Poor mobility

Internomad

Hi all, first post here. As the title says, I have very poor mobility due to suffering from Osteoarthritis for several years now.

The pain I get is mainly in the left knee and across the small of the back. Although I do have OA in my right knee as well as in my shoulder and just recently started getting pains in my fingers.

My problem is that most of the pain comes in spasms, that last just for a second, but VERY painful. I only have to brush against a wall, or any object and I get this horrific pain across the small of my back, even if I sis it an armchair and stretch my legs out for a while, the same thing happens there.

I have tried all the painkillers, but what can they do when the spasms are so short! Doctor tried me on all the opiates, Tramadol, Codeine and others I have forgot, he even gave me a bottle of morphine, I didn't even try that.

So my biggest problems are walking up the stairs where my left knee often gives way, and also just generally walking. I'm a little overweight and because of Covid, I haven't had a proper walk in over a year.

So I guess I'm looking for advice of any kind to help me deal better with OA.

anneb82

Hello @Internomad

First of all, welcome to the community! I hope that you will find us all here very welcoming and friendly. There tends to always be someone around and we love meeting and chatting to new people.

Thank you for sharing your story with us! I understand that that you have been diagnosed with Osteoarthritis, which is in your lower back, shoulder and your left and right knee. Although you are now beginning to suffer from pains in your fingers as well. You find that you two problem areas that you suffer the most with are you left knee and lower back. You really suffer with spasms, and although you have tried many different forms of painkillers, because the spasms are so short in length they have not been much help. You are looking for some advice of ways in which to cope with your condition.

I have found a few links to information on the main Versus Arthritis website that I think will benefit you but I also think that joining in with other discussions on the community may help you, as we all have our unique ways in dealing with our illness. You may fins that what works for someone else is something you've never thought of before. Its worth having a look around and joining in with what you think may be helpful.

The below link is specifically about managing lower back pain and includes another link where you can sign up to a 12 week yoga exercise programme to help with this area.

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

In your post you mentioned that you had been unable to go for walks during covid and had therefore gained a little weight, which is probably true for a lot of us. The below post is all about exercising with arthritis and includes a section called Lets Move which is also worth looking at.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/exercising-with-arthritis/

I hope that this is of some help to you and that you enjoy being a member of the community!

Take care

Anne (Moderator)

Lilymary

Hi @Internomad , I got those awful zaps of random pain with my hip, with referred pain in my knee joint, down my shin and in the hip itself, sometimes like you, when sitting completely still. The pain meds aren’t really strong enough to knock those out, they’re barely enough to make the pain in the affected joint tolerable. I did find relaxing and breathing through the pain till it passed was the best I could do. If I tensed up, it seemed to make it worse, so I’d force myself to relax and let it flow away.

Use whatever walking aids work for you to take the weight off your knee. You might find it helpful to see a physio to assess you and work out an exercise programme that will help reduce the pain. If there’s a long wait for treatment, you could ask your GP to refer you to a pain clinic to help you manage it better.

You may also find some of the suggestions in this link helpful.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/managing-symptoms/managing-your-pain/