What's something regrettable you did to your body?

55 comments

Got fat, and it's seemingly impossible to go back. 80 something kilos at 174cm

Have a baby.
My stomach muscles never recovered (they split), I have postpartum endometriosis (my abdominal cavity is riddled with endo and adhesions) and I had postpartum depression that never truly resolved itself.
- oh dear that sounds so stressful

I'm currently in the process of somewhat neglecting my dental needs... I brush every day, but I'm pretty sure I've had a cavity or two for a while, and haven't been to the dentist in almost 2 years, despite having dental insurance... I just REALLY hate the dentist.
I know I am going to regret it someday soon. Maybe I can use this as a kick in the pants to finally at least try and make an appointment lol
- Cavities can grow pretty fast. The toothbrush doesn't get into the cavity itself so it creates the perfect moist, nutritious home for bacteria to multiply, making the cavity much worse. The logical choice for a person who hates dentists is to go sooner rather than later, because over the same amount of time the person who chooses later will get way more, way more invasive, and way more painful dentistry. Plus tooth pain in the meantime
  
  You should get a electric toothbrush. Its so much better at clearing and preventing plaque, I started flossing regularly too
  
  I had a good streak of going every 6 months for almost a decade. One day I had an appointment in the afternoon, and was on my way to the office when a line of severe thunderstorms rolled through, it was super windy, crazy thunder, and pounding rain.
  The thought of sitting in the chair with tools in my mouth if the power went out was enough to send me into a panic attack. I had to pull over. I calmed myself down, turned around and went home and no-showed the appointment and ignored all their calls... That break in the routine made it REALLY hard to get back into the routine. I'm in the process of making a lot of other positive changes in my life right now, so I just need to be strong and include the thing I don't want to do but I know I NEED to.
- If one breaks and you can't get to a dentist, clove oil is your friend, it numbs and kills bacteria (it was used for dentistry for a long time). You can make it if you really need to, but it's pretty cheap at almost any drug store (it can kill the nerves though so be careful with it).
- I did the same and now after three months of weekly visits my teeth are somewhat ok. Just go for a visit, apparently implants are shit and fixing 6 teeth isn't great either.
  
  Also super expensive for implants

Nicotine has to be at the top.
- Yeah.
  I really fucked up with this one.
  I stopped smoking 2 years ago, after smoking for 20 years. Damage is done really.

Overexerted and fucked my knee up. HARD
- Knee injuries really suck. For me, it was an opportunity to rock a snazzy walking stick though lol. Hope you heal well, if that was recent.
  
  I'm getting there! Just all slow. Snazzy walking stick sounds good, I think I'd have glitter on mine

Being too sedentary. Stay active, people!

I did a weird psychedelic research chemical and gave myself HPPD. Still have symptoms over 6 months later with no drug use. I'll probably suffer from visual disturbances for the rest of my life.
- More info please, and I'm sorry, I need to look up HPPD.
  I think everyone who has a good psychedelic experience goes through some small amount of HPPD. How has your experience differed?
- Which one
- I did shrooms over a decade ago and get it in very low light conditions. Not bad but makes me think there's motion when I can't see well
  
  Mine is also only in low light conditions. I have visual snow, phosphenes, and a fuzzy blind spot when I'm in the dark.

Mag dumped a .45 in an indoor shooting range with no hearing protection on.
- Welcome to the tinnitus club
  
  Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Sugar.
- I sit

Was a smoker for way too long

Smoking. Nothing else I have done caused me even half the trouble smoking did.
And that's coming from a guy that's been beat by a bat, kicked with boots, and generally abused the hell out of his body.

Work and tobacco. Both have been said but it's worth repeating. Awful stuff, steer clear of them. In fact I still do it to my body, quit tobacco for three years but went back a few months ago, not completely unrelated to work-induced stress I would argue. Also getting closer to forty physical work gets more and more punishing, compounding on all the past mistreatment.
- Yeah. God. Work stress & tobacco.
  I so desperately want a way out of my work situation but the only way out is through.
  I'm just so bereft any power with which to keep pushing through.

I didn't get diagnosed with bipolar disorder until later in life. My lumbar spine is riddled with disc ruptures from physically overextending myself to the point of collapse during manic periods.
it isn't so bad on the day to day but i can't sit at bar stools without lumbar support or upright in the bed/on the ground for more than about 5 minutes without pain. No bicycles or lifting anything much.
If i could do it over i would know my human limits!!!

Didn't look after my posture, now my neck is fucked and it causes pain all down my arm and my finger is numb...
- Have you already tried physical therapy? It’s worked wonders for me!
  
  I was referred to a physio who gave me an exercise plan to do and then discharged me...

I used to work 12 hours night shifts. When I had the opportunity to set my own schedule I chained 12 hours night shift PLUS 12 hours day shift so I can have a lot of free time later. So, 24 hours of work, 24 hours without sleep. It was a low intensity IT work in a data center, but still, not good for your body.

Drugs, alcohol, fast food, and - worst of all - slouching. :-(

About two years ago I developed a hiatal hernia that has wreaked absolute hell on my body and my mind. It has been messing with my vagus nerve giving me all kinds of digestional problems. The GI I saw did not take me seriously, told me to change my diet and lose weight. Well gee, thanks for that astute observation, asshole. I guess spending several years giving myself the actual hell of losing weight somehow medically supercedes the feeling of an impending heart attack every single day. To be very clear, I saw a cardiologist who checked me out and said my heart is in very good condition, though I should continue to exercise to strengthen it. This doesn't change the fact that I have experienced an extensive trauma from the entire ordeal.

While I fixed my diet that resulted in severe GERD, and the symptoms are lessened, I still have more pain throughout the week than not a year later. I have a family doctor, I just don't respond to gut drugs even after eating properly and drinking only water or fake milk unsweetened Almond/Coconut like a saint.
Not sure if regret is the right word when I don't consider myself very responsible for beginning my poor habits in the depths of brutal depression spells however. Never really "good" either, so hard to quit once I start something. I eat better purely motivated by the pain becoming constant.
Possible future regret is if I get cancer that's linked to smoking cigarettes or vaping. I don't smoke much, limited to twice a day for the past ten years, but combining some smoke inhalation with near constant THC vaping is probably a pretty bad combo. I don't truly want to quit either of them at the moment, so...yeah.

Stupidly spammed Harden stepbacks at a pick up game 3 years ago and now my right knee isn’t the same. Swells up after just a few runs, and takes a week to recover.

Not listening to my body telling me I’m getting older. That I need to slow down, stretch, find time to repair.
Didn’t listen last year and got a repetitive stress injury surfing.. did several months of physical therapy. Stamina is about 50% what it used to be, and it’s hard to paddle into waves with 50% stamina.

Working in the trades for a short 6 years has fucked my hand grip strength. In the past couple years since leaving the trades, I've noticed how painful it is to work with tools for a long period of time.
I wanted to take up widdling as a creative hobby but after 30 minutes, my hands are aching and stiff for a couple days afterwards.
A lot of the stuff I worked on was metal related and that's not kind to anyones body. I knew a sheet metal worker who would have retired with really bad carpal tunnel and that should have been a huge red flag early on in my working life. I'm glad I got out before any major long lasting pain set in.
- Totally sounds like carpal tunnel syndrome. Repair is super simple and has a really good success rate. Usually just a little moderate sedation and half an hour later it's fixed. It does take a few weeks to recover, but most people I see say it's totally worth it.
  
  It's more in my fingers, but I also have a habit pushing myself too far every time I do something. It's taken me over a year to stop pushing myself too hard when I ride a bike.
  Everything in moderation and I'm pretty bad at moderation.

Poor body mechanics when moving things. Really quick way to fuck up your back.

55 comments