Can you use a exersoe bike with bone on bone knee oa

Hi all new member here and interested in this thread - have just been diagnosed with OA to the knee which is bone on bone and probably been that way for 3 years or so according to the specialist - my knees have always been an issue but to date I have been managing by backing off exercise when any material swelling has started - to date I have been fortunate re low levels of pain - I have always done lots of sport and want to maintain exercise levels where I can so first step for me is switching out risky/impact sport for lower impact alternatives

So far (first week) I have started with exercise bikes and cross trainers - am fortunate in having gym membership so can try a few different things out - looks like the football will have to stop and any running will be significantly reduced although would be keen to hear from anyone still running (modestly!) with OA - The cycling (initially fixed then out on the road) looks a sensible way forward/alternative but would also be good to share experiences with anyone still managing to accommodate a small bit of running ?

Cheers

Eamon

As a new member I've been trawling through some posts new and old and this one caught my eye because like all the folks who commented last year, my OA in both knees was brought on by too much high impact exercise (twice daily 5k runs over a 4 year period and twice weekly Badminton).

The original poster asked about Exercise Bikes so I'll comment on that first. After finally ceasing any high-impact sport I turned to cycling and exercise bikes. Cycling is excellent non-impact cardio exercise which also strengthens joints (knees, ankles, hips). Let's put it this way - I can wake up in the morning, find it difficult to walk down the stairs to get a cuppa but jump in the saddle and cycle 50-odd miles, so for me it was a total game-changer. I attend 3-4 "Spin Classes" at my local gym per week which are great fun, the only difficulty I have is standing up on the pedals but lowering resistance and speed makes even that possible with moderate pain caused by bone on bone.

As for running with Arthritis, after diagnosis I took as many prescription drugs and health remedies as I could lay my hands on, invested in some good knee supports, a deep tissue massaging gun, a daily physio workout and swapped trail running for the treadmill. Treadmills are sprung so less impact on the knees. I chose to run with zero incline to reduce any strain on the connecting tissues, which plagued me with injuries frequently as the cartiledge gradually made good its escape from my knees. Obviously it made sense to reduce the number of runs I did so these were scaled back considerably. I was fine for about a year until even that was getting too painful so I had to cease altogether. I carried on with Badminton but the "stop-start" and twists involved began to cause real issues and I was finding it difficult to bear any weight on my legs at times. I reluctantly gave that up a couple of weeks ago and my knees have improved considerably, I haven't needed to wear knee supports for 3 days now and my legs are no longer so hot as to cause me to sweat.

So, a very long post but in summary I think cycling, whether on a push bike or static bike is great exercise for arthritic joints. Any high impact sport is less so but it is possible in moderation but if you find yourself strapping yourself in more and more and scouring the net for ever more natural remedies, it's clearly time to stop before you do serious lasting damage.