Hi does anyone have bad pain in their thighs due to OA
I have Osteoarthritis, recently my mobility has deteriorated. I have severe pain in my legs rising mainly from my knees up the front of my thighs to my hips and lower back. My OA is in my knees and lower back but I haven’t experienced pain and loss of mobility until this latter few weeks. Is this normal and what’s the best treatment.
Thankyou for reading this and for any reply’s, best wishes all. Trisha1
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Hi and welcome,
It's great to meet you, you have come to the right place for information and conversation with others like you living one or more forms of arthritis
There are many here more than happy to share their experience as you share yours.
This link is for general information regarding any type of arthritis
About arthritis
https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis
Find out more about the different conditions, treatments and how to manage your symptoms.
if you have a specific question please post in the Living with Arthritis discussion or for general chat in the Chit Chat discussion. Just join in wherever you feel comfortable
Al
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Hi, one thing I'm learning is that the symptoms, even of OA in specific joints, are slightly different for everyone. Maybe it depends on where exactly in the joint you're down to bone on bone?
I've recently had OA diagnosed in my hips, but I suspect it's lurking in several other joints too. I get shooting pains down my leg, initially down the outside of my thigh, but more recently I get stabbing pains in my knees and across my shin like someone has just hit me with a stick, and awful burning pain in my lower shin if I overuse my hip joint (which is the worst one) as well as general all round pain in my hip joint. Although to be honest, sometimes they start up just for fun when I'm sitting completely still or lying in bed. It's like I've got mad gremlins having a party in my leg. I swear at them. Sometimes it helps.
Mine deteriorated very rapidly over the course of a month from a bit of discomfort and an occasional limp with no pain to "oh my goodness give me drugs, NOW" and "would you like a new hip madam?" I manage it with cocodamol and anti inflammatories (naproxen) , but I never expect to be pain free, and take as few as I can get away with - ie on a good day I will take less, to minimise the side effects.
Exercise doesn't work for me, but my physio would say otherwise. It's important to try to keep the joints mobile by gentle stretching exercises and to strengthen them muscles around the joint to support it better. If you don't have a physio, there are some good exercises on this site recommended for the many specific versions of OA. But for me, it sets off the pain like crazy, and I've pretty much had to stop. But I reckon I get a good workout gardening and through my part time work, which gets quite physical at times, even if there is a lot of grunting and wincing involved.
Distraction is also great (see "gardening") , as you don't notice the pain so much if you're doing something you're engrossed in.
Pacing is also important, ie allowing your body to recover from the inflammation in your joint by giving it s rest. This takes practice, and I still overdo it from time to time and pay for it for days after, but it really is worth it - I'm in far less pain now than I was about 6 weeks ago. This isn't just having a sit down after a lot of activity, it's reducing your activity, smoothing it out over longer periods, and with Consistent Rest periods every day. So not a major blast at the gardening, just a little bit each day. And even if that little bit of gardening is making you a lot worse, leave it for a while until your joints have settled down a bit more. (I wish I took my own advice, as I really pay for it when I don't!)
I hope this helps. Arthritis really is pants.
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Special thanks to Lillymary for the brilliant reply, so appreciated, also Thankyou for allowing me in to the group to all concerned. Xx
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Hi @Trisha
Have you had any Xrays I wonder? Could it be your hips playing up here now? I have noticed over the years many GPs fobbing people off with 'it's your Arthritis' when actually it's possible something could be done to help if it was investigated properly.
Worth asking for a physio referral in my opinion too or the number to self refer if that's what happens in your area. There are also pain clinics which many of us on here have found really helpful again Gp needs to refer you.
Do let us know how you get on
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I get sciatica in both legs which is linked to my spinal issues and manifests itself a bit like "restless legs" syndrome. On occasion I get pain down the front of my thighs there is no specific treatment that I know about, what I do is bang my feet on the floor as hard as I can bear; I can't honestly say that it does anything positive it's just something that I do. Another thing I get sometimes is like an electric shock which starts at the top of my thighs and shoots down to my feet causing my leg to jerk. Fun ain't it!
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Thankyou all so much for taking the time to reply to me. Best wishes all. Xx
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