diclofenac

I was still experiencing some pain in my hands (mostly my right hand) after that fall 2 months ago. This morning, I walked to my local medical clinic for an appointment. The doctor ordered an x-ray of my right hand. She didn't see evidence of any bone fracture, but she's sending the image off to a specialist to make sure.

Meanwhile, she did see some arthritis in that hand. Great, it can join my spine in the fun. She offered me something that is non-prescription, called Voltaren. I'd never heard of it before. I had to go to the pharmacy counter to ask for it, then they gave me Diclofenac Sodium (1%) topical gel. I'm supposed to apply it twice a day to my wrist and hand. We'll give it some time to see if these extra pains (which feel different to me than the arthritis pains I sometimes feel in my hands) will go away on their own by removing any lingering inflammation. I'll stop my low dose aspirin, since this product specifically notes that it can cause stomach bleeding if you're taking other anticoagulant drugs.

Arthritis cream. I'm ready for my AARP membership, at long last.

(Aside: While I was at the grocery store getting the cream and weekly food supplies, I signed a petition to get Cornel West on the ballot. I'm unlikely to vote for him, but as I said to one of the people working those petitions, "It's good to have choices." I'm not sure what some people complain about these petitions. This MSN article notes that West and Kennedy are both having problems with these petitions, but Kennedy has already qualified to appear on the presidential ballot here in Minnesota.)