Arthritic hands

'Left thumb' not last thumb ....I still have two.

Woke up this morning in terrible pain from last thumb. Can't bear it to touch anything. The question is why? I've been virtually pain free for weeks now, what can have brought it on?

The only things different are I've run out of glucosamine tablets (yet so called research says these don't work) and I did a bit if sewing yesterday - only 15 minutes.

Do other GNetters have any clues what brings on these flare ups then perhaps we can avoid some at least

flicketyb and nelliemoser - that sounds a lot like my thumb and the activities I am not managing, such as holding a newspaper or fork! My GP has suggested cortisone injection next friday, but I wonder if I have aggravated things 1) trying to rake gravel in the drive, 2) weeding and 3) lifting little boys. It feels as if thumb dislocates itself every so often for no reason (i.e 20 minutes) hurts like hell, and then eases off. I am wearing a tubigrip more for comfort than anything else and also to remind me not to use my left hand first e.g. pushing doors open, flushing loo (button sort) and so on.

I recently developed tendonitis in my left hand. My thumb tendon is the one affected and stretching my thumb while turning my wrist is really painful. My wrist is also swollen and painful just below the thumb.

Initially I thought it was arthritis but DS, an archaeologist, instantly diagnosed it. It seems it is an injury quite common among archaeologists who are working on excavations and using their trowels constantly to scrape away layers of soil. I then googled tendonitis online and he was right.

I have now identified what caused it. We have recently had masons cutting some new window apertures in our home in France. They left all the stone they removed in a heap in the garden and I spent an afternoon picking up large heavy bits of stone, putting them in a wheelbarrow moving them to an outhouse and unloading them one by one. I have now had it for over six weeks and DS assures me I should have recovered by Christmas!

Just read on a dog forum about the use of Epsom Salts to relieve sprained joints; 6 teaspoons per pint of water, so am going to try that with my feet. I've got one of those foot spa's stashed away somewhere [haven't we all!] and may use that and hope no one comes to the door for a while.

All food IS chemicals... everything is, when you think about it.

I think unpasteurised almond milk would be ok if it was freshly squeezed. Trouble is that nearly all food will deteriorate and start to decompose unless measures are taken to prevent this. Otherwise "shelf life" is minimal and wastage astronomical. Also it is about making food safe.

Heat treatment like pasteurisation does not add anything harmful but might destroy some micronutrients e.g. reduce the vitamin c. But a balance has to be struck.
Lovely if you are able to grow your own and have fresh but mosts of us rely on shops.
I am relieved, faye that you are not a fan of unpasteurised milk! Absolutely not a healthy food.

We always end up arguing debating about our different views on most things. Actually Jess I am not particularly against pasteurized milk, I just don't think milk is healthy, it causes allergies, mucus and heartburn for some people.
health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/food-nutrition/facts/is-milk-good-for-you.htm
animalrights.about.com/od/animalsusedforfood/a/MilkHealth.htm

baggy At the beginning of this year I started mixing almonds in my muesli and also tried almond milk instead of cow's milk. I always read about the food that I am eating and googled almonds and then found that some are pasteurized. I decided until I know if the almonds I buy are pasteurized I would not bother. I don't want to eat food with chemicals or thickeners added or pasteurized and know that I must if I buy it, but try to avoid it.
bodyecology.com/articles/avoid_pasteurized_foods.php#.UF6QubLiY0k
diaryofanutritionist.com/2010/03/16/how-healthy-is-that-juice-juice-and-pasteurization/

Elegran I am lucky enough to have three almond trees so when they are in season I will eat them. I will even try to make my own almond milk.

I am very interested in fresh food, not processed, pasteurized, over cooked and chemically enhanced food. I really believe that most of our illnesses are because of the environment and what we eat.

I had that for a couple of days after I'd done some decorating but [[touch wood] it hasn't happened since [the pain shot up my arm and I thought I may have broken something]. Now the pain is in the toe next to my big toe which is being pushed sideways due to my bunion. I've been wondering if this pain migration is often due to how I sleep the night before and am thinking of getting one of those tempur mattresses. [oh yikes; just googled it..£2,000! there's a thread on this isn't there..just off to find it]

Apparently I don't have arthritis in my hands - it's gout, although the exact difference escapes me. Sometimes a joint will 'give' with a sudden searing pain, like a strong electric shock... weird.

No chemicals are added in pasteurisation, Faye. It is a heat treatment that kills harmful bacteria.

On Google I found this report, which seems to show it may be largely unnecessary for almonds (if my interpretation of the tehnical terms is right) but I don't think you will come to any harm by consuming them, so you may be cutting off your nose to spite your face by rejecting something that helps just because it is pasteurised.

www.nuthealth.org/nutrition-research/the-influence-of-roasting-pasteurisation-and-storage-on-the-polyphenol-content-and-antioxidant-capacity-of-california-almond-skins/

"Bolling, B.W., J.B. Blumberg, C.-Y.O. Chen. 2010. The influence of roasting, pasteurisation, and storage on the polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity of California almond skins. Food Chem. doi:10.1016/j. foodchem.2010.05.058.

Polyphenols and antioxidant activity of skins from California almonds subjected to roasting, pasteurisation, and storage were determined by LC-MS quantification, total phenols (TP), and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). Pasteurisation did not significantly change TP, FRAP, or flavonoids and phenolic acids (FP). Roasted almonds had 26% less TP and 34% less FRAP than raw, but equivalent FP (n = 12). Storing almonds at 4 and 23 ºC for 15 mo resulted in gradual increases in FP, up to 177% and 200%, respectively (n = 13). At 4 ºC and 15 mo, polyphenols increased 18-fold for p-hydroxybenzoic acid, whilst others were 45–200% higher compared to baseline values. Isorhamnetin-3-O-rutinoside accounted for 48% of the increase in FP. After 15 mo, FRAP and TP increased to 200% and 190% of initial values. Accelerated ageing of whole almonds increased FP content by 10% after 3 days, but TP and FRAP values were not significantly different from baseline to day 10. Thus, in almond skins, roasting decreases TP and FRAP but not FP, whilst storage for up to 15 mo doubles FP"

Pasteurisation was recently voted by the Royal Society (of science) as one of the greatest contributions that science has made to cooking/food production. I would have thought it just stops the almond milk going off and getting very smelly very quickly.
I am worried now that you are a fan unpasteurised animal milk Faye

faye, could you explain what the problem with pasteurised almond milk is, please? I haven't heard of a problem like that before.

crimson I wish I didn't love bread so much, nice fresh homemade bread, I am still using the no knead bread recipe which whenim posted back in January. No chemicals and no heartburn. I also started using almond milk but found out the almonds are pasteurized and so have stopped using it, plus I was eating almonds with muesli for breakfast. I really wonder if there is any natural food left to buy? I would try using bicarb in your bath. health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/hygiene-tips/uses-for-baking-soda-health-and-beauty-ga.htm

Does anyone else have a sort of 'rotational' arthritis? For example, one day it will be my left thumb which is very painful and solid, then my right thumb, then perhaps my middle finger, then back to my left thumb? Some days none are too bad the both thumbs.

My thumbs get very painful in damp cold weather a female and family trait I am afraid. I find knitting seems to help keep them mobile. Its osteoarthritis with mine they dont swell but get really sharply painful doing stuff like pushing the button on the car boot holding sewing needles and thin pages etc.

Epsom salts baths are said to be good for arthritis! Just don't drink the water. I think I saw it in this book:
www.amazon.co.uk/Treating-Arthritis-The-Drug-Free/dp/1847090052/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348302798&sr=8-1

Faye; I seem to have drifted back into the cheese eating mode as well, for some reason eating a chunk of cheese late at night. I think it all started when I was taking codeine at night for my leg pain and didn't want to take it on an empty stomach. The S.O. is going away for a week soon and the long hours I'm doing at work seem to have stopped so I'm going to try the chicken soup diet again for a while. And I'll buy some goats milk. I used to have very hot baths using dead sea salts [again when I was doing a detox] but my skin seems to react to anything added to the bathwater these days. Although the bath water was hot the bath salts seemed to make me sweat profusely and I felt as if all the toxins were being drawn out of my body. Perhaps if I tried again but had a shower immediately afterwards my skin would be ok. I haven't ate bread for weeks, though, seemingly having kicked that addiction.

There was an artical in a paper yesterday (saw in on newstand in Asda) about salted baths being able to reduce swollen joints as the salt on skin draws water out the system by osmosis. cant remember which paper but see the info below.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/salt-water-bath-can-help-reduce-arthritis-pain/1005919/

DH has a powerball. Got it to deal with RSI. He uses it every now and then and has stopped complaining about RSI.

Wow that's cheap in comparison. I thought it sounded fun and kinda wished my problem was bad enough for me to warrant the expenditure when spent lots this month for various reasons.

I just checked out the powerball on Ebay (£11.95). It sounds frightening! When I had to strengthen my hand following surgery, I bought squashy foam balls from John Lewis's toy department. And to improve my fine grip, popping bubble wrap was fun!

Just found NSD Power Ball accidentally while looking for another product to help ageing dad.

Sounds like it could be really good for sore hands as it is an exercise ball but meant to be fun too and to strengthen muscles and tendons. £18 I think.

Strength training and functional life exercises are becoming more and more acceptable ways to help the ageing population deal with getting older and staying fitter. The kind of things we would once have only associated with gyms and young folk are being adapted. More universities are using computer simulation to look at older folks walking habits, other functional problems such as foot flexion and general fitness to assess ways to help.

Always assuming we live long enough, the future looks brighter!

Better nutrition, more exercise, less stress.......?

You have set me wondering if my better health could be related to the fact that I am no longer living with three grandchildren who were not great lovers of the type of food I now eat. Perhaps the fact that I am also free to take long walks is just a coincidence?

I once had acupressure when I was in agony with a lumbar disc problem, and was walking with a stick. After one session (pressure on my inside elbows and my knees) I was free of all pain. I was extremely sceptical, so it wasn't a placebo effect.

I have also had relief with a Tens machine.