadly, it also increases the core, groin, upper leg muscle workout as well. I believe the recent pain I've had is related to the steep climbing I've been doing on my walks. My abdomen was actually sore from walking and I noticed yesterday that my groin was hurting, which in turn made my nerve pain hurt.

So, I think I have to stick to less intensive walks - for a while anyway. Maybe I'll try to get up to 5 mph on a flat surface, then maybe try to walk a little slower on the more hilly routes. Again, just trying to cope with the pain. I also did a little light stretching last week, which probably didn't help things either. But it's hard to walk without stretching too. I'm going to need to come up with a way to stretch, yet keeping my nerve pain from acting up.

Okay, so today is Monday and I'm not really having much pain today. Yesterday, I had a little left testicular ache and the burning or paper cut sensation on the back of my testicles. I took a tylenol over the weekend to help. I also took a hot bath last night. Again, more coping mechanisms for pain.