Carrying baby around can really make your ligament and muscle ache! And I think I found the remedy, using Voltaren by Novartis. Some two months ago, I over strained my right arm muscle and ligament when I carried my baby for one plus hours straight because he didn’t want to sleep. I guess I spoilt my baby flat! Ever since straining my right arm muscle and ligament I don’t carry baby to sleep anymore.
Initially I didn’t use any medicine and my muscle and ligaments did not recover even after a week! So I started applying the Voltaren Emulgel by Novartis. This medicine is good for relieving pain, swelling and combating inflammation. It has an active ingredient, diclofenac diethylamin. I used it to relieve my muscle ache during my attempt on Mount Kinabalu which I had sore muscles for an entire week for my challenge effort!
Basically if you carry an infant or any heavy object for an extended period of time without resting your arms, your muscle is going to get really sore. In fact just holding a cup of water in the same position without putting it down, you would find your muscle sore despite the weight is not very much! So likewise holding on to baby for an extended period, your muscle is going to get inflamed! With muscle inflammation such as this, I found my arm rather weak and lifting simple objects such as a book was a bit of struggle. This was no good. I told my wife I need to get my arm “repaired” jokingly as though my arm was a piece of machinery! Haha!
Unfortunately applying the Voltaren Emulgel cream topically didn’t seem to help. I think the muscle and ligament inflammation was much more deep rooted. After applying for more than four weeks without much head way, I decided to try the Voltaren tablets instead.
Heading off to a pharmacy nearby, I got a Voltaren 25mg tablet. They have two strengths, 25mg and 50mg, I decided to go for the 25mg and see if it will work. If not, I will go for the 50mg Voltaren tablet. If the tablets still didn’t work, I may have to go see a sport specialist which I didn’t want to do. I didn’t have good experience from my previous visit for my plantar fasciitis. The remedy they recommended didn’t work for me at all and mind you, their fees and physiotherapy session weren’t cheap either!
After some days of taking the Voltaren 25mg tablet, I could feel soreness going away and found my arm strength returning. Eureka! I think I found the right remedy! However one strip wasn’t enough, I may need another strip and got to take it consistently until the muscle and ligament soreness disappear.
Although the above remedy worked for me, such self administering of medication should not be simply done. The above remedy may work for me, so if in doubt do consult a physician for confirmation. Specialist remedy may or may not work as after all doctors are also guessing on your malady, though their knowledge should be far more superior than us layman. In the end we still need to understand our own body and health matters as we are going to use it for the rest of our lifetime.
Anyway, the Voltaren tablet by Novartis seemed to work and hopefully in another weeks time, my arm should be well enough recovered!
[update May2013]
Well, just to update this blog post. The soreness and pain did go away. Since I didn’t update my blog that time, I reckon it took about 6 months for recovery. Muscle soreness and torn ligaments take a long time to heal. My plantar fasciitis took very long to recover, as much as 1-1/2 years and the pain was most unbearable! My elbow could heal faster as I could rest it more, whereas for feet ailments the recovery would be slow because you need the mobility, if you don’t walk, you can’t get anywhere!