This is a test, this is only a test — well, kind of. Pirate and I are trying to figure out some of the fiddly details of Clipmarks/LiveJournal integration.
So as an excuse, here's the video for "Delirious", the first song from Luka Bloom's debut album
Riverside. *grin* I've been lucky enough to see him live a couple of times and have always been blown away by his performance. I'm sorry, one person can't get that much sound out of one guitar. Just not possible.
And, in fact, he's had to change his playing style since then. From the Wikipedia article on him:
Luka Bloom's style of guitar playing is very distinctive and is generally referred to as 'electro-acoustic'. In his early career as Barry Moore, Bloom used a fingerpicking style. However, tendinitis in his hands forced him to adopt a strumming style which is the one he still uses and is often credited with his success.
Tendinitis, you say? *sigh*
The thing about tendinitis is it's one of those non-diagnosis diagnoses. It's as if you went to your doctor and said, "Doctor, I have this terrible pain in my head. What is it?"
And your doctor steeples their fingers together, looks at you knowledgably over them, and says, "Ah, yes, you have what we call a
headache."
That's not a diagnosis, that's a description of symptoms!
Now I'm having thoughts about mailing him a copy of
Pain Free. Luka, dude, if it works, I don't need thanks or compensation of any kind — just put "Delirious" back into regular rotation on the setlist.
Oh, and front-row tickets wouldn't be sneered at. *grin*
Bursitis, on the other hand, does not seem to have a real set of physiological markers.
The article about how researchers are rethinking depression that I posted earlier expressed it nicely, I thought: I think that's a nicely concise expression of the idea, and is one that makes sense to a lot of people, whether they have much medical knowledge or not.
The article goes on at more length: And I'll fully cop to the fact that at present I'm in a mindset of "well, regardless of what you have, maybe getting back into proper musculoskeletal alignment wouldn't cure your condition, but I doubt it'd hurt!" *grin*
In the end though, regardless of cause, tendonitis requires rest of the afflicted tendon.
My bias is the limit and scope of my training. Oh and there's another one: I really like the homeopathic approach to assessment to the extent that sometimes treating the symptoms is more important than having an "it" diagnosis. A couple of winters ago when my dogs were incredibly ill, no diagnosis was ever found. What we did find was a treatment protocol that worked. Which was more important?
Ack! Another bias!! I think that diagnostic labels can convey more permanence and weight than they deserve. It's kind of like how I've always personally avoided "survivor" mentality. I go with Doc to breast cancer events and find myself recoiling from both the idea that survival is personal accomplishment (as if just by wanting it lots it's guaranteed) and the supplanting of a WHOLE identity with a DISEASE identity. Being a "cancer survivor" requires an ongoing cancer patient identity, no matter how long it's been or, more importantly, what ELSE defines one's personhood. Super limiting. And the survival as accomplishment thing sets those who do not survive up to be "failures" somehow. WTF is THAT?
Oy. I'm ranting. Sorry!