OT: Arthritis in the knees

[John]

Sorry about being so far OT but any doctors or physios or anyone suffering with arthritic knees in the group?

The question - is it best to keep the knees moving or not?

The background - my wife is on the waiting list to have both knees replaced due to severe arthritis but that's going to be quite a while off yet.

She works at a desk-bound job that is very intense and requires high levels of concentration so she is absolutely knackered when she gets home from work each evening and wants to do nothing more than relax in front of the telly or with a good book, and I fully understand that However, I just worry that she should be moving or using her knees more or they may sieze up altogether .

I know that there are lots of other health reasons why she should be more active but please let's not get bogged down with them - this is purely a question about arthritis as I have no idea about it.

Should she move about more or not, purely from an arthritis point of view?

[Tim+]

Move. Definitely. My mother has severe arthritis of her knees and whenever her dog was in kennels, her knees became much worse. Keeping active makes a huge difference to her knees.

Tim

[soup]

"Move it or lose it"

IANAD and this advice is worth exactly what you paid for it . Ask your own doctor but the received wisdom seems to be 'move arthritic joints '.

Try these arthritis groups they are pretty quiet but your question(s) will not be OT there.

" alt.support. arthritis " " uk.people.support.arthritis "

[Syd Rumpo]

Exercise bike, low power, high speed. Polishes the joints and helps keep them mobile.

I'm not a quack etc.

Cheers

[spuorgelgoog]

IANAD but there are pedally-things like the bottom half of an exercise bike, that you can use while on the sofa.

there is also a variety of steps, pedals, and moveable footrests that can be used under an office desk to keep gently mobile eg

Owain

[GB]

In an ideal world, this would be linked to the tv, so that turns itself off if you stop pedalling (or the sound volume goes down, maybe).

[Capitol]

Many believe in glucosamine with chondroitin. Only side effect I've been told is excreta like rabbit pellets from the horse tablet form. The liquid form also tastes better it seems.

[John]

John formulated on Tuesday :

Thanks for your replies everyone, you've been very helpful :')

[Bod]

Wouldn't a doctor be the best advisor for that question?

[tony sayer]

Thats a very quiet newsgroup these days. I think the contents have resigned themselves to creaking and thats, well that!..

My dad had a knee joint replaced and it did work well afterwards but it was painful when he had it done albeit some years ago now. Best bet is to badger the hospital and make them know that you are around at very short notice as they sometimes have cancellations. A fried of mine had both hips done quickly as he could come in at a few hours notice!..

FWIW....

[tony sayer]

There was a project done by some charity on alternate medicines and such like and that one didn't come out too well IIRC whereas a few, and a a very few did..

Arthritis Research Council IIRC

try this one...

[Capitol]

Seems to work for Phil and a few others. YMMV, but it's worth a try.. I forgot to include the MSM in the description. No, horses don't take them, it's just the size of the pill.

[spuorgelgoog]

So not suitable for S*n*f*o users then?

Owain

[Andrew Gabriel]

Like others have said, essential to keep moving. Once you've stopped doing so, even replacement knees will be of limited use, as the habit will be lost, together with the muscle tone needed to do so, and the circulatory system to power them.

Talk to doctor about pain relief too. Some of the anti-inflamatory pain relief can be particularly good in some cases, both reducing inflamation and discomfort, but that needs to be chosen based on her other medical history and type of arthritis. You might not want to use it all the time, but if you know you're going out for a days shopping or the like, you can plan to take it before you leave and possibly top-up during the day if dosing allows.

[AnthonyL]

This is by no means a recommendation but I do recall a serious post on this group by someone who had used (or knew someone who had used) WD40 on their joints (google also has hits for wd40 arthritis).

[tony sayer]

What! has he been fitted with grease nipples or similar?.

Now theres an omission in the design of the human body if ever there was one;!...

[michael adams]

Ist Google hit

The consensus among health professionals seems to be that while the value of WD40 for arthritis is questionable, at best...

" the duct tape was later proved to have an impressive effect on tackling veruccas "

So 1 out of 2 then.

Although no mention of angle grinders.

michael adams

...

[Davey]

A farmer we know needed both knees and both hips replaced, so to minimise the time he was off work, he had all 4 done at the same time. I follow his thinking, but.....!

[Huge]

There is a considerable body of morons who believe that WD40 is fish oil and beneficial if rubbed on arthritic joints.

[F]

Not doubting you, but I'm amazed that the surgeon would agree. If something basic goes wrong then there's four joints at risk.