Hi from the UK

Kizzy_P

Hi there,

I am new here. I have been suffering with arthritis for over 10 years. Firstly in my hips following pelvic damage in my early twenties and then both my hands (fingers mainly) and also my right knee for a couple of years. I get a lot of pain from it in all areas. I have mobility problems and my hands are pretty useless, especially my right one. I had recent x-rays on my hands in October 2024 as I knew I had arthritis in them but had been fobbed off for years as being too young. My fingers have loads of nodules and I have no cartilage in the first and second joints on all my fingers on both hands. It has been determined as moderate. But the pain is often unbearable. I have been on morphine for 10 years so this pain is despite being on 20mg slow release over 24 hours. I am seeing and occupational therapist for my hands. She has given me gloves and made me custom splints to support the hands and wrists. They do help to be fair but I still get terrible flare ups in the fingers on my right hand mainly.
I have fibromyalgia so a lot of the diagnosis took longer as that was blamed for everything wrong with me. In the end it was a muskuloskeletal physio who saw me at the GP surgery who took things seriously and got me answers.
I saw this community on Instagram. I am really happy to be here.

Thank you

olivia_b

Hello @Kizzy_P lovely to meet you and welcome you to the online community! I hope you find it a welcoming and useful place!

I am sorry to hear that you are struggling with your arthritis at the moment, but I am glad to hear that you are happy to be a part of the community.

Please keep us updated with any new changes if you wish, we love to hear from our members.

Take care! Olivia x

Arthuritis

@Kizzy_P Welcome. It’s a pleasure to meet you although it would have been better if you had no need for us. It seems life has dealt us a raw deal, but it’s a very supportive community here and full of ideas on how to help. Or just let off steam!

Here is an inspiring video on how fast tech is evolving. I hope that an innovative answer might be developed for you too. I agree it’s frustrating to find that docs in real life are not the genius Dr House was in diagnosing and curing.

Nor do they have the discovery spirit of Alexander Fleming who discovered penicillin or Dr Jenner who invented vaccination or Dr Barry Marshall who won a Nobel Prize for curing what his peers and the entire medical industry claimed was incurable chronic pain that must be suffered.

You need to find a hand plastic surgeon I think, who might best advise on this, but also before that what caused your cartilage loss, RA or Osteo and the extent of the damage. You are young so it’s not fair that you get fobbed off.

Some notes to quiz your doc for a referral, the type & extent of damage to each joint will determine what option might be best for you:

• Chondrocyte Transplantation: A small sample of cartilage is harvested, grown in a lab, and then implanted back into the damaged area. 
• Mosaicplasty: Small cartilage cylinders are taken from a non-weight-bearing area of the joint and transplanted to the damaged area. 
• Allograft: Donor cartilage tissue is used to reconstruct large cartilage defects. 
• Autologous Cartilage Transplantation:Cartilage harvested from the patient's own body is used to repair the damage. 
• When Surgery is Considered:Surgery for cartilage restoration is typically considered when conservative treatments like pain management, physical therapy, and injections haven't provided adequate relief. 
• Goal of Cartilage Restoration:The goal of these procedures is to restore the smooth surface of the joint, reduce pain, and improve joint function. It won’t restore to what it was before, but anything is better than unusable hands and continuous opioids.
• Finger Joint Specifics:For finger joints, surgical options include, joint replacement (replacing the joint with an artificial implant), and tendon transfers (using a healthy tendon to restore hand function). 

Important Considerations: 

• Limited Regeneration:While these procedures can help restore cartilage, they don't always result in a complete return to the original, healthy state. 
• Recovery:Recovery from cartilage restoration surgery can involve a period of crutch use or immobilization, as well as physical therapy. 

Sadly in our system the unwell victim has to fight the system to self advocate run by clinicians who not being sufferers, have no idea what you are going through. We need state funded patient champions and advocates to fight for them, just as everyone has a right to legal representation, it should be the same here, as it’s an adversarial system, with vast sums being spent on enriching pharma with subscriptions to chronic conditions to alleviate but not cure.

@Trish9556 … We need a new mylar balloon politician common sense injector! Why does the house of commons have no common sense?!

https://youtu.be/UgC7la_3IIA

Trish9556

@Arthuritis

"Sadly in our system the unwell victim has to fight the system to self advocate run by clinicians who not being sufferers, have no idea what you are going through. We need state funded patient champions and advocates to fight for them, just as everyone has a right to legal representation, it should be the same here, as it’s an adversarial system, with vast sums being spent on enriching pharma with subscriptions to chronic conditions to alleviate but not cure.

@Trish9556 … We need a new mylar balloon politician common sense injector! Why does the house of commons have no common sense?!"

The idiots running that house have not an inch of common sense between them and have never lived a real life with no business sense. That's all I'm saying on the subject, to say what I would really like to say about them and idiot GP's may see me banned!

Trish

Arthuritis

@Trish9556 😂Hilarious!

Trish9556

Thank you @Arthuritis, you're too kind :)

Trish

tanjdsign1996

Thank you Kizzy for showing strength and determination to get thru your arthritis issues. It gives me inspiration not to give up and to find a way thru. I have had OA for 3 years which has made me go out less to walk. This has resulted in me having balance issues. Anyway depression occasionally sets in wanting me to give up. However your story is inspirational. ... and that was a great video. Thanks.