Update on my sister's osteoarthritis.

[carole]

Yes we are both relieved that there is to be no surgery, but like you said does not alleviate the pain does it? her specialist is top notch guy, he does all the knee surgery on our top rugby team the ALL BLACKS, and yes i am impressed too, he said he only see's about two or three people a year with what she has, and has done two or three operations, and they went fine, but he said they are not very successful and your knee is never the same afterwards.

The osteo is in her knee cap, where the original problem is, and not in the joints,she was born with this condition, basically in simple terms the knee cap is not in the right place, and he asked about her siblings, which is me of course, she told him about my ongoing knee pain for over twenty years and difficulty getting up the stairs and crunching, he said i probably had the same thing, i think he could well be right there, i am having a terrible time with the pain at the moment, and need a walking stick to get up and down the stairs at the moment.

I will be going to see a specialist in the near future to see what is what, but at the moment i need to see to my husbands problems, mine can wait, not urgent.

She has to use an exercycle believe it or not, the worst thing i can imagine with my sore knees, but no resistence and high seat, and it will help strengthen the muscles and hopefully ease the pain, guess i will be trading in my dreadmill,for one, i am tired of the dreadmill anyhow and have not used if for about 8mths.

The condition is called Patella femoral pain syndrome,just what i need another syndrome added to my others, lol.

Yes i really hope she can improve her pain with the exercise, because it is no fun at all, i know exactly how she feels right now.

Shepgirl in answer to your question , it was suggested, but the doctor said they have some mean side effects, so i guess she is opting out of that one for now, yes it may be necessary yet though.

[Daisy and Delilah]

I'm not as big fan of cortisone shots. They've backfired on me and the pain gets worse.

[carole]

Yes i agree, me neither, they are not without problems.

[shepgirl]

I remember speaking to my doctor about the shots and he did explain some of the side effects but he said it was much better than taking cortisone orally. I wasn't a candidate for surgery so we opted for the shots. The first time it worked immediately and lasted not quite a yr. The second time was over 11 yrs ago and I haven't had sore knees since. The only pain is sometimes when I wake up my one knee is locked and painful but that's where the cartilage had been removed after a skiing accident, has nothing to do with the shots and as soon as I straighten my leg the pain leaves.
I also had one shoulder done more than 13 yrs ago and I still have no problem with it. So for me, I have to say it worked wonders. Probably depends on the pwerson and the severity of the damage. I hope your sister finds some relief for her knees and hope you don't go through the same for many yrs to come.

[Daisy and Delilah]

shepgirl: I should say that the shots do work in some cases. I have had two, many years ago, that did help me.
It's such a hit and miss thing with me, I decided not to try it again.

I also read several articles that turned me against them because of the after effects/side effects.

I'm happy to hear you got some relief from them. That's fantastic.

[carole]

Right now Shepgirl i think i would almost try anything myself, as i am having a terrible time with my knees, it is so weird that both my sister and I had this flare up at the same time,i did find your post very interesting reading,thank you.

Life sure throws a spanner in the works sometimes,we just have to learn to deal with it which ever way is best for us i guess.

[pomtzu]

Have you ever heard of SYNVISC? It's an injection for the knees that actually adds back the missing lubricant, and not a steroid injection that just reduces pain and swelling. My brother has had it, and it provided relief for a while, but he didn't go back for more as needed, so pretty much defeated the purpose of it.
I have had cortisone injections, and find them to be basically useless - on me anyway! They seem to be hit or miss at best.


Oops!!! I see post #2 addressed this in the first link. It goes by other names as well as Synvisc.