Osteoarthritis of the knee

Hi everyone, this is my first post and it’s so amazing to feel part of a community and have so much help available. I’m 72 and three months ago I’d have said I was one of the fittest and most active amongst my peers and many of the younger generation. I’ve done Yoga all my adult life, including some teaching, I walk the dog about 3 miles every day, and am always ‘on the go’….or at least, I was! I had a few aches in my hips etc. as you’d expect by now!

At the end of March I did a heavy day in the garden, including some digging which I would normally leave to my husband. Anyway, the following day my left knee was in agony. The GP eventually sent me for an X-ray which showed nothing of interest bone wise and then just referred me to physio. 3 weeks ago the physio gave me a steroid injection which worked well for a couple of weeks, but now I’m back to square one. Driving is especially difficult.

I do all the exercises my physio gave me, including my own yoga, I’m most definitely not overweight (7st 10 and just over 5ft tall). I still walk every day. I’ve tried ice packs, painkillers, Ibuprofen gel - where can I go from here? It seems odd to me that this came on so suddenly and yet it is assumed that it is arthritis (because of my age?).

I wonder if anyone has experienced anything similar and could offer me further advice - I think the hardest thing is moving forward. Surgery just seems to want to offer stronger painkillers, but I feel that I’ve not really had a ‘proper’ diagnosis, just an assumption.

Sorry to moan so much in my first post. I AM a positive person and am determined not to let this get me down, but suddenly, I feel so OLD 😂

Thank you for listening!