Arthritis Tips and Tricks?

[Abby Brooks]

So after about 15 years straight of year long sports, Arthur is creeping in on my life but I'm not ready to welcome the sucker in. I primarily played softball throughout my life and will be continuing to play div 2 throughout college.

Just looking for maybe some unheard of tips and tricks that you guys have found has really helped with inflammation in the hands, primarily knuckles. I have near complete stiffness in my thumb, middle finger, and pinky finger on my left at random times. I have been to the doctor and am on some medications but am trying to eliminate this fuss as much as I can for daily living on top of sports.

So..anybody out there have some witchcraft??

[Ashley Gibson]

Hemp Oil. I took it after my ankle surgery when it decided if would be fun to swell frequently, and then reduce my range of motion. The brand I got was pretty cheap on Amazon and worked better for me than CBD oil. Hemp Oil will not hit on a drug test, and I noticed a huge difference when I took it. My aunt started taking it for her fibromyalgia and has noticed a big change too.

[Jo Ferris]

Hemp Oil. I took it after my ankle surgery when it decided if would be fun to swell frequently, and then reduce my range of motion. The brand I got was pretty cheap on Amazon and worked better for me than CBD oil. Hemp Oil will not hit on a drug test, and I noticed a huge difference when I took it. My aunt started taking it for her fibromyalgia and has noticed a big change too.

I have a friend who swears by the stuff

[Stormy Peak]

I read a long time ago that ibuprofen, which is used for arthritis pain, can also make things worse... it dries out joints and can slow bone growth. After I had back surgery in 2001, I wanted to stay off the hydrocodone...so I was eating ibuprofen like M&Ms... (actually I was following the doctor's recommendations and using prescription strength).

But... I also had some issues with my left knee... I would wake up in the morning and almost scream as I straightened out my left knee...the pain was so intense. After reading an article about how NSAIDS I decided to stop using the ibuprofen for a week to see what would happen. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. In about 4 days I was able to wake up and move my knee with hardly any pain at all. My back pain increased a bit, but not as much as I thought it would without the ibuprofen.

After that, I only used ibuprofen, regular over the counter stuff, like only once a week, if that. I just used it when my back was really acting up.

So if you are taking a lot of ibuprofen, you might give your body a break from it for a week or two and see if joints start moving more freely.

I have a friend who's had arthritis in an ankle, knee and hip since she was in the 3rd grade. She takes glucosamine. I also read once that Gary Steven's the jockey started taking it and was able to go a few more years before he retired then had knee surgeries and made another comeback. He took it back when it was mostly an unknown supplement - I think it's pretty popular now, but I think it also takes some weeks before people feel the benefit. I'm not sure about that...but I know my friend said it helped her out quite a bit.

Sorry you are having to deal with arthritis. I have only a small touch of it higher in my back from my injuries and also in my knee I mentioned...and even that mild pain from it is tiresome... aches that never seem to totally go away... I think the only reason why I don't feel them at times, is just because I'm distracted.

Stormy

[Polk Buffalo]

I work as a general practitioner in Sweden. I meet a lot of patients with arthritis and arthroses every week.
My first reflection is: Are you sure that it is arthritis and not arthroses? Did you have any x-ray?

When it comes to medications, we usually prescribe NSAIDs for arthritis here in sweden.
Hemp oil and CBD oil are not really available for prescription here yet.

If it is more of "thumb base arthrosis" an operation called APL-arthroplasty can help.
If there is arthrosis around the os trapezium bone, the simple solution is to remove it..and cover it up with some tendon called APL. (abductor pollucis longus).

But if it is infact arthritis, and NSAIDs isnt enough, perhaps referring you to a rheumatologist could help? They have a bunch of medications that are more specific for the immunological process. Methotrexate and a bunch of newer ones.

I must end with a little situation that happened to me when I was in canada during med school.
Going through the list of medications, the patient said he was taking "tylenol".
I had no clue what tylenol was so I had to ask the patient what is was for.
He didnt really trust me after that...
We dont name it tylenol in sweden...

[Nick Gilmore]

I have wrist supports with little magnets embedded in them. I put them on at night and very often wake up with nice flexible fingers. Humidity alters the results in a bad way. The knee braces are not as effective as the hands, but they do seem to help.

[Cleo Patra]

Dad uses a gelatin derivative on himself and our horses. I can’t remember the exact name of the stuff but plain old off the shelf gelatin works too. Taking a teaspoon of it a day stopped dad from needing a knee replacement for the time being. The doctor was a bit startled by the improvement on the CT scans.

[Nick Gilmore]

Dad uses a gelatin derivative on himself and our horses. I can’t remember the exact name of the stuff but plain old off the shelf gelatin works too. Taking a teaspoon of it a day stopped dad from needing a knee replacement for the time being. The doctor was a bit startled by the improvement on the CT scans.

Mmm, I used to feed gelatin to my horses too, cool. Seems to me it was for bone growth in young horses, but it’s been a while and the memory is not what it once was.

[Stormy Peak]

Dad uses a gelatin derivative on himself and our horses. I can’t remember the exact name of the stuff but plain old off the shelf gelatin works too. Taking a teaspoon of it a day stopped dad from needing a knee replacement for the time being. The doctor was a bit startled by the improvement on the CT scans.

Mmm, I used to feed gelatin to my horses too, cool. Seems to me it was for bone growth in young horses, but it’s been a while and the memory is not what it once was.

DMSO ???

Stormy