What sort of pain management are out there

chriswood75

I have used any sites like this, so here goes.

I”m 55 always had a hard joys like farming and 21 years forestry. About ten years ago started having knee troubles, did not take them to seriously. Jumping forward and several operations on both knees, I am now left with bone one arthritis.

My surgeon wants to do a double knee replacement but this will mean giving up work do to the amount of bending and kneeling that the job involves.

I”m on 25mg butranes patches a week naproxen 4 times a day and twice daily Voltarol 2.32% gel.

What sort of other things are there that could help.

Regards, Chris

Anna

Hi @chriswood75 and welcome to the online community. Good to see that you've taken the plunge and posted for the first time - I'm sure you won't regret it!

You've had arthritis in your knees for about ten years and your surgeon is now recommending a double knee replacement but you're wondering if there are any other ways to manage the pain. I'm sure there are members on the forum who have been through similar experiences and will share the way they have dealt with this issue. Meanwhile, you might find the following Versus Arthritis link useful - it gives you some details of what the surgery involves and also outlines alternatives to surgery.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/treatments/surgery/knee-replacement-surgery/

All the best, and do let us know how you're getting on.

Anna

Airwave!

Hi Chris, Well, the knees aren’t going to get better, the pain will most likely get worse and no amount of painkillers will mask that. Your surgeon has offered you an option, they don’t give out suggestions like that if there were other viable alternatives.

Life has to change for all of us, acceptance of the facts may help you, it can be a constantly changing aim, your mind can fool you into thinking you can cope with pain or you can walk that extra mile, you will come back down to earth with a bump. You could do more with two new knees than you could with two duff ones!

A friend has had two new hips and he was skiing off piste within six weeks of the first op. Life will change but this doesn’t mean that everything will change or that it will be you that has all the changes. Do you want a lifetime of painkillers?

its a grin, honest!

dreamdaisy

I am bone-one-bone through both knees, which has led to both hips and both ankles going the same way. I was refused new knees when I was 52 due to youth which is why the ankles and hips have gone for a burton. This is all due to osteoarthritis, a disease which has no cure but, if it is the only kind one has (and it is in the right joints) replacements can change one's life, returning it to nearly what it used to be before the blasted stuff began. As for pain management there is no easy answer as nothing adequately deals with it, I take the minimum amount of my prescribed stuff which dulls enough ofnthe sharper edges to let me get on with clenched teeth and also leaves room to maneouvre when things are aggravated by the weather or my being stupid in doing too much. I keep my mind distracted so it is not focusing on the pain.

Arthritis of any kind changes how we have to live our lives. It affects every aspect of life be it work, family or socialising and is so common people fail to understand the impact. DD