Steve Easter Blog - Aches & Pains

Let's face it, rowing across an ocean is a pretty silly thing to do - imagine putting your hand up for repetitive strain injuries, tendinitis and a sore butt for months - so be glad we are doing it, so you don't have to.

But how are we all faring a month into this madness? well pretty good actually.

Let's start with blisters. They were always gonna feature in the top five and I think all of us have had them to some extent. Keeping your feet dry as possible and wearing socks has been the most effective way to reduce them. I developed one in each heel as a result of the friction from the heel cup that holds the shoe in place. Compeed is a great product and left on until it literally drops off. The non-sock wearers developed them on their toes also and still have them a month later but simply manage with strips of oxide tape. Blisters also feature on our hands before becoming calloused. I used gloves initially but found the blisters didn't heal as well, so now I am glove free and well calloused. (Not a great pic, but callous development well underway)

Back ache comes and goes, initially we all suffered due to the repetitive nature. Some sought pain relief with medication and others used shakti mats and tens machines and yoga - the body gets used to it all and the pain subsides to reappear in a different way.

Another problem with humid environment is fungal infection. Our skipper has battled with a severe case on his backside. There is no escape for him as he has to sit and row on it. We took a picture and sent it to a shore based doctor for them to tell us which meds to use.

Split lips, gashed shins and various other injuries seem attracted to my cabin mate Allan - we were able to patch his shin up with steristrips and all healed nicely. The lip was a result of a hatch hitting him on the head putting his teeth through below the bottom lip to the outside - not much you can do for this, but the mouth heals really quickly and four days on, all seems well.

Wrapping up here and hoping for less medical issues for us all - we do have a pretty comprehensive med kit, so can achieve a fair bit if needed.

That's all for today...