Orthotics

Do you ever experienced pain in your knees? Mine started to hurt when I was about nine years old. They hurt quite often too. Sometimes it even affected my sleep. I would also often felt pain in my knees after bowling, jogging and cycling, which were activities I do quite a lot of during my primary school days. My mother thought that it was one of the symptoms common in growing boys when they have a growth spurt; and during those times, one or both knees can get affected. Swelling, tenderness and pain are experienced just below the knee, over the tibia. The condition becomes very evident during or after activities which put stresses on the knees like running, jumping, skipping, etc.

It is true that I was growing taller during that period and I had resigned myself to endure the 'growing pains'. Then when I was in Primary 5, my father noticed a stall in Bishan Junction 8 called "Soulmate Orthotics". It claims to help to relieve foot pain by basically customising the soles of shoes called "orthotics". (see the pictures on the right). My father then took me to the friendly personnel on duty there. He scanned the soles of my feet. (Actually, the scan was done with what looked like a "photostating" machine, so now I know how it feels like to be "photostated") and from the scans of my feet, concluded that I had flat feet. He was confident that since I was (and am) still growing, I may be able to correct the feet and create an arch in each of them. However, I would need to pay about $355 for a pair of orthotics. My mother was skeptical as her family members have flat feet and they do not seem to have any of the problems I was having. My father was game to let me try, he said $355 to remove the pains for me is worth the money, so I ended up till today wearing the same pair of yellow soles inside whatever shoes I am wearing.

Believe it or not, the pains in my knees gradually became less frequent and finally deserted me. Every 6 months I still need to go back to the stall to have my feet scanned and the orthotics checked. As you can see on the right, the first time my soles were scanned on 4 January 2009, the shape of my soles look white because it was flat. Look at the latest scan taken on 24 January 2010, there is now a dark patch where my arch has form. As it is still not a fully formed arch, they have made the orthotics higher after the latest check-up.

So one of my growing pains has a happy ending, this is the end of it !

Growing Pains

My first blog entry and I can only write about one thing- GROWING PAINS! It started last year while I was busy preparing for my PSLE. Last year was a milestone for me. It was the culmination of the hard work of my six years in primary school. I had never worked so hard in my young life. But as I was working hard for the examinations, my body was working hard too. First, I noticed that I was growing taller and taller, that was the good part. Next, I started to spout a shadow above my upper lips and then I also started to lose my angelic voice and croaked at the most unfortunate of times – during the PSLE oral examinations! However, as if it was not enough, my smooth adoring face started to get shiny and little black moulds seemed to be dotting my nose. Soon whiteheads and blackheads started to erupt all over my forehead.


But the worst was yet to come… my dear old mother who used to greet me with hugs and kisses; started to greet me with a gleam in her eyes whenever she spied a new breakout on my face. You can bet that out would come her new way of showing her love for me; disregarding my agony while skillfully extracting my pimples. These days, this is how we build our bond. However, I cannot complain too much, I am loved.

For all of you out there who suffer greater fate than me by having worse pimples or even acnes, fret not, I can share with you what I know from my ‘wise’ and concerned mother.

It is more important to keep our faces and bodies clean. Before you wash your face, remember to wash your hands first. Wash your face whenever it feels too oily to prevent the oil from clogging the pores which might cause acne. If washing is inconvenient, there are such stuff known as face wipes (choose those that do not have too much detergent on them). After washing your face, it is good to put a dash of pimple control cream over areas that have regular breakouts to prevent oil from building up too soon. Finally, if your skin is really bad, don’t worry, see a dermatologist who can prescribe the right treatment for you.

I will share more of my growing pains…