OA in knees.

Simon

Hi,recently diagnosed with OA in my knees. The left one is worst,I managing OK but stairs can be very awkward and the pain varies.

Anna

Hi @Simon and welcome to the online community,

Osteoarthritis of the knee can be a real pain ( in more ways than one!) so it’s good to hear that you’re managing ok with it. Climbing stairs and coming back down again can be a real challenge sometimes. The link below gives you some more information about knee pain including suitable medication. It also suggests some exercises at the end of the page to help combat knee pain - it seems counter-intuitive but they really do help:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/osteoarthritis-of-the-knee/

All the best, do let us know how you’re getting on,

Anna : )

Froglet

I have OA of the knees, but thankfully had a new left knee fitted March 17th, took me a while to get used to it, but will definitely exercise as this helps them both. I have purchased an exercise video too to help me exercise, can't do them all but little is better than none.. I run my own Cattery at home and this too helps, of course closed now due to C19. I retired from NHS before opening my Cattery.. I hope to meet others in similar position when of course we can come out of Lockdown

Trekker2831

I was diagnosed with OA in my knees 9 years ago. It was as you say difficult to manage stairs, especially coming down, which was worse than going up. My salvation was exercise - started with some exercises recommended by my GP, but soon found that they actually weren't enough. I returned to cycling, which has helped enormously. The constant motion of the knee lubricates the joint, it's no-impact, and strengthens the leg muscles around the knee too, which helps to support the knee joint. It's even better since I started to clip into the pedals, so I'm exercising hamstrings/glutes as well as quads.

Now, my knees feel better than they ever have done since I was diagnosed, and stairs are not the issue they were then. Sometimes I get mild pain just when using the stairs, and stairs are more difficult first thing in the morning when my joints are still stiff, but overall, I don't need painkillers for my knees know.