Does osteoarthritis get any better 🤔

Stevie

Hello, new to group I had an accident ten years ago and had to have spinal surgery to no avail.

September last year I started having sore hips and lower back pains were getting worse again so I just took more pain meds to try and combat the pain.

May this year I'd had enough so went to see GP, who sent me for x rays and told me that I have osteoarthritis in both of my hips, lower back and spine. Seen physio and nothing worked so referred to next step possibly injections, I have had these in my back years ago and they didn't work. I've been walking with a stick for years but now I'm really struggling to walk

noddingtonpete

Hello @Stevie and welcome to the Community. We are a friendly and supportive group and I hope that will be your experience as well.

I understand that you have osteoarthritis in your hips and lower back and waiting to see what the next treatment steps are. Whilst you are waiting have a look at the following from our website which might be of interest.

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

and

https://www.versusarthritis.org/news/2021/november/ways-to-help-manage-hip-pain/

Please keep posting now you are here and let us know how you are getting on and I am sure others will connect with you to share their support and experience as well.

With best wishes

Peter (moderator)

jonr

Hi @Stevie and welcome to the Forum.

You've asked if Arthritis gets any better. In general it's a degenerative condition and if it's OsteoArthritis, the common cause is the erosion of Cartilage. As Cartilage has no blood supply, once its gone its gone so there's no way back.

However, you can manage your condition to reduce pain, increase your movement and improve your quality of life. There is only so much GPs can do by prescribing drugs which are often not enough on their own, even for people with mild OA. The rest is upto us.

Fortunately there is a wealth of information about understanding Arthritis on this website, along with tipe for managing it. Most people blend diet, exercise, physio and supplements/alternative remedies and settle on a recipe which works for them after a lot of experimentation.

The ultimate goal is to strengthen weakened joints and areas through exercise and physio to help keep your skeleton stable but to do that requires effective pain management so the 2 go hand in hand.

I hope you find some of the information useful and relevant, do stop by if you've any questions and don't forget - there is a helpline you can call.

Jon

Airwave!

Does it get better? No it doesn’t but you can get scar tissue in the joint in place of the soft tissue which reduces the pain but if it’s worn, it’s worn. It’s you who can make a difference, ask your GP to refer you to the Pain Clinic for a course.

pits a grin, honest!

Stevie

Thank you for your responses,

I'm just in the process of trying heated back brace and a heated hip brace they seem to help me so far.

4hrs of heat from the 10,000 mamp packs before charging