Arthritis in both knees

[Deleted User]

Hi kylall

Welcome to the versus arthritis forum.
Sorry to read you are having problems with your knees.

Below is the address for the versus arthritis website with our information on knee pain:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/knee-pain/

Hope to see you again on the forum.

TTFN Amanda-Jane

dreamdaisy

Hi, I have both psoriatic and osteoarthritis in my knees and haven't ridden anything for years because they do not bend enough. I wonder what riding you are alluding to, only you know the context of your question: I suspect you mean a horse but a part of me really hopes it's an ostrich or a camel - but in Seattle? Probably not.

I used to walk for pleasure, cycle, play tennis, dance but as the arthritis worsened all that had to stop because I could not physically manage. Arthritis forces change, especially in behaviour. I presume you take some pain relief an hour or so before you mount your horse/ostrich/ motorbike/surf board/bicycle?
DD

crinkly1

Hello.

If it's OA you have and horse riding to which you refer then I'd say continue for as long as you can do safely and without it making life more difficult.

I had knee OA from my mid 40s and remained an avid and regular (3-4 times weekly) horse-rider up to being 65. I had my own horse and also sometimes rode with an RDA Group.
I used an increasingly high mounting block but had no great problems when 'on board' as riding is low on the weight-bearing and knee-twisting scales.

It all ended when I became unable physically to continue with mucking-out and general horse care - not because of the actual riding and more due to the OA in my spine than that in my knees. Unfortunately I couldn't afford to keep a horse at full livery and RDA sessions alone didn't really meet my needs at the time. Instead I became a Dressage Judge so kept in close touch with the horse world for another five years.

If you enjoy it and have the right facilities and support be guided by your knowledge of your own body. Don't risk regretting that you stopped too early but equally don't delay until you do more damage. Only you can decide what is right for yourself and, importantly, for any other people involved in helping you.

BevMac

Hi, I had a knee replacement 6 1/2 years ago at 42, still have issues with that knee and also have severe OA in my left knee (had acl and meniscal tear in there also 4 yes ago, surgery helped). I now have OA in my wrists,hips, ankles and feet but on a lesser scale. I ride 3 times a week ( I also cycle 3 times a week 50-100 miles on average). I find the horse riding more painful than the cycling so have had to quit the jumping and remain on the ground whilst riding these days.. Some days are most definitely better than others and if my pain is off the chart, I just muck out, sort the yard, groom the horses and skip riding till next day, fortunately my boys are ok to go unridden for up to a week without turning crazy.....good job! I take 2 Tramadol 2-3 times a day to manage the pain and also have liquid morphine for when it gets too much. I then have Gabapentin at night to help and I can get a decent 4 hours with this. Amatryptilline worked better but it piled the weight on, so I stopped them. I've always been very active and although I've had to slow down and moderate what I do, I'm a firm believer in 'use it or lose it's, as you know, us horsey girls are a tough bunch. Hope you can keep riding for as long as possible 👍

[Deleted User]

Hi BevMac,

Welcome to the forum, I’m very glad you are coping so well with osteoarthritis in a number of joints.

Hope you continue to enjoy it for a long while to come

Take care
Yvonne x

BevMac

Hi Yvonne
Thanks for the warm welcome
👍👍

stickywicket

I hope you can keep on riding too though I feel exhausted just reading your post I have RA and OA and did RDA for several years until my knee revision surgeon decided enough was enough. Yiou're certainly getting plenty of exercise and I hope you can keep it up. I don't know how you manage to stay awake to do it on all those meds but I guess we're all different. Carry on riding! (I don't think they made that film )