Osteoarthritis in knee

Hello, it's lovely to meet you but I am so sorry you have had to find us. OA is the most common form of arthritis in the UK (cold comfort I know) and it is true that there is very little on the treatment front for it apart from pain relief, possibly anti-inflammatories and exercise. It is part-and-parcel of the aging process for some, for others it starts when they are in their teens and twenties. I have OA in both knees and ankles (thanks to the joint damage caused by my other auto-immune-based arthritis) and I empathise with the pain on walking, doing exercise etc: it hurts but is necessary to keep the muscles surrounding the joint nice and strong so they better support the joint. Have you considered using a stick? They can make the world of difference but ensure you hold it on the opposite side to the affected joint. This will also help you to walk in a better style so that you are not throwing other joints out of kilter. OA is a degenerative disease of the joints, like all arthritis it can spread to other joints but everyone's arthritis is unique to them and what happens to one person won't necessarily happen to another. I am fifteen years into my arthritic life (I began aged 37) and thus much further down the line than you but I can empathise with the disapppointment, frustration and depression this is causing you. We will do our best to help you get through this current rough patch - rest assured you are talking to the initiated. I wish you well. DD

Hi I got the same left knee I was all right untill 12dec at work happy then oa left knee I went down local hospital and asked for stick untill I had phyosio
The doctor put me on naproxen x

I think that much of the success of new joints is down to the general fitness of the patient and their willingness to be sensible after the op. You may well be out of 'full' action for six months or more, but the blessed relief after would surely make that all worthwhile. I am looking forward to getting mine done (I have to wait at least another two years and lose another two stones (and rightly so)) but it should make such a difference to the quality of my life and that, for me, is what counts. Currently the quality of life is pretty low thanks to arthritis. I have been on crutches since 2002, and before Christmas invested in a cheap rollator to see if that would be beneficial. It has been. I am under no illusion that the rollator and sticks will go when I get new knees but I will do my damndest to make sure the pain does - and if it doesn't well, surely it won't be much worse than now! Try a stick, I am sure it will help: the handle needs to be level or just above your hip height so that you can maintain an upright posture. DD

Hi Christine, I read your post and I could have written all of that myself, so similar is your situation and the way you feel, to mine. I miss my mobility soo much... can't explain it to anyone how this pain and the fact that I can't walk (it's a crawl and I can't do that without a cane) has affected me. My hip hurts too after a few steps and I even dread going to the loo and can see myself getting a raised looseat before long. I too have physio to do at home, but most of these excercises I was incoporating in my Yoga and stretching excercises before my legs let me down anyway... They're supposed to strenghten the muscles supporting the knees but the physio even said my legmuscles were quite strong anyway. I think I have a long way to go yet before I accept that 'this' is my lot now at the moment I'm still at the stage where I cry in desperation and frustration everyday. I actually feel bereaved. The loss of my mobility and independence feels like the loss of a very dear and important friend. The quality of my life is rubbish now and my budgie has a fuller life. He can run and fly! I keep trying going for walks but never last more than 20 minutes tops before the pain goes from managable to unbearable and then I pay the price for the rest of the day and sleep evven less at night as my 'good' knee hurts too. All I take is Paracethemol, anti inflammatories upset my stomach too, and I use a wheatbag quite often. Do you think that in time, with physio, we will be able to walk better and in less pain again? Or are we forever now going to envy even fragile geriatrics, as they overtake us? I try to keep my sense of humour, its possibly the only thing thats just as important as my mobility to me. If I lost that too, then ...well,it doesnt bear thinking about. So I make sure I have a laugh everyday. It's supposed to be the best medicine. Best wishes to you Christine and chin up!

Hello Diamond12 and welcome from me too.

On a purely practical front - many people get their sticks free from NHS. I'm pretty sure you'd need to see an Occupational Therapist. You can self-refer by dialling Social Care Direct (0345 6080191) but I suspect the waiting time, whichever way you do it, will be several weeks.

Alternatively you could just buy a stick, or two, from any disability shop - online if you wish but you should be properly fitted heightwise & taught how to use it/them which a good shop would do. Or, if it's just for country walking, a pair of proper hiking sticks might help, certainly going downhill as they take the strain off the knees. (I am no doctor but it is possible that your calf pain may be muscular as a result of you trying to 'spare' the knee above it.)

There are several solutions to low seats - a higher seat, an extra cushion or things you can buy (again from a disability shop) to fix underneath that will raise the lot. Raised toilet seats are also available from OTs or shops starting at about £13. You may find other solutions in the 'Simple Ideas' thread at the top of the page.

I'm sure you must feel 'not ready' for all this disability talk but the less strain you put on your knee the better it will be.

Again, I'd emphasise I'm not a doc but on the one occasion when I had sciatica, in late pregnancy, the pain was at the back of my thigh, not my knee or calf. Others may know differently.

Hi Again
I'm glad you got a stick....my first one was £10 from the shoe place...Timps***s.....it was coloured and I didnt feel as bad as I would have with a hospitla one ore even a black one. It was a folding one so stayed in my bacg until I needed it
You should be able to get help with your flight.....Any travelling you do if you say you need help you usually get it.
As for the blue badge....yes its an ordinary one......you dont get it because you reach a certain age......usually because you cant walk without pain very far....eg to the shops etc. Or the other reason is ....its a much wider space so if you had crutches {I know you dont} or any problems getting in and out of the car the wide space is a godsend
Love
Eileen

Those ads are tempting, aren't they? By all means invest the money if you can afford it, it may or may not do anything to help but if it helps you feel a little more in control of matters then why not? A TENs machine from the chemist will do the same thing, I suspect the 'behind the knee' thing a gimmick My Ma spent £130 on a magnetic pain relief gizmo for me, she was desperate to help and fell hook-line-and-sinker for the lovely advertising. I assure her I use it and that it is a godsend but it is, in fact, in a drawer. I've tried magnetic knee supports, eating a better anti-inflammaotry diet, taken supplements, been to a homeopath, had private physio and still the arthritis progresses because that is what it does.

Any degree of physical impairment in an affront, whether it be an achy little finger or full-blown top-to-toe disease. Probably all of us here began with just the one area but we are unique in how, and in how rapidly or slowly, things advance. One thing that doesn't help is the stubborness that people understandably show in refusing to use aids that could help them: all that achieves is putting further strain on affected joints and throws the unaffected ones out of kilter which could lead to extra damage. Admittedly the bits and pieces that we may find ourselves needing to use are dull, institutional, inelegant, they trumpet to the world that yes, I cannot sit on a lavatory with a low seat, that yes, I cannot get in and out of the bath without summat to grab onto (radiators, washbasins and towel rails are not suitable supports) that yes, I can no longer walk like an adult should, but I am thankful that I live in an age where I can get stuff to help me.

Every now and again this forum is a double-edge sword. Yes, we understand the pain and frustrations, yes we know our stuff viz meds and treatments but for those like you who are so new to it all it must appear to be a place full of threat. We chunter on about meds, sticks, rollators, scooters, wheelchairs 'cos to some of us it's no big deal, little thinking maybe about the impact of our words on someone who is actually much further behind us in arthritis terms. I am very fortunate in that I have no idea what good health is like (crappy immune system from the word go) so this slide into early old age is no big deal, but for someone like you, well, I must remember that it is. I am glad you have a stick and I hope it helps. Pace yourself, don't overdo things in an effort to appear to be OK as you will only hurt yourself and there ain't much point in that now, is there? Take care. DD