(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.
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.
I have injured myself over the years and as I aged, it always took longer to heal. But heal I did, with the help of PT. Gradually I edited out certain activities and now my primary form of exercise is walking. It keeps my joints well-oiled, I guess. When the pandemic started I realized that I had tons of time to fully integrate PT into my life. I do it every other day. It has made a tremendous change in my life. I am almost pain free. I’m 76. I seldom take pain killers but sometimes if I return from a very long walk (over 3 miles) my whole body will ache. Rather than suffer, I take two kids’ ibuprofens. Basically I am a believer in PT, walking, and aiming for a non-inflammatory diet, although I struggle with sweets.
Addendum: I also swore off lifting more than 12 pounds. If something weighs over 12 pounds I find someone else to lift it for me. Since doing this I have mostly avoided sciatic nerve pain.
Just had a hip replacement in my 60s after years of putting up with the pain. I even travelled to Europe with my sore hip, ignoring the pain as I hobbled through airports, train stations and hilly cobblestoned streets. The result is that my good leg overcompensated, doing all the walking work, so post surgery I have a misaligned gait. I'm working hard with a physio to strengthen my glute and hip flexor muscles to repair the damage, but it's slow. So if I could give any advice to anyone, get a hip replacement sooner than later so you don't develop gait problems that will be difficult to correct once you're literally back on your feet.
Oof! I have hypermobility (a mild version, not the dislocating-joints kind), which means my muscles tend to get very tight trying to hold joints in place, which means the tight muscles pull joints in ways they aren't supposed to go. Good times! I am "lucky" in that I've had chronic pain from this since I was in my 20s or early 30s, so it's nothing new. (Similar to how my college student was grateful, in a way, that they've long had anxiety, because they were more used to it during COVID when their peers were freaking out as they experienced it for the first time.) I also don't quite have ankylosing spondylitis, but do have some of the symptoms -- I found some reassurance in an Italian study I dug up that said people with one copy of the gene tend to have MORE symptoms than some with two copies of the gene, for whatever reason.
For carpal tunnel, I made a big move and switched my mouse hand to my left (non-dominant) hand. So now I am an ambidextrous mouser and use a "handshake" mouse. That helped a lot, plus formed new brain connections, or so I tell myself.
Muscles and braces help me some. Stretching and my recovery gun help some. Bracing (knees, wrists, elbows, shoulder, back ...) provides needed support at times -- you're not a real Oldster until you have a collection of braces, amiright? Soft-tissue chiropractic helped a lot when I had a herniated disc in my neck, which fortunately (?) shriveled up and quit pinching the nerve as much. A Wyld 20:1 CBD:THC gummy does bring relief and leaves my brain totally clear. I love heat on the sore spots to relax the muscles and appreciate modern guidance to use heat or cold -- whatever feels better for your body.
This year, I've started strength training. I do notice a difference in my back, although I also just ordered new elbow braces for lifting with my arms. I like a sign that the gym owner posts occasionally: Most people over 40/50 have pain -- but it's better to be strong with pain than weak with pain.
I haven’t read all the comments, but so far have seen nothing about strength training. I started (finally) working with a trainer a year ago, at 65, and it has made a world of difference. Injuries include rotator cuff tear (decided against surgery) and a recent wrist fracture (that required surgery and has led to chronic hand pain). Despite bunions and foot pain, I continue to be an active walker (about 40 miles a week) and hiker, but have stopped my yoga practice as it was not building strength or helping with my torn rotator cuff, and seemed to be exacerbating back pain. PT has not helped with shoulder or back. But working with a wonderful trainer has almost eliminated shoulder pain and has accelerated wrist healing considerably, and has also helped with back pain. I feel much stronger and can lift my grandchildren with ease!
I recommend upping protein intake, especially for those of us over 65--scientists are discovering that we need a lot more than we did as youngsters, and it's essential for repairing and strengthening muscles. A lot of joint pain is very related to surrounding muscle strength or lack thereof, and while PT and yoga can help, some extra protein might kick the healing into higher gear, as it's done for my quadratus lumborum (back) muscle. Omega-3s and omega 6s--and the right balance of them--help lower inflammation. But maybe my best recommendation is books and free online videos by Katy Bowman, a biomechanist who teaches postural and gait changes and advocates a lot less sitting and a lot more movement. Of her many books, I recommend Dynamic Aging and Rethink Your Position. There are lots of inspiring stories in Dynamic Aging from the over-60 co-authors about healing and resilience that's come to them from changing their gaits, postures and ways of moving through the day. These are not instant fixes, but they appear to offer a much more sustainable freedom from the common pains of aging. Thanks for starting this conversation, Sari! It looks like many of us are hungry for the commiseration and info. Bon courage with your hip and your journey to healing. Much tenderness to all of us!
This topic! So much to say. I’m 48, but I played competitive volleyball for 32 years and have had multiple orthopedic injuries and surgeries. So I always knew that osteoarthritis was coming for me eventually. Got COVID at 44 which turned into the long COVID I’ve been dealing with since. This has accelerated every health issue I would have likely had anyway, like arthritis in my bad knee and both shoulders, menopause, etc. Inactivity due to profound fatigue resulted in two frozen shoulders (I call them Elsa and Anna 🥶🥶, get it?). As the saying goes, “motion is lotion.” Gotta keep all your parts moving, even gently. Also, avoid repeat COVID infections if at all possible, which research has shown can have terrible effects on your muscles, joints, and organ systems as well as increase your chances of getting long COVID. I guess the takeaway is: keep it moving, and if you’re moving around lots of others, then mask up 😷.
Yoga, yoga, yoga. Any kind will help but for me right now it's all about traditional hot yoga and yin. I first noticed this dealing with carpal tunnel-ish symptoms in my 20s and 30s. My wrists would always go back to normal if I was doing at least 3 flow classes a week with lots of down dogs. In my late 40s I started being unable to sit cross-legged on the floor anymore without pain. With family and job I had gotten out of the yoga habit and started going again--and after several months I could sit on the floor again. Not like when I was 5 but good enough! At age 56 I now go multiple times a week (sometimes every day) to hot and yin yoga for many reasons, including that it just makes me feel so much happier and at ease regardless of what's happening in the outside world. But a huge reason is that it makes my joint pain and stiffness go away, or at least be reduced to a low level. After 2-3 years of regular practice I'm also now becoming flexible in a way I haven't been in a very long time (and I am not a naturally flexible person!). Hot yoga can be challenging at first, yes, but it is easily adjustable to all levels and once you get used to it you will see that there are people in the room from age 20-70. I see a bunch of regulars in my classes who must be in their 50s and 60s. Yin yoga is slow and on the floor and you hold postures for 2-5 minutes until gravity and relaxation start working on your fascia--it's not about stretching but about letting stuff go. It can have a profound effect in many ways, not just on your body. These days if I go even a few days without a class I start feeling it. Highly, highly recommend.
Whining. I do lots of whining. I love pickleball so much, but it does not love me back. When I was playing ball in college, I dislocated my SI joint, and that's come back to haunt me. I can no longer walk for any length of time without my left leg going numb. More recently, it's my knee. I'm limping around and waiting for insurance approval on an MRI to see what might be torn in there. Next week, I'm getting an injection in my thumb joint. And at the end of the month, I'm having a hysterectomy. I feel like everything started falling apart after I turned 50. Mostly, I just feel sad and poor. All the things are so darn expensive! Oy.
I'm 44 and a lifelong active person (softball, roller derby, running, yoga, martial arts all at various points). Last year, I suddenly began having hip pain while exercising on the elliptical machine--what I thought was the safest option for my joints! It took two orthopedic surgeons, an MRI, and a diagnostic injection before I was diagnosed with a hip labral tear. The pain was debilitating; I went from working out 5 hours a week to barely being able to walk a full block. Standing hurt. Sitting hurt. Sleeping hurt. What I wish our medical providers talked to us more about is the impact on our mental health when we go from being highly active to injured and in chronic pain. Thankfully, I found an incredible physical therapist who I met with for two months, then another PT/hip specialist who set me up with a successful long-term rehab plan to get me back to my beloved activities like hiking and traveling. I am pretty much my old self again, but the memory of those dark, depressed months of pain are still so recent and raw. If there's anything I'd advise someone in the same boat, it would be: get multiple opinions and be sure to see THE specialist for your particular issue, find a PT who specializes in your injury, and surround yourself with positive support for your mental health in addition to the physical. This way you can be best informed and feel the most confident about whatever you decide, be it going the PT or the surgical route. I spent wayyy too long panic-reading everything I could google on the internet which only made me feel more anxious and overwhelmed; I needed knowledgeable, positive, experienced support to get me back on track.
I think if you would take HRT, the pain becomes less! It really helps against joint pain and osteoporosis, lack of estrogen plays an extremely important role.
I contracted polio when I was 8 years old. Fortunately, my case was relatively mild. I wore braces for a time and had to relearn to walk again. I am now, at 78, facing a resurgence of joint challenges (it is called post-polio syndrome) as a result of overuse of parts of me which have compensated for other parts which don't work so well. Ironically, I've received many benefits from contracting polio: 1. my perspective is not that of someone who was initially fit and then goes into challenges as she ages; 2. what I learned from the Sister Kenny Method so many years ago has continued to remain true: slow, consistent, warm physical movement (instead of surgery, large use of pharmaceuticals and intense exercise). Finally, because I've been around many so-called handicapped folks all my life, my perspective is to be profoundly grateful for what I can do and to be amazed at all the clever way folks learn to cope. I encourage folks to witness a Special Olympics event to see such determination and joy. I am delighted there are so many options now available. Pacing, diet, and the use of homeopathic remedies works most of the time for me. I haven't used aspirin or their like in decades. No joint replacements yet, but seriously looking at the book: Treat your own knees.
I had a complete hip replacement five years ago, so you have my sympathies with your own medical problems. I have a regimen that seems to work, which is to go to the gym three days a week, and on the off days, to walk for an hour or to take a bike ride. I am nearly 78 years old, so my walking is not brisk, more turtlelike, if you will. Movement is the key, and stretching. Much of my gym routine, which last about an hour, is to stretch the joints no matter how inflexible they are at first stretch of day. I am also caregiving a partner who has early onset Alzheimer's; she is 22 years young than I am, and that takes up a lot of my day. At the gym, I say hello to and sometimes talk to a lot of people, young and old. To the oldsters I give them words of encouragement and to the young ones I listen carefully as they often know of good exercise routines, stretches and what are the right reps.
I did not win the solid, healthy joint lottery at birth (one of my many orthopedic surgeons called them "loosey goosey"). I am currently 52 and putting off a knee replacement with carefully timed steroid injections. At age 50 I had a major tendon repair in an ankle and in my 40s, both rotator cuffs. And that's to say nothing of all the other knee things or the carpal tunnel.
My current biggest nemesis is base-of-thumb arthritis in both hands. As a professor and writer who loves to cook and play piano, it's both physically and emotionally painful. I tried injections in one hand but had a weird reaction (plus bizarre issues with billing and insurance which I've never had with my larger joints) so no more of that. I was on the verge of surgery and dreading it with every fiber of my being - no dominant hand for a minimum of 6 weeks, and several months till full use would be restored. My doctor, thankfully, is open to giving people a full range of options, and I have been able to manage it with 6 things:
6- the other most annoying and also helpful one - built-in rest breaks where I don't use my hands at all (to accomplish this, I try to find a show I like and then hide my phone in another room)
I also had a good experience with hand therapy to get through the worst of the pain and inflammation. It didn't cure it, but it did help me learn to manage it and they also made me my thumb spicas (splints)
Can't wait to read what others say. Also going to look up the plasma thing
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.
I have injured myself over the years and as I aged, it always took longer to heal. But heal I did, with the help of PT. Gradually I edited out certain activities and now my primary form of exercise is walking. It keeps my joints well-oiled, I guess. When the pandemic started I realized that I had tons of time to fully integrate PT into my life. I do it every other day. It has made a tremendous change in my life. I am almost pain free. I’m 76. I seldom take pain killers but sometimes if I return from a very long walk (over 3 miles) my whole body will ache. Rather than suffer, I take two kids’ ibuprofens. Basically I am a believer in PT, walking, and aiming for a non-inflammatory diet, although I struggle with sweets.
Addendum: I also swore off lifting more than 12 pounds. If something weighs over 12 pounds I find someone else to lift it for me. Since doing this I have mostly avoided sciatic nerve pain.
Just had a hip replacement in my 60s after years of putting up with the pain. I even travelled to Europe with my sore hip, ignoring the pain as I hobbled through airports, train stations and hilly cobblestoned streets. The result is that my good leg overcompensated, doing all the walking work, so post surgery I have a misaligned gait. I'm working hard with a physio to strengthen my glute and hip flexor muscles to repair the damage, but it's slow. So if I could give any advice to anyone, get a hip replacement sooner than later so you don't develop gait problems that will be difficult to correct once you're literally back on your feet.
Oof! I have hypermobility (a mild version, not the dislocating-joints kind), which means my muscles tend to get very tight trying to hold joints in place, which means the tight muscles pull joints in ways they aren't supposed to go. Good times! I am "lucky" in that I've had chronic pain from this since I was in my 20s or early 30s, so it's nothing new. (Similar to how my college student was grateful, in a way, that they've long had anxiety, because they were more used to it during COVID when their peers were freaking out as they experienced it for the first time.) I also don't quite have ankylosing spondylitis, but do have some of the symptoms -- I found some reassurance in an Italian study I dug up that said people with one copy of the gene tend to have MORE symptoms than some with two copies of the gene, for whatever reason.
For carpal tunnel, I made a big move and switched my mouse hand to my left (non-dominant) hand. So now I am an ambidextrous mouser and use a "handshake" mouse. That helped a lot, plus formed new brain connections, or so I tell myself.
Muscles and braces help me some. Stretching and my recovery gun help some. Bracing (knees, wrists, elbows, shoulder, back ...) provides needed support at times -- you're not a real Oldster until you have a collection of braces, amiright? Soft-tissue chiropractic helped a lot when I had a herniated disc in my neck, which fortunately (?) shriveled up and quit pinching the nerve as much. A Wyld 20:1 CBD:THC gummy does bring relief and leaves my brain totally clear. I love heat on the sore spots to relax the muscles and appreciate modern guidance to use heat or cold -- whatever feels better for your body.
This year, I've started strength training. I do notice a difference in my back, although I also just ordered new elbow braces for lifting with my arms. I like a sign that the gym owner posts occasionally: Most people over 40/50 have pain -- but it's better to be strong with pain than weak with pain.
I haven’t read all the comments, but so far have seen nothing about strength training. I started (finally) working with a trainer a year ago, at 65, and it has made a world of difference. Injuries include rotator cuff tear (decided against surgery) and a recent wrist fracture (that required surgery and has led to chronic hand pain). Despite bunions and foot pain, I continue to be an active walker (about 40 miles a week) and hiker, but have stopped my yoga practice as it was not building strength or helping with my torn rotator cuff, and seemed to be exacerbating back pain. PT has not helped with shoulder or back. But working with a wonderful trainer has almost eliminated shoulder pain and has accelerated wrist healing considerably, and has also helped with back pain. I feel much stronger and can lift my grandchildren with ease!
I recommend upping protein intake, especially for those of us over 65--scientists are discovering that we need a lot more than we did as youngsters, and it's essential for repairing and strengthening muscles. A lot of joint pain is very related to surrounding muscle strength or lack thereof, and while PT and yoga can help, some extra protein might kick the healing into higher gear, as it's done for my quadratus lumborum (back) muscle. Omega-3s and omega 6s--and the right balance of them--help lower inflammation. But maybe my best recommendation is books and free online videos by Katy Bowman, a biomechanist who teaches postural and gait changes and advocates a lot less sitting and a lot more movement. Of her many books, I recommend Dynamic Aging and Rethink Your Position. There are lots of inspiring stories in Dynamic Aging from the over-60 co-authors about healing and resilience that's come to them from changing their gaits, postures and ways of moving through the day. These are not instant fixes, but they appear to offer a much more sustainable freedom from the common pains of aging. Thanks for starting this conversation, Sari! It looks like many of us are hungry for the commiseration and info. Bon courage with your hip and your journey to healing. Much tenderness to all of us!
This topic! So much to say. I’m 48, but I played competitive volleyball for 32 years and have had multiple orthopedic injuries and surgeries. So I always knew that osteoarthritis was coming for me eventually. Got COVID at 44 which turned into the long COVID I’ve been dealing with since. This has accelerated every health issue I would have likely had anyway, like arthritis in my bad knee and both shoulders, menopause, etc. Inactivity due to profound fatigue resulted in two frozen shoulders (I call them Elsa and Anna 🥶🥶, get it?). As the saying goes, “motion is lotion.” Gotta keep all your parts moving, even gently. Also, avoid repeat COVID infections if at all possible, which research has shown can have terrible effects on your muscles, joints, and organ systems as well as increase your chances of getting long COVID. I guess the takeaway is: keep it moving, and if you’re moving around lots of others, then mask up 😷.
Yoga, yoga, yoga. Any kind will help but for me right now it's all about traditional hot yoga and yin. I first noticed this dealing with carpal tunnel-ish symptoms in my 20s and 30s. My wrists would always go back to normal if I was doing at least 3 flow classes a week with lots of down dogs. In my late 40s I started being unable to sit cross-legged on the floor anymore without pain. With family and job I had gotten out of the yoga habit and started going again--and after several months I could sit on the floor again. Not like when I was 5 but good enough! At age 56 I now go multiple times a week (sometimes every day) to hot and yin yoga for many reasons, including that it just makes me feel so much happier and at ease regardless of what's happening in the outside world. But a huge reason is that it makes my joint pain and stiffness go away, or at least be reduced to a low level. After 2-3 years of regular practice I'm also now becoming flexible in a way I haven't been in a very long time (and I am not a naturally flexible person!). Hot yoga can be challenging at first, yes, but it is easily adjustable to all levels and once you get used to it you will see that there are people in the room from age 20-70. I see a bunch of regulars in my classes who must be in their 50s and 60s. Yin yoga is slow and on the floor and you hold postures for 2-5 minutes until gravity and relaxation start working on your fascia--it's not about stretching but about letting stuff go. It can have a profound effect in many ways, not just on your body. These days if I go even a few days without a class I start feeling it. Highly, highly recommend.
Whining. I do lots of whining. I love pickleball so much, but it does not love me back. When I was playing ball in college, I dislocated my SI joint, and that's come back to haunt me. I can no longer walk for any length of time without my left leg going numb. More recently, it's my knee. I'm limping around and waiting for insurance approval on an MRI to see what might be torn in there. Next week, I'm getting an injection in my thumb joint. And at the end of the month, I'm having a hysterectomy. I feel like everything started falling apart after I turned 50. Mostly, I just feel sad and poor. All the things are so darn expensive! Oy.
I'm 44 and a lifelong active person (softball, roller derby, running, yoga, martial arts all at various points). Last year, I suddenly began having hip pain while exercising on the elliptical machine--what I thought was the safest option for my joints! It took two orthopedic surgeons, an MRI, and a diagnostic injection before I was diagnosed with a hip labral tear. The pain was debilitating; I went from working out 5 hours a week to barely being able to walk a full block. Standing hurt. Sitting hurt. Sleeping hurt. What I wish our medical providers talked to us more about is the impact on our mental health when we go from being highly active to injured and in chronic pain. Thankfully, I found an incredible physical therapist who I met with for two months, then another PT/hip specialist who set me up with a successful long-term rehab plan to get me back to my beloved activities like hiking and traveling. I am pretty much my old self again, but the memory of those dark, depressed months of pain are still so recent and raw. If there's anything I'd advise someone in the same boat, it would be: get multiple opinions and be sure to see THE specialist for your particular issue, find a PT who specializes in your injury, and surround yourself with positive support for your mental health in addition to the physical. This way you can be best informed and feel the most confident about whatever you decide, be it going the PT or the surgical route. I spent wayyy too long panic-reading everything I could google on the internet which only made me feel more anxious and overwhelmed; I needed knowledgeable, positive, experienced support to get me back on track.
I think if you would take HRT, the pain becomes less! It really helps against joint pain and osteoporosis, lack of estrogen plays an extremely important role.
At 69 I have osteoporosis (probably from.chemo). My joints are holding up due to:
1) Anti inflammatory diet
2) daily stretching and strengthening - i choose yoga
3) walking & dancing - keep the body moving - joyfully,- by doing something you love
I contracted polio when I was 8 years old. Fortunately, my case was relatively mild. I wore braces for a time and had to relearn to walk again. I am now, at 78, facing a resurgence of joint challenges (it is called post-polio syndrome) as a result of overuse of parts of me which have compensated for other parts which don't work so well. Ironically, I've received many benefits from contracting polio: 1. my perspective is not that of someone who was initially fit and then goes into challenges as she ages; 2. what I learned from the Sister Kenny Method so many years ago has continued to remain true: slow, consistent, warm physical movement (instead of surgery, large use of pharmaceuticals and intense exercise). Finally, because I've been around many so-called handicapped folks all my life, my perspective is to be profoundly grateful for what I can do and to be amazed at all the clever way folks learn to cope. I encourage folks to witness a Special Olympics event to see such determination and joy. I am delighted there are so many options now available. Pacing, diet, and the use of homeopathic remedies works most of the time for me. I haven't used aspirin or their like in decades. No joint replacements yet, but seriously looking at the book: Treat your own knees.
I had a complete hip replacement five years ago, so you have my sympathies with your own medical problems. I have a regimen that seems to work, which is to go to the gym three days a week, and on the off days, to walk for an hour or to take a bike ride. I am nearly 78 years old, so my walking is not brisk, more turtlelike, if you will. Movement is the key, and stretching. Much of my gym routine, which last about an hour, is to stretch the joints no matter how inflexible they are at first stretch of day. I am also caregiving a partner who has early onset Alzheimer's; she is 22 years young than I am, and that takes up a lot of my day. At the gym, I say hello to and sometimes talk to a lot of people, young and old. To the oldsters I give them words of encouragement and to the young ones I listen carefully as they often know of good exercise routines, stretches and what are the right reps.
I did not win the solid, healthy joint lottery at birth (one of my many orthopedic surgeons called them "loosey goosey"). I am currently 52 and putting off a knee replacement with carefully timed steroid injections. At age 50 I had a major tendon repair in an ankle and in my 40s, both rotator cuffs. And that's to say nothing of all the other knee things or the carpal tunnel.
My current biggest nemesis is base-of-thumb arthritis in both hands. As a professor and writer who loves to cook and play piano, it's both physically and emotionally painful. I tried injections in one hand but had a weird reaction (plus bizarre issues with billing and insurance which I've never had with my larger joints) so no more of that. I was on the verge of surgery and dreading it with every fiber of my being - no dominant hand for a minimum of 6 weeks, and several months till full use would be restored. My doctor, thankfully, is open to giving people a full range of options, and I have been able to manage it with 6 things:
1- ibuprofen
2- heated hand splint wraps (kind of like the ones at this link https://a.co/d/0yUBCEY)
3- topical CBD balm
4- custom splints made by my. hand therapist
5- the most annoying but also most helpful one - an anti-inflammatory diet (see here for one explanation https://www.webmd.com/diet/anti-inflammatory-diet-road-to-good-health)
6- the other most annoying and also helpful one - built-in rest breaks where I don't use my hands at all (to accomplish this, I try to find a show I like and then hide my phone in another room)
I also had a good experience with hand therapy to get through the worst of the pain and inflammation. It didn't cure it, but it did help me learn to manage it and they also made me my thumb spicas (splints)
Can't wait to read what others say. Also going to look up the plasma thing