Knee OA from agony to almost no pain

Doddy

In 2023 I was planning to retire in May but my knee OA got so bad (struggled to walk 300M to the shop) that I decided to delay retirement as I had BUPA and thought I may need a new knee. I was told that I didn't but may benefit from a knee arthroscopy to clean it up. After research I decided most definitely not to go ahead with this and tried a few things myself. Suffice to say, I am now retired, almost pain free and regularly walk for several miles without significant pain so thought I would share my journey. I am most definitely not saying that this will necessarily help you as we all know that OA affects people very differently but, for me, it feels like a bit of a miracle. Here's what I did:

1. Started using a knee support that has the plastic side supports and the knee cap gel (mine is Bauerfeind but I don't believe this is important)
2. Started wearing a merino wool knee support at night. This was a cheap and nasty one, not for support but to keep it warm
3. Used a cushion between my knees whilst sleeping
4. Took Naproxen at night when it was really painful. This worked a treat for me - long time to kick in but relief lasted well into the next day
5. Started going to the Gym - leg curls, squats (not too deep) and a contraption that holds the feet and allows a squat to be done leaning back instead of having to go forward
6. Started doing some simple Yoga that I saw on Youtube. The video said that these particular exercises help with knee OA, not sure if they helped but definitely did no harm and made me feel better generally
7. Getting out walking but not running (initially with the knee support on but not any more)
8. Made sure that any time I'm sitting, I don't keep my leg too bent
9. Continued doing my sports passions and weirdly, these all made my knees better instead of what I was expecting. Always had the knee supports and Naproxen ready but rarely needed them. The biggest surprises were that 1. Trying to learn Wingfoiling, I spent lots of time on my knees which was sore at the time but made my knees feel better on subsequent days; 2. Skiing that I've heard a hundred people say they packed in because of 'bad knees' actually made my knee feel better for the whole week and for some time afterwards

I guess this all just reinforces the message from the Physios - build up the muscles but avoid the pounding. In my case I managed to relieve the pain before I felt I could do this.

Poppyjane

Hello @Doddy welcome to the online community

Thank you so much for sharing your very positive personal experience with us. It will be very useful for members to read and think about in the light of their own journeys with arthritis.

You wisely say that we are all different and that goes not just for our bodies but our minds and emotions too. A positive, patient approach can yield great results for some of us and can lead to a less painful outcome.

If we could bottle it, wouldn't that be great.!

Thank you for joining us today we hope to see you again soon.

Take care
Poppyjane

Messi

I totally agree with you, fortunately for me exercise works really well, I think sadly for some people it might not be too easy.