need advice as i have arthritis in my knees

regular

i recently underwent an operation on my right knee(anthroscopy)and i also had a repair to a tear to my cartlidge.before the op i was aware i had slight arthritis in both knees and i have been taking naproxen 500mg & lanzrapole on & off for about 18 months.
the op appears to have been a success but i have paid a price as the pain in my left knee has been at times painful.it has been stiff & causing me to walk with a limp.i went back to work on Monday having been off work for 5 weeks and at times it was testing as i work on the shop floor in a warehouse and it was cold there aswell.i saw my GP today & he diagnosed that the stiffness was related to my arthritis and i was offered 2 choices-physio(which i took up) or a steroid injection.since this evening the stiffness has subsided considerably as i decided to wear long johns as my employer gives these to us for the cold winter conditions.
i just would like some general advice on other ways i can control the arthritis as i feel i do not know what to do for the best :? many thanks

helpline_team

Hi regular

Many thanks for your forum posting. I am glad that your operation seems to be successful. You say you are now experiencing pain in your left knee.

You go on to ask the ways in which you can control the arthritis. I am making an assumption that you have Osteoarthritis, if this is not the case please let us know so that the information we are giving is appropriate.

Osteoarthritis is largely self managed, firstly your pain relief medication would come from your GP. The remainder is managed by diet and exercise, its good to hear that you took up the offer of physiotherapy.

Being of a good weight in relation to your height is important, as your knees are one of your weight bearing joints.
When we talk of diet we often think of it in terms of a Mediterranean type diet i.e. lots of fruit and vegetables and oily fish. The link below will take you to Arthritis Care publications, here you will find information on healthy eating, exercise and coping with pain which talks of the different ways of managing pain:

You mention your work and I wonder if you would find our ‘Working with arthritis’ booklet of use. It talks about your rights and managing at work, once again you will find this within the link below to our publications and resources.

http://www.arthritiscare.org.uk/PublicationsandResources

When we talk about exercise we would be looking at low impact exercise, walking, swimming and cycling and again you will find information on exercise within the above link.

The following link is to Arthritis Research UK information ‘Osteoarthritis of the knee’ that may be of interest:
http://www.arthritisresearchuk.org/arthritis-information/conditions/osteoarthritis-of-the-knee.aspx

I do hope this is of some help to you, if you would like to talk anything through please give us a call on our Helplines 0808 800 4050 (Monday-Friday 10am-4pm) here we can talk informally and in confidence. If you would like to email please do so on helplines@arthritiscare.org.uk

Best wishes
Lynda