Let's Talk Joints
(Unfortunately, not the fun kind.) An open thread about time's painful effects on our shoulders, hips, elbows, wrists, knees, ankles, etc., and what we're doing about it.
Readers,
Yesterday morning I spent 45 minutes inside an MRI machine. It was my third MRI in as many years, this time examining my chronically aching right hip and lower back, which seemed to have worsened considerably while I had Covid in the second half of December. (Something something inflammation…) I spent a lot of time during those two weeks working from bed with a heating pad under me and popping Meloxicam and Extra-Strength Tylenol along with my cold meds.
As I was lying inside the clanging, whirring MRI machine yesterday, I thought, Maybe they should just do a whole body scan, all at once, since one by one my 58-year-old joints are starting to stiffen and scream.
It’s no secret that no matter how young we think we are in our minds, nor how spry we remain in other ways, aging hardens and erodes our cartilage, causing painful osteoarthritis in many of us—over 32.5 million Americans.
Today I want to get a conversation going in the comments about what kinds of joint pain we’ve been living with, and how we’re addressing it. ***I just ask that no one proselytize, or try to push their point of view on anyone. This has happened occasionally when I’ve brought up health issues here, and ultimately it’s not helpful. So, feel free to tell us what you’re doing for treatment, but please don’t argue with each other about it here.
The chronic pain in my hip began long before my late 50s. It was given a head start by the driver of a hulking Chevy Suburban who mowed me down at the corner of Thompson and Spring Streets in Manhattan in May of 2008, then took off, when I was 42-and-a-half. My left shoulder was a casualty of that accident, too; I had surgery on it the following year to repair a gaping tear in my labrum. Now that joint is making a lot of noise again, too. Wheeee….
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I “failed” six weeks of physical therapy on both fronts. (Insurance companies usually won’t cover the cost of an MRI, nor costly treatments, until you’ve flunked PT.) Now that I’m older and there’s naturally been more deterioration in those joints (and others!), my orthopedists and I are going to have to figure out ways to mitigate my pain without inhibiting my range of motion.
In the past year I’ve had a bunch of acupuncture, which seemed to temporarily ease the pain and allow for more fluid motion. But in the past month, I’ve come to realize it’s time for the big guns. We need to wait until we get the results of yesterday’s scan, but there’s already talk of possibly doing surgery to fuse my right sacroiliac joint, as well as pursuing Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) injections for a fraying tendon on the outside of that hip.
Once we have more information, I’m going to have to make informed decisions about how to proceed. So I figured it would be smart to ask the community of Oldster readers about their experiences with joint pain, osteoarthritis, and various treatments.
What’s happening to you on this front as you get older? How are you addressing it? Traditional Western medicine? Alternative medicine? Supplements? A combo-platter? Tell me in the comments…
-Sari
Except for one six week period of knee pain and limping, at 71 I have not yet encountered much joint pain. But my friend Joyce, a retired dance professor of 78, experienced the sexism and agism of the medical industry when she tried to suggest that the limited range of motion she had after shoulder surgery was NOT acceptable. Those young men could not seem to conceive of a 78 year old woman who "needed" to dance every day. They seemed to think that at her age she should just shut up and sit down. It scared me.
My approach is to do as little as possible and to start as conservatively (and as low-tech) as possible. As a doctor once told me, probably violating her oath, "Don't let them operate until all else has failed." Ha.
For extreme hip pain resulting from broken ankle -- a PT recommended I put a Reader's Digest (or similar small magazine) under my butt on the affected side while driving. This was huge. Car seats wear out and the firmness and slight lift helps. Experiment!
For arthritic feet -- no heels, whatsoever, plus foot exercises from the incredible Dr. Ray McClanahan (YouTube, via Northwest Foot and Ankle).
For carpal tunnel -- train myself to use the computer mouse with my other hand. That was a tough one. But it can be done!
Arthritis in knee -- again, no heels, plus knee exercises from book "Treat Your Own Knees." by Jim Johnson. Every time my knee starts hurting again, I know I've slacked off doing what I should.
Arthritis in neck -- get away from the computer, plus add yoga. Also, a weird exercise my PT showed me of simply tucking my chin and consciously stretching my neck toward the sky. It really helps.