Leg pain - my Mum

Julietdelta

Hi all, I am wondering if you have had experience of the same issues as my Mum. She has bad legs - pain in the knees, stabbing pains in the feet, brown patches on her lower legs, tight skin and varicose veins. I do believe she has arthritis in her knees but whether that is all she has I do not know. She will be 80 this year and has been invited to Africa to see some of her family and she has concerns about going which is understandable. We spent a lovely Christmas together and she hardly complained at all but when we were out I could see she was in pain. Mum lives in the west coast of Scotland in a small village and looks after my brother who is disabled. Medical facilities are not as good as you would find in a major city. She says that she has pushed the doctor to get a resolution but seems to get a prescription for pain and nothing else. Surely there must be a way to see a specialist? I am fortunate that I have some savings and would gladly look at going private. All I want is someone who is specialised to spend some quality time with her to try and diagnose exactly what the issue (s) are. Thanks.

stickywicket

Hello Julietdelta and welcome to the forum. Your Mum sounds to be a very resourceful lady who copes well with the vicissitudes of age and even cares for her disabled son.

We are not doctors on here and have no medical qualifications. The knee pain does sound like osteoarthritis. The pain in her feet might be. The rest? Who knows? Only a doctor can say with any certainty.

Unfortunately, with OA there is not much the docs can do, other than prescribe pain relief, until a replacement joint becomes necessary. Physio helps and there are various things that might help with pain but that's about it. There are no specialists who deal with OA other than the orthopaedic surgeons. Rheumatologists deal with auto-immune forms of arthritis.

If your Mum is considering going to Africa there will be other things to deal with anyway eg vaccines so it might be an opportunity for you, or another family member, to go to the docs with her and ask a few questions.

If she does decide to go, please look into airport assistance for her (The airline will arrange it). The travel insurance unfortunately goes up once one reaches 70.

ouchpotato

Hi JulietDelta. As stickywicket says it does sound like OA, and if so pain relief really is the only thing they can do (barring a knee replacement). I have it in both knees, hands, shoulders and spine (confirmed) and also, I suspect, in many other places, including the feet, but have been given no treatment for that except the pain dullers (not many on here call them pain killers as they do not kill the pain, only dull it slightly). I am waiting to have another MRI to see if I also have an inflammatory arthritis and this will be treated differently, but OA, unfortunately, is something we have to find our own ways of dealing with. Heat helps, as does a heat rub (for some). I'm sorry your mum is suffering with this, it's horrible but you will get lots of advice and support on here for her.

x

Julietdelta

Thanks very much to both of you for replying so soon. It's great to have people to discuss this with.