Arthritis in knee

Undiluted agony at times.
Like you, I cannot take anti-inflammatory medicines.
My GP sent me to an Escape Pain clinic at my local hospital. It was a six-week course with 2 sessions a week. We exercised for 45 minutes then had a 15 minute discussion on medication, knee supports, diet etc. If you could get on one of these courses, I thoroughly recommend them. The exercises have really helped by strengthening the muscles in the upper thigh thereby releasing some pressure on the knee. If you can't attend a course then go on YouTube where they have knee exercises for all ages and abilities.

That can be difficult. I was in the same boat many years ago, and a lot depends on what grade the arthritis is at (there are 4) as to whether surgery is required.

I had bone grinding on bone, I had surgery, so I now have two knee replacements, which I hope will "see me out".

Would you tolerate a gel? I found Voltarol helped me, especially at night, other brands did nothing. The literature says only use for a short time, but my GP agreed to prescribe on repeat. Other GNetters have recommended Flexiseq but after a while it killed my skin and didn't relieve the pain. We are all different.

I am pain free these days because my biologic medication for RA had given me relief from knee OA as well.

Forgot to mention that I still do daily leg strengthening exercises, which have helped. I do squats and sitting leg extension moving in the shape of the alphabet.

My advice is don’t leave it too long to seek medical help. As charley says bone on bone is painful. Here the first step is referral for physio. Then the Escape Pain course, after that an offer of steroid injections and a referral to MSK for consideration of onward referral to a surgeon. Now that all can take a long while . By the time I reached a surgeon for TKR he was furious and asked why I hadn’t seen him two years earlier. My answer was the system. He said the wait had made his job harder. The TKR has made the knee virtually pain free and a huge difference to my enjoyment of life.

I’d second the comment about thigh muscles, the stronger the better. In terms of non standard approaches I personally find turmeric a great help, some people don’t and for others it’s contra indicated.

Good luck, there are ways to ease the pain but once the knee is bone on bone in my view there is no alternative to surgery.

I had full knee replacement last year due to Arthritis.. best thing I ever did was..Please if you get the chance go for it ….I suffered for 15 years putting it off all the time ,,,

I have had steroid injections in my right knee for arthritis and they have helped enormously. I take turmeric, cod liver oil plus I use Pernaton gel and turmeric massage oil with lemongrass from Pure Extracts.
I do Pilates, Walking Netball, a Keep moving gym class plus do park walk on Saturdays. You have to keep moving. Swimming is good but not breast stroke leg kick
Good luck

Get on the waiting list for TKR asap. Or pay if you can.
Before he had the TKR, DH used a horse bandage on his knee, the same as horses have on their knees, shaped and held in place with sew-on Velcro. It did ease the pain.
But the TKR was tranformative.

Nothing will really fix this, only TKR.
Exercise will help but it won't cure it.
Nor will painkillers or herbal remedies.
I had a TKR about 2 yrs ago, so pleased I did.
No mistake it was painful post op, but worth it. I have had both hips replaced as well, as my knee made my Hips worse. So try and get yourself on a waiting list, or if you don't meet that criteria atm, don't let it slide.
Best of luck.

I had a TKR nine years ago and have never looked back. My other knee was troubling me too, but I hastily lost the excess weight and after that it stopped hurting and I didn't need the second surgery. Now, the superior side of 75, I am fully active and can easily walk for a couple of hours without getting any bother. Also I adopted the Zoe nutrition way of eating two years ago. It is anti-inflammatory and seems to have really damped down what had been advancing osteoarthritis.

I use musselex cream on knees which I find really helps and I do notice if I forget. Boswellia ( Frankincense) drops from Chuckling Goat are meant to be as powerful as NSAIDs. If they feel troublesome I take one dose a day till they are ok again though you are allowed three lots. I usually only need for a few days and not too often. I try and swim or walk every day and do a little yoga stretching. I have been offered knee replacements on both knees more than once as I am a menace for injuries! However, although not 100% they usually resolve given enough time . I ever things didn’t resolve, or became too difficult to exercise I might consider but only as a last resort as as although many on here have had wonderful outcomes I am aware of people that have not been so happy.

I can't take ibuprofen, not even in gel form. Th only thing which helped eventually for both knees was total knee replacement. In my case it was completely successful.

I don’t know if my suggestion will be helpful or not but here goes.

Doc said I had osteoarthritis in my left knee. I asked what I could do to lessen the discomfort. He said walk every day and lose weight. I am 2lbs off one stone and walk for about 20/25 minutes a day.

The discomfort has lessened by about 80 percent and I can now walk up and downstairs normally, with only an occasional twinge.

He also gave me 3 simple exercises to do daily and that’s it.

TKR Can and do go wrong, sometimes without an obvious cause. I had a TKR 2 years ago and the only time it wasn't really painful was straight after surgery. I did have pain at the back of the knee which was odd but I could have lived with it but it progressed etc etc. Until here I am today 2 years on waiting for it to be redone next month. I've undergone intense physio at Guys and Hydrotherapy at St Thomas's and Manipulation under anaesthetic also at Guys and the pain just keeps getting worse. I force myself to go up and down stairs once a day and believe me when I say it's blinking agony. Going down is worse. Not only am I on high dose of Morphine, Plus I pay £300 a month for medicinal Cannabis on private prescription and after 4 months of taking it I'm only just starting to see an improvement in the pain levels.
I'm in more pain now than I have ever been and do one can offer a definitive cause. I wasn't overweight at the start of all this but I am now although not excessively and I had and still have exceedingly muscular thighs. The Doctors have been extremely surprised at my ability to move my legs around, they can do everything except bend. The knee with the TKR can only bend to 30degrees now and tbh I can't see it improving. I thought I'd had a result when I was booked to have my surgery performed by a top trauma surgeon but no something somewhere went wrong and they appear to be unable to rectify the problem. I just hope whatever they do next month works and I can get back to being fit and healthy again because I'm so tired of being a cripple unable to walk to the downstairs loo without gritting my teeth and struggling with the pain.
Good luck with whatever you decide, I'm certainly not trying to scare you or put you off, I just think you should know what could go wrong.

I had two TKRs over 18 years ago and never regretted it. My mother always refused to have them because "I know they don't work" The result was that her last few years were really miserable as she couldn't walk very far and was constantly losing her walking stick. It still annoys me when I think how different her life could have been, but you couldn't argue with her.

FlexibleFriend

TKR Can and do go wrong, sometimes without an obvious cause. I had a TKR 2 years ago and the only time it wasn't really painful was straight after surgery. I did have pain at the back of the knee which was odd but I could have lived with it but it progressed etc etc. Until here I am today 2 years on waiting for it to be redone next month. I've undergone intense physio at Guys and Hydrotherapy at St Thomas's and Manipulation under anaesthetic also at Guys and the pain just keeps getting worse. I force myself to go up and down stairs once a day and believe me when I say it's blinking agony. Going down is worse. Not only am I on high dose of Morphine, Plus I pay £300 a month for medicinal Cannabis on private prescription and after 4 months of taking it I'm only just starting to see an improvement in the pain levels.
I'm in more pain now than I have ever been and do one can offer a definitive cause. I wasn't overweight at the start of all this but I am now although not excessively and I had and still have exceedingly muscular thighs. The Doctors have been extremely surprised at my ability to move my legs around, they can do everything except bend. The knee with the TKR can only bend to 30degrees now and tbh I can't see it improving. I thought I'd had a result when I was booked to have my surgery performed by a top trauma surgeon but no something somewhere went wrong and they appear to be unable to rectify the problem. I just hope whatever they do next month works and I can get back to being fit and healthy again because I'm so tired of being a cripple unable to walk to the downstairs loo without gritting my teeth and struggling with the pain.
Good luck with whatever you decide, I'm certainly not trying to scare you or put you off, I just think you should know what could go wrong.

I’m so sorry to hear this. It’s why I’m going to do everything I can to avoid a TKR. As an operation it’s probably one of the most complicated ones you can have done. I do hope they can sort it out next month.

Thank you MayBee70 I wouldn't want to put anyone off having the surgery but can honestly say nor would I want anyone to go through what I have.

Thuasne Knee supports ...expensive but excellent.

Magnesium Joint oil rubbed in 4 times a day

My DH found heat and ice useful.

I chose to have only one knee replaced 7 years ago. I now use a 4 or 3 wheeled mobility aid when I leave the house. Most days start with 2 paracetamol and some ibuprofen gel in addition to a handful of prescribed tablets. Can no longer have a bath and am nervous when I shower. What I want to ask is ‘Am I disabled?’ I am interested in going to a concert where a free ticket is offered for a companion. I have no idea whether I am eligible to claim this. Is there an official ‘certificate of disability’ or something? I will ask the venue, and possibly my GP tomorrow. but wondered what others’ experience has been.

I would like to add my voice to those encouraging exercises which strengthen the muscles around the knee.
I do these ( and those for my hip) and have found them helpful in relieving the discomfort.
If you are seeking surgery, it will be of help then, to have stronger muscles to support your new knee - so, win- win.