New person from Spain

JamesWestlake

Good afternoon,

My name is James and I am a retired bloke, from the SW of England but now living in a very rural part of Andalucia in southern Spain. For years I lived with a nagging uncomfortable feeling in my upper spine. Still, it was only after a consultation with a Spanish specialist that I was diagnosed with artrosis (Osteo Arthritis) about three years ago. Strangely, getting the diagnosis was a relief as it confirmed there was a real problem and also told me that it wasn't life-shortening serious! However, the condition has worsened and now I cannot do my favourite pastime (landscape photography) as load carrying is impossible.

So, I look forward to learning from people here how to better cope with this condition.

Ellen

Good morning James

Welcome to the Versus Arthritis online community.

We do have a few members who are not located in the UK, but hope your ongoing support from the Drs in Spain is good.

I'm just popping this in here a search I did about people's hobbies which might interest you. There may be a fellow photographer in there who has some tips about how to continue when you have arthritis;

https://community.versusarthritis.org/search?domain=all_content&query=hobbies&scope=site&source=community

I'll leave you now to meet some of our members.

Please do feel free to join in wherever you feel comfortable you are assured of a warm welcome

Best wishes

Ellen.

Vinnymon

I’m quite new here too but the best advice I can give you is to ring the helpline. They are brilliant. And keep using this site-also brilliant.

My arthritis is in the knee so I can’t give you any specific advice. I had to have codeine to get me to the point when I could exercise, which was helpful to me. Heat is usually a comfort.

There are various complementary products but my experience is that many of these are mere snake oil! But others may disagree and if in pain it might be worth giving them a go.

Good luck!

frogmorton

So they call it artrosis do they in Spain. Useful to know if any of us went on holiday there and needed medical help.

Nice to meet you james.

A lot of us have had to alter our hobbies slightly or even totally due to our conditions, but a member here once said something along these lines: when I lost one thing I made sure I started another (@stickywicket can you help it was you I'm sure). Gist of it being there is always something you can do which will give you pleasure.

Oh and have you heard of the disabled photographers society? they might have some tips to enable you to carry on

https://www.the-dps.co.uk/

Take care

Toni

JamesWestlake

https://community.versusarthritis.org/discussion/comment/719637#Comment_719637

Thanks for the link to the DPS Toni, unfortunately membership is only open to UK based people.

As a foreigner here in Spain, being able to talk about complex subjects like health and photography is not as easy as it would be for a native speaker. I manage, but it is not easy. So, I look forward to gleaning information about arthritis and coping techniques from this group.

Vinnymon

Have you tried the ESCAPE pain plan? I’m using the one that’s for knees but there’s one for backs. I’m unfortunately not clever enough to send a link but you could google it.

I totally get the pain of the difficulty in losing favourite hobby. I was very active/ gym, dog walking, theatre etc. When you feel a bit better have a think about how you might be able to adapt or change in some way.

And keep posting - it’s therapy!

Best wishes

frogmorton

Oh that's not good James Probably they have meets here in the UK or something like that.

Perhaps you can just peep on the site anyway and see whether there's any tips you can pick up.

Take care

Toni