Arthritic hands

No need to be shocked, anno. We're animals too.

I found acupuncture very good for stiff and sore hands but it can get a bit expensive. But thirty pounds a month is a good investment in your health if it works.

Also found my dads Circulation Booster machine for his feet and legs very good. I put it on the table and put my hands on the foot pads. Took about three days at a half hour session a day but definately made a difference so if you or a friend has one of those you could try it.

All arthritis responds to immune problems and possibly gut problems too so think about your diet and what you have eaten when the flare ups happen. Mine is worse when I eat too much bread and other wheat products and also with red wine. Fortunately white wine seems to be ok at the moment.

As an aside, I have to stop drinking cows milk sometimes and go for goats milk or other as I get very sinus-y. Once I am off that for a few weeks and it has cleared up, I can gradually go back on it. It's mainly for convenience for others that I gradually drift back to cows milk...and laziness!!

Diclofenac was originally developed for veterinary use...

Our last dog used to have special "arthritic dog" chews, bur I haven't been reduced to trying them yet.

Glucosamine + chondroitin works for me. It doesn't help my fingers and thumbs but definitely has eased my knees and ankles. Worked wonders for a friend's dog who could barely walk and made a complete recovery.

My medical 'advisor' advised me against it, as it can make things worse long-term.

gracesmum, granjura, have you thought about asking your GP about a cortisone injection? I'm not saying it would work, but itmight be a solution of a kind.

Thanks anno - for now, I shall just grin and bear it - but the day may well come!

Yes, I had about ten weeks without driving. Luckily no-one depended on me for transport and I can get to the shops and the station by bus. I must have saved a lot on petrol.

But presumably no driving? I'd be completely stuffed. Better grin - or grimace - and bear it.

granjura, my thumb joint isn't locked. Although the op was called a trapeziectomy, the surgeon used a procedure which he had devised himself whereby he didn't remove the joint, but cleaned it up and put it back with a lining of surgical sponge to prevent further wear and tear. At least, I think that's what he said. It was wired and wrapped up like a rugby ball for six weeks when the wires came out and I had physio for about another month. I can use scissors, secateurs and a pen.

Interesting harrigran, it must have been his ring.

crimson it was you who started me eliminating dairy. I used to eat a lot of cheese but can happily live without it now. Juicing is the best thing I have done, I could nearly live on veggie juice. One of my sons in law even emailed me a link on beetroot juice this morning. www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/diet-and-fitness/legal-blood-doping-a-juice-to-help-beet-your-best-20120918-26392.html

Just another angle on painful hands, DH had extreme pain in his fingers and the knuckle on ring finger was swollen. He had his wedding ring removed and the pain subsided, not just in the ring finger but the rest of the hand too. The pain has not returned which proved it was not arthritis.

I did a similar diet a few years back and felt fantastic but it's so easy to slip into bad ways. My current poblem is drinking coffee, something I never did much, but lately I seem to be drinking several cups a day again. I'm feeling very acidy which isn't normal for me and I put it down to the coffee, but I seem to be a bit addicted to it. Very much stuck betwen either being at work or being in the house; think when I can start getting out and about more I can improve my diet. I also used to juice a lot of stuff but found cleaning the juicer a real chore; making lots of healthy soup was easier [although not with the vitamin content I guess].

Crimson I eliminated most dairy food. I now make my own bread. I started juicing, so that I get the nutrients of lots more vegetables that I wouldn't normally eat, such as beetroot, ginger, celery, carrots, parsley and whatever else is available. I read a lot about alkaline/acidic food and also the benefits of the fresh food I eat. I also take a glass of water to bed with a small teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda. I started using it when my foot was swollen during January, February this year, it also helped with heartburn. I don't eat meat which is acidic and don't eat processed food which are also acidic. Eating chocolate has also got a lot better, it used to give me heartburn but not lately, not sure why.

My right thumb, at the base, is very painful at times and I just can't grip anything anymore, and find it very difficult to use secators. i don't want to take anti-inflammatories all the time, and gel does not seem to help - although it does for my knees. One day I shall have it operated on- but it locks the joint and makes that thumb pretty useless (mind you it is at the moment anyway).

anno your thumb/wrist joint sounds very like my current problem, I had never realised how much one uses one's thumb and so many activities are excruciating. I find it particularly hard to pick up the grandsons and have to sort of loop my arms round them with my hands together round the front as the usual "hands under the armpits" is out of the question. Seeing GP next week so I am hoping I might get a referral to a rheumatologist and maybe an x-ray of hands to see if anything can be done. This has come on so suddenly and nothing else can quite make me feel old and decrepit It is a comfort to know I am not alone, but I am so sorry to hear how many of you are in constant pain - that puts mine in perspective but doesn't make me feel better - just sorry for you others! Also still hope DD's psoriatic arthritis can be properly diagnosed and that she gets some relief. I used to put hers down to DH's and his family's auto immune problems, but maybe it comes from me?

Faye; which food did you eliminate? I sometimes used to have a week of eating nothibg but chicken soup with lots of garlic and turmeric, and felt really good for it.

Because of the advice regarding tumeric on this thread I went to the local health shop to buy some as I was in a lot of pain from arthritis. The woman at the health shop told me about food alkaline and acidic food. It wasn't until earlier this year when I was in pain and limping because of my swollen foot, and the pain I was experiencing from my shoulder and hands. My arms were very weak and felt I awful from continual heartburn and indigestion. I was having trouble swallowing and I felt lousy, I finally decided that enough was enough and started eating alkaline food. Nothing will entice me to go on medication and changing what I ate has worked for me!

Creatve Grids has a good selection(I am not advertising -they are well known to all quilters Gransnet team)

There are some silky gloves which leave the fingers free which quilters go for. Look on the Creative Quilter website (or similar).

Hunt, osteo-arthritis is the arthritis that all of us develop to some extent as we get older. It is the result of wear and tear on our joints and some of us are more pre-disposed to it than others,some of it alos comes from some occupational activities.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease you develop at any time of life. Its cause is uncertain and its onset can be quite rapid, my DDiL has just been told she may have RA. I have met people who have been diagnosed with it in their 20s. It used to be devastatingly disabling and when I worked with disabled older people I used to say to my husband that I would rather have dementia than RA, nowadays with new drug therapies the outlook is much better.

There is programme on television tonight 'Food Hospital' that is going to deal with the effects of the food you eat on RA.

I have a book called Dr Ali's nutrition bible which tells you which foods to eat or avoid with certain conditions. It doesn't 'cure' arthritis, but can prevent further debilitating attacks. It makes sense to me given that gout is a form of arthritis and diet plays a very big role in it's occurence. It advocates lots of use of turmeric for example and occasional fasting, all of which have been shown to be beneficial for one's health. A few weeks ago I did some decorating and the pain in my thumb joint the next day was excruciating [sp]; I asked the doctor for some Fenbid gel [now I'm 60 I make a point of not paying for anything] but it went after a day [although I did put some sort of anti inflammatory on for a couple of nights when it happened]. I found the thought of not being able to use my right hand very frightening [my left thumb joint has ben a problen for years]. I used to be so proud of my hands as well . I just read that they are doing a lot of reseach into ME in America [at last!]. Given that the medical profession seemed to poo poo this condition for a long time, just because doctors say something isn't proven to work doesn't make me stop using it [some of ours advocate the use of glucosamine]. I'm not saying it does work, but it's worth trying anything, even if it has a placebo effect. As long as you're not forking out lots of money on it that you can't afford, that is.

I had arthritis in the joint below the thumb and above the wrist. X-ray showed significant deterioration and the surgeon did a trapeziectomy which has proved completely successful. I used to wake up at night with the pain and go to sleep with my hand under the pillow to keep it warm! Nowadays I never even have to think about it. Can't snap the fingers on my right hand though. Together with the hip replacement and the part shoulder replacement, the NHS has done me proud. My osteo arthritis has been very selective and at the moment I don't seem to have any problems - apart from polymyalgia rheumatica, but that's another story altogether.

I've suffered Osteo-Arthritis in most joints , had a hip replaced and spinal surgery, I have tried all of the things mentioned above at some time in the last 20yrs and found none of them help at all. You have to give them a good 4/6 mth trial though as different things help different people , my OH swears by his copper wrist band but I found them useless, likewise Glucosamine and Rose Hip and all the other things that have been recommended. I find taking the Anti-inflammatory Meds my GP gives me , regular swimming/walking and knitting keep the pain and swelling at a tolerable level. I occasionally take Ibuprofen on a bad day but if you have Osteo-Arthritis the pain is at its worst while the changes are taking place in the joint then the pain can subside but you are left with less range of movement and changes to the bone in the joints hence the nodes on fingers and in my case toes as well.. its certainly a very debilitating desease but you have to keep moving , I do things in half hour stints , work for half an hour then a short rest and that way although it takes me longer I find I can keep going.. my joints seize up if I don't move them often.. I rarely sit still for more than half an hour .
If you are suffering do see your GP and see if Anti-inflammatories are suitable for you they do help I couldn't manage without them.

sorry I didn't mean to write a book..lol