medical support

ElaineR

Hi everyone,
My name is Elaine, my husband has chronic arthritis in his spine.He was diagnosed after his MRI scan this year and has osteoarthritis of most joints.The only 2 medical professional help he is getting is from his GP and the Pain clinic.
About 2 years ago he was send through the NHS to a private clinic where he was seen by a Orthopaedic surgeon and a Rheumatologist.
He had seen 2 different surgeon both said the same thing but has been discharged. The Rheumatologist had seen him twice, test where done for RA but nothing showed up. I feel that enough isn't being done to help with his arthritis, I know that the pain clinic has giving him medication to help with the pain but their only treatment him for his chronic pain for his back.
He hadn't been properly diagnosed with the pain in his other joints.
Can anyone help with some advise, he has an appointment with his GP on Tuesday

helpline_team

Dear Elaine,

Thanks for your post to Helplines. I'm sorry to hear that your husband is having a difficult time with is long term pain. It sounds as though you may be feeling rather unsupported in this situation - and we may be able to suggest some self management options which might be of some use.

The reason I mention self management is that with OA it's a condition where there are many steps that will influence people's long term outlook long before medical interventions (e.g. surgery) can be offered. So the self management concerns people learning to do physiotherapy and core muscle strengthening on a daily basis, avoiding certain tasks (e.g. heavy lifting and hard manual work) and watching their diet to avoid becoming overweight.

Using pain medication alone, can often be associated with side effects and so the broader approach of self management can often be more holistic.

If you or your husband would like a chat about things, you'd be very welcome to ring our free phone.

Here are links about self management and general information.
http://www.arthritiscare.org.uk/PublicationsandResources/Selfmanagement

http://www.arthritiscare.org.uk/PublicationsandResources/Listedbytype/Booklets
do email us your details if you'd like an information pack

Kind regards

Guy