Thread: sore joints et al.

Originally Posted by commiecat

I'm an I.T. professional and people bring their computers to me all the time telling me what the problem is. I lie and confirm their prognosis to them in person because it's easier than explaining what the real issue is, and then I fix it and give it back.

I juist might be beginning to like you red kitty

Originally Posted by JM
S;664228

I generally look for the problem myself if it is something requiring medical help I will go. Generally I tell the doctor what I have, he checks me out and usually confirms my diagnosis and at this time I believe its called old age and being too hard on my body in my younger years...my prognosis may change

Let me reword the above by saying that I am open to health care sources examining my issues closer but not until my own research and questions are satisfied...or can't be.

Two things I haven't seen posted ...

1) Consider getting a "body pillow" ... a very long pillow that you can put between your legs (especially hips, knees & ankles) and also allows you to rest your arm on while you sleep on your side. As I got older, I noticed I have to sleep on my side, but that can lead to a sagging leg and arm that will tend to cause joint pain when you stay in that position a long time while sleeping. I actually have two of these ... one on each side so that when I roll over to alleviate pressure, I have one on both sides. Also, in a related vein ... I agree with the "bed" comment above. We've purchased a tempur-pedic (I know they are pricey) 10 years ago, and have thought it was one of our best purchases ever ... it still keeps it's shape, and the comfort is exponentially better.

2) Not sure what your weight is, but when I lost 20 lbs, most of my minor physical issues went away. I no longer have back pain, the cartiledge in my knees no longer hurts, I sleep better, etc.

I'm 51 years old, have played soccer for about 35 years, and have been physically active on my property with lots of manual labor (although my day job is at a desk), and ride a bike about 60 to 180 miles a week, and ride a 1940 hard-tail H-D motorcycle, and all of that does lead to some aches and pains ... but losing the weight did more for my aches and pains than anything.

Also, want to agree on the Gloucosomine-Chrondoiton (sp?) ... I have had several doctors tell me that it works ... and my knee cartiledge rarely gives me problems any more.

Good luck!

I'm 56 and have given my body a fairly good bashing over the years. I work as mechanic. I've raced (and crashed) motorcycles, spent several years practising Aikido and ran a few marathons in the 1980s.
This year I was in so much pain on the left side of my neck, shoulder and down into my arm I thought I'd had it.
At the worst point, even with precribed opiates I couldn't lay in a bed. Lots of suggestions, I even tried acupuncture. Luckily I had a good physiotherapist who persuaded me that medical intervention wasn't needed.
The solution: Rest and take it easy. If I hadn't forced myself to really relax I don't think I could have recovered. It took from March 'til August.

I'll tell you from my prospective. When we're young the answers to our problems healthwise are usually straight forward and simple and conservative approaches usually resolve the issues. As we become older especially as we approach 50 that's when our bodies really start to fall apart and the problems often times are more serious and not so simple. I get money can be a big issue and it's often easier to take someones "advice" and seek an easy "cure" but you know we only have one body and in the old days people just suffered or used some home remedy which may have seemed to work but then again most folks died in their 60s.

Well, if you ask the evolution you're well past the age where you should have procreated and your body is just reflecting that.

In the spirit of straight razor shaving, the great german company Bayer came up in 1895 with a solution for ailments like yours. Here's the ad:

I tried those. They helped the symptoms some. But when I dumped all the artificial sweeteners, I gave them up. No more pain.

Originally Posted by Tuxedo7

Also, want to agree on the Gloucosomine-Chrondoiton (sp?) ... I have had several doctors tell me that it works ... and my knee cartiledge rarely gives me problems any more.

Good luck!

Today busy life styles often force us to push ourself and as we get older it catches up with us. Not enough sleep and over doing it often leads to injury and permenat damage as we continue to work through the pain.

I worked in a very demanding field where we often did not have the right lifting equipment.

By the time I was 38 I was worn out and had sever degenerative disc disease.
The best fix is to stop doing what is killing you and go back to school.

What has worked for me to help with pain in my joints.
1 wear a heavy sock with the toes cut out over elbows or knees when you can, like at night if joints keep you awake. Strong magnets taped to the right spot that hurts can help, copper braclets and rings help. I wear them all the time copper won't kill the pain but will reduce it by half for me. Heating pad. A shot of whiskey will help reduce authoritus pain for 3 hours.
Often people who do heavy work drink hard liquor to kill pain so watch yourself. Milk Thistle helps the liver.

I can not take anti inflamatory drugs. Took 12 years of ****ing blood to understand that. Doctors never figured that out.

Learn hypnosis so you can teach yourself to relax even when you are in a lot of pain.

Hope this helps?
Silver2

Originally Posted by northpaw

Just two things to suggest:

1. Strength training. If you start slow (this is key), you can often develop the muscles around a problem joint so that they stabilize/support it. This has made a world of difference for my father, who basically destroyed the cartilage in his shoulder after years of playing competitive tennis. He literally can't lift his elbow above his shoulder, but he can now do everything else with it pain-free.

2. Warming up muscles and joints before stressing them. Seems obvious, but when someone says "hey, come give me a hand with this", it can feel a little silly to stop and spend several minutes doing knee bends and swinging one's arms around. A lot of people refuse to do it, and those are the sore people.

+1 On this. I found strength training helped a lot. Along with copious amounts of fish oil I also take Animal Pak Flex. It's inexpensive and contains anything even rumored to help joints. As long as I don't over do it I rarely have joint pain anymore.

Originally Posted by gugi

In the spirit of straight razor shaving, the great german company Bayer came up in 1895 with a solution for ailments like yours. Here's the ad:

Do you think they are honoring their offers of free samples? I think I'm going to be developing a bad cough soon.