Accidents at a young age

Airwave!

How many of us have had bad accidents in younger life and ended up sitting on the sofa with arther?

I was 21 and awoke in casualty after a motorbike accident, sat next to me was a woman calling herself my wife, she's still here, don't know what her name is........! Big bang on the head, leg and arm in plaster and generally feeling horrid all over, three ops and six months timeout.

I landed on top of another car in the mess. Can't remember a thing. This was the last in a number of accidents on bikes, my riding skills did improve, eventually.
8) Its a grin, honest!

p.s. Sounds like a good subject for a Masters thesis?

dreamdaisy

No, no accidents, just the one of birth. Crappy immune system from the word go. :evil I blame the parents. DD

Airwave!

Morning DD, I suppose I should have been a bit tidier with my writing, and said OA, unless RA affects accident sufferers later on? I was slurring my words etc etc for a while afterwards. I never did feel the same after that bang on the head, 35 years on 'er indoors' says I'm worse now....

8) Its a grin, honest!

dreamdaisy

Ah, I see. I apologise for mis-understanding. I think there is a common thread amongst OAers of it arriving at some point after accidents etc, but I have no idea why that should be. I know that OA is often termed the 'wear and tear' arthritis, but I guess that is the only way that docs can explain it - unlike us auto-immune bods you don't really have an explanation, do you, which must be very frustrating. I'd swap tho, any day of the week. DD

Airwave!

No DD, you don't wanna do things like that, a pain is a pain is a pain is a pain...... You may want to get away from your pain but pain is still pain.
8) Its a grin, honest!

dreamdaisy

I don't want to get away from it, what would be the point? It's been a feature now for 14 years and that isn't going to change. I guess the thing with OA is (if you have the right sort) you could get a lovely new knee or hip or summat. That must be wonderful, to be fixed, even if only briefly. Knowing that won't ever be an option, being fixed/mended/repaired whatever, well, that ain't so hot. Onwards and downwards! DD

speedalong

Airwave,
I think OA often is the result of bone injury earlier on in life. Another cause is being born with a bone defect - I was born with dislocated hips and this was the cause of my OA and several other folks on the forum.

Speedy

skezier

Hi Airwave,

nice to see you by the way.

I have to say i haven't got oa in any joint i haven't injured or broken the bones near.... shame i got so knocked about It must weaken the joint somehow though some bones are weak from congenital things as well.... shame i got that as well oh the ones not riddled with oa got pa (there is also a war between the two here and there ) so who knows, maybe i would have fared better in a different bone que? Cris x

Airwave!

Well, I suppose that just about answers my question. If we have a tendancy towards a problem then the trauma will make it more likely to happen.

Its a grin, honest!

dorcas

Hi airwave

interesting thread!

I have PA and was told by my rheummy that although it's an autoimmune disease it's 'appearance' can be triggered by trauma or stress.

Pity though, that living a quiet life doesn't send it back whence it came.

Iris xxx

mp1952

Interesting thread Airwave..

Marion

alarkra

delboy wrote:

I've always considered that an accident on a motorbike where a stupid pensioner hit me head on caused the onset of my Ra however, when querying this with the experts I was always told that trauma wasn't a cause of RA.

According to the Rheumatology Journal study 21% of people with RA suffered trauma before being diagnosed.

Objective. To investigate whether physical trauma may precipitate the onset of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Method. In a case–control study comparing RA out‐patients with controls attending non‐rheumatology out‐patient clinics, 262 patients and 262 age‐ and sex‐matched controls completed a postal questionnaire or were interviewed about any physical trauma in the 6 months before the onset of their symptoms.

Results. Fifty‐five (21%) of the RA patients reported significant physical trauma in the 6 months before the onset of their disease, compared with only 17 (6.5%) of the controls (P<0.00001). A preceding history of physical trauma was significantly more common in RA patients who were seronegative for rheumatoid factor (P=0.03), but was not significantly associated with sex (P=0.78), age (P=0.64), a family history of RA (P=0.07) or type of occupation, defined as manual or sedentary (P=0.6).

Conclusion. Physical trauma in the preceding 6 months is significantly associated with the onset of RA.

ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING!! I had a car accident which gave me a back injury and caused me so much emotional stress (it was a high-speed crash on the motorway which was not my fault... it has left me hating every Audi driver now!)... and it was 9 months before I got the early signs of RA (took over a year to get diagnosed for RA after these first niggles). Makes me wonder if this was the trigger... my sister has a thyroid problem and my consultant said that this could be an autoimmune connection through genetics so I got the RA and she got the under-active thyroid... but what Delboy has said does make me wonder... I know we'll never know for sure, but it certainly makes interesting reading! xx

tjt6768

when I think back, I broke both legs a couple of times as a kid, I was a bit clumsy and care free... Also my arms a couple of times too, lol. Wonder if that was the cause of the OA in my knees, I started with osteochondritis first though, at about 13/14yrs of age, and I think that can cause old arthur to make an appearence too..

Interesting one Airwave...

Airwave!

Yes, the more comments I get on this subject the more I wonder if our susceptibility to arther is provoked by trauma in our lives. I had given up counting the number of times I had broken bones, a lot of them fairly minor, ribs/fingers etc etc.

If all those incidents were to count up as a shock loading to my joints, adding to all the sports injuries I have suffered over the years, I have never done anything by halves, always full on, its no wonder my joints are complaining.

Its a pity that doctors and consultants aren't a bit more questioning when they say they haven't got a reason for our problems let alone a diagnosis.

8) Its a grin, honest!

caroldeeg

I had an accident in a supermarket about 25 years ago. I injured my left knee & right shoulder as I had slipped on dirt on the floor, I also have parents who both had OA badly, I have just turned 60 and have already had a knee replacement and am about to have my shoulder replaced,
If I hadn't had that accident I believe I would still have got OA but I wouldn't be taking 2 kinds of anti-inflammatories & tramadol etc daily.
So yes previous injuries do cause OA. I'm living proof, I wish I wasn't but I try to keep cheerful as life is to short to moan all the time, :sad:

lindalegs

I've never broken anything ......well a bit of a lie I broke a glass the other week :roll: but then I have RA not OA.

sunnyhours

yeah interesting indeed! It's not unlike my thread on Accutane, as I think that's what caused my arthritis/back problems...
Although I did break my clavicle, right ankle, left pinkie amongst others lol

BoleynBlue

I dont know if it counts, but I fell down the stairs, from top to bottom when I was 21, my back has never been the same since and now I am 37 the pain has gradually through the years got worse and spread to hips and a few weeks back my ankle for the first time too.

dreamdaisy

Morning BoleynBlue, I am no expert but I reckon it counts! Falling downstairs is bound to be a huge shock to the body, so yes, perhaps that was the trigger for you. DD

jacqmun

Do you not think tho' that we find reasons/excuses for our aches and pains where as if we went to the doctors sooner, a diagnosis could be made sooner.
I worked in the community and when driving around to various clients would rest my elbow on the car door, at the end of the day my elbow was soooo painful. I put it down to the fact I was resting it on a solid surface.
I was decorating and my right knee became swollen and painful.....using a step ladder was blamed along with having put on a few pounds :sad:
I did car valeting, painful toes was put down to standing on tippy toe to reach the top of the cars. I did seek medical advice eventually on this one...x rayed....diagnosed with gout!!!!...... This 'self diagnosis' went on for years.
My swollen right foot was put down to a vein strip op for over a year!! Then the overwhelming fatigue kicked in.....oh my God it was like I was having a daily pre med :shock: Doc swiftly ordered xrays and blood tests.....RA was confirmed.
So here I am amongst you fellow sufferers
Jacqui x

lindalegs

jacqmun wrote:

Do you not think tho' that we find reasons/excuses for our aches and pains ... This 'self diagnosis' went on for years......RA was confirmed. So here I am amongst you fellow sufferers
Jacqui x

You are so right Jacqui ................and now you have your RA diagnosed you'll blame your bad/good days on the weather like most people do .....though I tend to blame anything .................and especially the hubby :shock:

Colin1

I have PA / RA / Fibro
They say Psoriasis can be caused by shock

In my younger days i was shot
been in a helicopter crash
got run over on the East Lanc’s road on my bike
Had a car crash and had to be cut from the wreck
been to hell and back

I earned my ailments and their not getting them back
However I have always thought it was the fall that started all my problems. I just wouldn’t know what to do if I had no pain. As for
Trauma I could not cope with another operation, there’s just not much left of me to take out.
But hey this Rituximab is the best thing I’ve had for years and I’m getting about more often and much less pain I never mentioned the lost at see with just me snorkel and flippers but that’s another story

jacqmun

Colin1 wrote:

I have PA / RA / Fibro
They say Psoriasis can be caused by shock

In my younger days i was shot
been in a helicopter crash
got run over on the East Lanc’s road on my bike
Had a car crash and had to be cut from the wreck
been to hell and back

I earned my ailments and their not getting them back
However I have always thought it was the fall that started all my problems. I just wouldn’t know what to do if I had no pain. As for
Trauma I could not cope with another operation, there’s just not much left of me to take out.
But hey this Rituximab is the best thing I’ve had for years and I’m getting about more often and much less pain I never mentioned the lost at see with just me snorkel and flippers but that’s another story

Would love to hear the lost at sea scenario!!! :eek:
Jacqui

Airwave!

True, a lot of what we say is anecdotal evidence and may well be disproved. But then a lot of what doctors and consultants say and diagnose is wrong and is later proved to be so, so where do we stand?

I was trying to look at this dispassionately, I was warned that I may get arther as a companion but that was in hosp and I was just going off for a op, so a bit groggy, this all came back to me reading something else and hence my new topic.

Still, interesting. Time for a G&T?

8) Its a grin, honest!

dreamdaisy

Oh you lovely man, yes please! DD

Colin1

I tink as you say at times diagnosis can be far off. It seems that many of the symptoms we suffer can all be caused by other problems. I do believe its quicker today with the new blood tests. Perhaps a shock can trigger it i just dont know. However lets be honest RA and Fibro can still be a little in the dark ages ( My Thoughts Only ) All depends on Your GP and Rheumy seems i drew the short straw in that department.
Colin