Physio phone assessment

Hi @Vix , I’m sorry you've had such dispiriting consultations. One of my ortho surgeons made me feel like that, plunged me into the most awful depressions simply because his patient handling skills were so awful. He may be a brilliant surgeon for all I know, but he only saw his patients as X-ray images to be fixed, not people, he was so breathtakingly insensitive. Luckily I managed to change surgeon, and it was a whole different experience after that.

Your physio’s comment sounds to me like it was poorly considered before she spoke. To say that damage is “normal for a person of your age” is pretty meaningless if all people with that level of wear at your age are probably in some degree of pain! This is precisely what Versus Arthritis are trying to change, that it’s NOT ok for us to just put up with it because it’s common, or just a sign of “wear and tear” or ageing. It makes me very cross. I don’t even let my vet think like that about my ageing cats! If someone’s in pain, do what you can to sort it, whatever their age.

the thing is, (in my humble and medically untrained opinion), I have learned that everyone feels pain in different ways. We’ve got the same basic layout and wiring so to speak, but the fine detail is different for everyone. My left leg was grumbling mildly and randomly for years, but it was only after a fall the my GP sent me for X-ray, as the pain was ramping up. The X-ray shiwed my hip was so bad they referred me straightaway for hip replacement. I didn’t even know I had arthritis. By rights I should have been in pain for years, (I almost feel guilty that I wasn’t), but due to the way my nerve endings were wired, I got away with it till the fall knocked off the last bit of cartilage and left me in level 10 agony, with referred pains right down the leg. The pain increased exponentially over the next few weeks to the extent that I was sent for a second X-ray, as they wondered if I’d broken something in the fall, but it was exactly the same. It was just the bits of debris floating around in the joint that were causing the pain, hitting all sorts of nerve endings, and these wouldn’t have shown up on X-ray, and even if they had, the outcome was the same, pain relief and surgery.

Then when I had hip replacement 12 weeks ago, I was still in agony for the first few weeks post surgery, just in slightly different places. The surgeon was surprised and said I shouldn’t really be in that much pain (sound familiar?), but I was, and I’m now only making a very slow recovery. One of the lovely ortho nurses, who was happy to fill me with painkillers on demand, also confirmed that everyone’s experience of pain is different, they see it all the time, very different responses for exactly the same surgery in terms of pain and discomfort experienced. Even after my 12 week review my surgeon’s still slightly baffled as to why my leg has reacted so badly to the op, (but says it will get better eventually).

you don’t mention what pain relief you’re on, and whether you’ve been referred for surgery (which can depend on age). If you are on pain relief, it sounds like it’s not working. Ask your GP to refer you to a pain clinic to help you manage it better. But also it’s important to do the exercises your physio recommends, as this can also help to manage pain by stopping you stiffening up and strengthening the muscles around the affected parts of your body to support your joints better.

There are a few other things that help, have a look at this link below. Your physio is right in some respects (but may have put it across clumsily), if you focus on the pain and feel stressed about it, it can make it feel worse. Distraction is really helpful, ie lose yourself in something you enjoy, also meditation or mindfulness, anything to take your focus away from how your body is feeling.

There are also exercises on this site specific to your conditions, which you may find helpful. But don’t overdo it, as that can make the pain worse,

Coming on this lovely forum has kept me sane through some awful times, so keep posting on here, there’s loads of experience and tips, or come on just for a moan or a natter. We all know how rubbish this can feel.

Take care LM

I’m also surprised that so many physios aren’t seeing patients. Mine has been doing so for months, while wearing PPE and cleaning down the consulting room after each patient.

"if someone thinks about pain all the time then they feel more pain"

I call that, "woo". There's a lot of woo about. I won't be able to talk myself out of pain. And distracting myself so I don't notice it is woo, because what about the times I'm missing out on because I can't get sufficiently distracted? This isn't a phantom pain, it's a real problem.

Pain itself, is a disease that needs treating. The underlying cause is where long-term resolution is, but in the mean time the misery of living life in pain is impacting everything we do, day in and day out. It affects us, and everyone around us. And it doesn't have to be this way.

Of course, there's no way to know how much pain someone is suffering. I feel like I'm pretty resilient, but I don't know really know how I compare to others, because there's no way to truly know what they're feeling. What I do know is, constant pain robs you of your peace of mind and hounds you when you're awake or asleep.

I've come across a lot of woo. I have mental health issues too, and the amount of woo in its treatment is (ironically), crazy. I won't go into detail, but the fact is, we think there are great services out there to cure our ills, but in reality we've a long way to go in learning to treat pain, and mental health. Not medically, but as a culture.