Your questions on joint care and joint pain have been answered by the consultants from Spire Healthcare

Due to a torn meniscus I had an arthroscopy 10 years ago but have been in worsening pain ever since. I was told that the cartilage was practically non-existent and I'm now struggling to walk more than several yards without needing to rest. I'm afraid of going down the knee replacement route and wonder if a less extreme procedure is possible?

I have pain in both knees, one more than the other. As, so far, I can sleep undisturbed by pain I haven’t asked my GP about it. I’m trying to lose weight (some small success) & have another stone to lose. What more can I do to prevent the deterioration of my knee joints?

Hi there. For the last 3 years I have suffered with lower back pain, and neck pain that starts from the top of my shoulder blade and up the side of my neck and my head. X-rays show arthritis in both cases, and my GP has prescribed Amitriptyline 20 mg. I also do specific exercises that are supposed to help for the pain. The neck pain is quite severe at times. My question is this: Should my GP be referring me for an MRI or CT scan which would give a more detailed picture of any possible damage to my spine? John K

my husband has a slightly swollen ankle which hurts everyday, he hasn't done anything to it, but it is a niggling pain, Doctor gave him some Fenbid but he stopped using it after a frightening experience one evening (almost like he was having a LSD trip/overdose)

Can you recommend the best exercises for chronic back pain.

I have had both hips replaced now my knees are painful. After my first hip I got a drop foot. What can I do to avoid further surgery?

I am in real need of both hips and knees to be replaced, this has been discussed but due to heart and other problems surgeons state that it would cause more problems than it would solve so they won't do it. I had been doing my 10,000 steps a day but this has drastically reduced due to pain. I am on Tramadol and paracetamol but am still in excrutiating pain. I still ride my horse to get some exercise but getting on and off is becoming a problem. Is there something else I can take? I know i will never be pain free but if there is something that would allow me to be more active I would be grateful.

I have osteoarthritis in my feet, which I didn't even know was possible! Can you give me any tips on how to make walking less painful?

How can I prevent pain in my knee joints after exercising? Recently now that we're allowed to socialise again I've been doing lots more activities than usual and I'm beginning to feel pain in my knees. It's concerning me because I don't want this to become something that ends up getting bad and preventing me from doing things. What can I do to stop the pain and prevent anything happening to them which will stop me from being active? Thank you

I have had both hips replaced. Now my knees are becoming very painful. Can you recommend anything to relieve pain so that I can perhaps at least delay having knee replacements?

Are there any new treatments to replace or restore the cartilage in the knees and if so are they available at Spire?
My knees are gradually getting worse after a lifetime of walking hospital corridors but I live in hope.

I have Fibromyalgia and CFS: I was diagnosed in 2005. Obviously it's degenerative. I have 4 weekly reflexology which helps.

When we went into lockdown last year I found out how much it helps cos of the resurgence of the depth of fatigue, pain and heaviness in my legs.

The pain medication I take just didn't touch it. Thankfully I have been able to restart reflexology.

Have you any other suggestions for helping these conditions?

Have you any tips on dealing with pain from a rotator cuff injury? Currently taking cocodamol and doing resistance exercises - and in increasing pain.

I have arthritis in both of my knees and ten years ago had two collapsed discs removed surgically at the bottom of my spine.
I am in constant pain and daily take Naproxen and Tramadol.
Can you recommend any natural alternatives to these medicines to ease my pain?

I have pain in my right hip & knee, worse after exercise. Sometimes my right hip twangs as if something goes out of place & back again.
What is concerning me though is that for the last few months, if I’ve been sitting for some time, when I get up for a few seconds I can’t actually move because I can’t put weight on my right hip.
Eventually I can ‘get going’ & after a few steps I can walk properly.

What could be causing this? At the moment I’m trying to strengthen the muscles in my leg with resistance bands, use diclofenac gel, & take glucosamine tablets.

Can you recommend anything else I should or shouldn’t be doing? I don’t want to give up walking, cycling and tennis. So far I have resisted my husbands instructions to see my GP. Is it time to give in?

Thank you.

Why do I get aches and pains when I'm resting or in bed but they soon go when I get up and move about. My mattress is Ok.

I've suffered with joint pain since I was a child but nobody could ever diagnose my problem. In 2010 I had swine flu & after that I couldn't use my hands at all. I was told it was inflammatory arthritis & would settle down in a few weeks but it didn't. I was referred to a rheumatologist who diagnosed me with sero negative rheumatoid arthritis & put me on methotrexate. Within a couple of months my hand pain & lots of other joint pain eased considerably & I even stopped losing the feeling in my hands & legs at night. Seven years later my rheumatologists just said I didn't have RA any more so took me off my meds. Within a few weeks all my symptoms returned but even worse than before. He grudgingly put me back on methotrexate but said that the photos of all the swelling & inflammation I showed him weren't inflammation if it wasn't in my blood tests, even though it had never shown up in my bloods. He then left QMC & I was without a rheumatolgist for months. My symptoms eased again on the meds but when I saw a new rheumatologist she said the same, that it's not inflammation if it's not in your blood tests. My ENT specialist had written to them to say they couldn't rule out relapsing polychondritis as that doesn't show in blood tests & I had so many of those symptoms. Eventually I had to come off methotrexate again over 18 months ago as they said they would do biopsies to diagnose me. All my symptoms came back but it was yet another rheumatologist & she refused to do any biopsies & just said the symptoms weren't rheumatological. My friend is a specialist nurse practitioner & she had the same problem with the NHS even though she'd worked for them for over 25 years. She went private & weas diagnosed with an unidentified rheumatological condition through biopsies which showed her whole body was inflamed. Her rheumatologist down in London has spoken to her about my symptoms & said he was happy to say he had recommended me to see Dr Peter Lanyon who is well reknowned in the UK & a colleague of his but I had a phone call last week to say that the last rheumatologist has told him he hasn't to see me. I am absolutely furious as I'm in so much pain. I can't use my thumbs at all & night time is the worst. I cry all night as I can't bear the clothes touching my feet as the pain in my toes is excruciating & I can't bear my head touching the pillow. I'm always worse after eating when I get terrible jaw pain, numbness in my face, excruciating tooth pain & an awful pain in the back of my head at the base of my skull with an electric shock like feeling running down the back of my head & neck. My elbow joints also flare up badly & I can't sit in a hard surface as my femurs are so painful & I can't stand up afterwards. I don't know what to do to get anyone to accept there is something rheumatoloically wrong & put me back on methotrexate which helped all my symptoms including all my terrible skin problems with inflammation around my nail base, ridged & pitted nails with white patches all over & my hands, feet & nose are icy cold even in hot weather & the pain & stiffness get worse when they are like that. I also get nose bleeds every day which stopped when on Methotrexate. Can you please give me any advice as to what I can do as it's absolute torture. I even told a consultant that if I wasn't such a tough person I would have ended my life as the pain is so bad.

I have suffered from chronic and long-term arthritis (both knees and hips) for the best part of thirty years and have tried every type of treatment, from hard-core drug therapy to alternative remedies but mostly with very limited success. I keep hearing recently that CBD is the way to go and might greatly ameliorate my agonising symptoms and improve my quality of life for my remaining years. Does it work PLEASE?

In Jan I had Covid and my body ached for ages afterwards, my back has now calmed down but I've been left with Bursitis which is really beginning to get me down, I've seen the physios and I'm still taking two 500mg of Naproxen a day but I feel the pain constantly, if you have any advice for me i would really appreciate your help. tia

I whacked the joint below my thumb on the kitchen unit corner some years age, it's never been the same since. I suppose I'm now stuck with it, very painful from time to time.

I seem to be losing strength in my legs. I tried to get onto a dining chair last week - to remove curtains- and my leg gave way and I promptly fell off. No harm done but an awful shock. Any advice, please, on keeping bone strength and, if possible, improving it. Thank you.

Waiting for blood test to determine whether my painful and unbendable big toe is caused by arthritis or gout. Doctor has prescribed Linsaprole, Naproxen and codeine, but I don't want to be on painkillers for the rest of my life so is there an alternative?

I have oesteoarthritus in the joints of three fingers and my left thumb. The thumb is especially painful and I have a cortisone inject twice a year when I visit my hospital rheumatology dept. Obviously covid has meant I have not had an injection in over a year begat else can I do in terms of pain relief

My feet are always painful and in the past 5 months I've had three severe attacks of gout/arthritis; I've had other attacks in the past few years but there was a long gap last year.
The recent attacks involves extreme pain, swollen foot ( left or right) to the extent that I cannot get a shoe on and can barely walk. I also get pains down the outer edge of my foot, and stabbing pains across my toes. I take naproxen which helps a little. A blood test for gout some years ago was apparently inconclusive.
There seems to be no obvious reason for what brings on an attack.
In addition I have extremely broad feet and bunions. My left big toe is gradually being pushed onto my next toe. I don't feel I have any strength in my ankles and get pain around my ankle bones too.
And I also have what may be plantar fascitis. for the last 20 odd years I have only worn backless shoes as any attempt to fit my feet into shoes with a back results in a piercing pain in the sole of my foot.
I have one pair of clogs bought for nearly £100 from Fit Flop which are the only shoes that enable me to walk fairly pain free.

I know I should see my GP but our surgery is like Fort Knox. It took me weeks of phone calls and emails to get naproxen listed as medication on my list of repeat prescriptions.

Like others I have pain in my lower back, right shoulder and my right leg. After using my hands for some work as cooking, sweeping and standing or walking after an hour or two the pain is back. But the one on my right foot specially feel like a heat is coming out of it and like a numbing sensation. Last year I felt the funny feeling in my shoulder as well. I had some pregabalin tablets. I am not sure it works. The pain stayed for a long time. What can I do?