Arthritis

[the Ferret]

Anyone here dealing with osteoarthritis? I have developed it, in both hands, but particularly in my right hand and right wrist to the point it is affecting my riding. Right hand joints are swollen and stiff and painful making it hard to grip and use throttle, release throttle and raise fingers to use the front brake. Also can't open twist off lids, lift a heavy bag with one hand, make a tight fist etc. I went to a rheumatologist and she prescribed a topical gel anti inflammatory 4x day called Voltarin. At first it seemed to work pretty well, and it still helps some but it's still an issue for riding.

Any of you sufferer's finding anything that helps a lot?

 

[Al st1100]

I have some form of arthritis. Doc said keep moving, exercise and diet. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322603.php When I visit my son in Nevada I always feel better in the dry heat, cold and humidity is not good.

 

[Andrew Shadow]

Patty @Peppermint has been dealing with arthritis for quite a while now. Unfortunately she had to quit riding and therefore sold her bike because of arthritis in her hands. Not sure what type she has but I included her username so she will see this and hopefully will have some helpful advice for you.

 

[Uncle Phil]

I've had some pretty 'extensive' surgeries on both of my hands to relieve arthritis of the 'thumb' joint -
both STT resections and later CMC arthroplastys.
They fixed the problems in my hands as I am a piano player and a software developer which requires a lot of 'keyboard' time.
I was getting to the point that I was losing function in my hands - I found I could not pull in the front brake lever any more while riding one day.
So I looked for permanent relief after trying all sorts of shots, cremes, exercise, diet, special 'gloves', etc.

 

[the Ferret]

yea UP, that's pretty serious. I'd rather not get cut on if I can help it lol. I do have a special glove I'm supposed to wear but it doesn't seem to help at all.

 

[Uncle Phil]

yea UP, that's pretty serious. I'd rather not get cut on if I can help it lol. I do have a special glove I'm supposed to wear but it doesn't seem to help at all.

Arthritis is basically when bone rubs against bone and the bones get inflamed. On a 'scope' it looks like little angel hairs hanging off the bone. It got to the point where my hands were becoming pretty useless and the pain so bad that it was keeping me awake at night. There's a little trapezoid shaped bone at the base of your thumb that connects your thumb to your wrist. Mine looked like a snow field on a xray and instead of cartilage it looked like a hairline fracture. The CMC procedure removes this bone, takes a tendon from your wrist , wraps it around a 'filler' and then they tie the cut end of the tendon through a hole they drill in the base of the thumb. The 'filler' and tendon function in place of the cartilage (mine was gone) and now bone doesn't rub against bone. The STT does basically a similar function and uses a tendon between bones to act as 'bone' and cartilage. It's a little 'radical' but it solved the problem completely. As I said, I tried all sort of stuff - medical, diet, non-medical - and would have tied a dead possum around my hands if I thought it would have helped. Nothing helped until I had the surgery. The problem with cortisone is that it works for a while (major anti-inflammatory) but just for a while. The 'new' cortisone you can have about every three months without doing damage to the bone I was told. I'm going through the same thing with my shoulders and will eventually have to have them replaced like I did my knees. Arthritis is certainly a constant companion, but not a pleasant one. I did find that sugar in certain amounts can be a real inflammatory for me so I try to avoid it as much as possible though I really like it!

 

[STmark1300]

I guess the first line of defense is Tylenol. Then glucosamine and turmeric with Curcumin. The glucosamine takes 2 weeks to start working. They all reduce inflammation. The really good stuff, but it's expensive and you have to get at a health food store is CuraMed, but as I say it's expensive. Also it's safe for the body. The one two punch would be glucosamine and curamed.

 

[papalon]

Anyone here dealing with osteoarthritis? I have developed it, in both hands, but particularly in my right hand and right wrist to the point it is affecting my riding. Right hand joints are swollen and stiff and painful making it hard to grip and use throttle, release throttle and raise fingers to use the front brake. Also can't open twist off lids, lift a heavy bag with one hand, make a tight fist etc. I went to a rheumatologist and she prescribed a topical gel anti inflammatory 4x day called Voltarin. At first it seemed to work pretty well, and it still helps some but it's still an issue for riding.

Any of you sufferer's finding anything that helps a lot?

Hi sorry to hear this, There is a lot of oils like frankensence, ganja oil, black seed oil. Stem cells cure anything & Gcmaf,
www.mothernatureandyou.org
Gud luck & try anything.

 

[kerbside]

In the lighter side - I'm not one for wearing logos etc on my clothing but this T-shirt that someone gave me a year ago really hit the spot.
I've just bought a pack of them to give away to friends, mainly riders who have this debilitating illness. We're now on the same team!
Wanted one with either an ST or a Norton on but this is what you get. Maybe the ageing ST owners can get a group buy.
.
Andy

 

[wideguy]

Psoriatic arthritis is what drove me off my bike 7 years ago. I ended up on serious biologics which worked great but they are risky if you can avoid them.

Look into anti-inflamtory diets, there maybe be some foods that will trigger yours worse.

Lots of massage and PT on affected joints.

I also found Glucosamine/Condrointon supplements helpful but as others mention they're cumulative effect so it takes a bit to feel the improvement and then you have to remember not to miss doses.

And if you're open my rheumatologist actually suggested I try CBD. But you have to make sure you get real quality stuff.

 

[caldercay]

I'm currently being shuffled among various specialists at the VA.

My major issue is I cant bend most my fingers, ie. I cant "make a fist" (right hand). I also cannot straighten my right arm fully at the elbow. The surgeon said, "really?" and tried her damndest to forceably straighten it and could not.

At this point, it's not a pain issue, I just cant bend my joints. Absolutely nothing helps (medicinally), it's a mechanical issue.

Ultimately, there's NOTHING that can be done. One surgeon said they could do hand/joint replacement ... you know, replace all the extreme joints in my hand (the eight joints beyond the knuckles).

 

[TerryS]

I have osteoarthritis in my knees and it got bad enough that I couldn't even jog across the road. I now take glucosamine and fish oil every day, plus dichlofenac on bad days, and my knees work really really well again (best day recently was >30,000 steps with no pain). Regular exercise is a must, use it or lose it.

 

[Peppermint]

Patty @Peppermint has been dealing with arthritis for quite a while now. Unfortunately she had to quit riding and therefore sold her bike because of arthritis in her hands. Not sure what type she has but I included her username so she will see this and hopefully will have some helpful advice for you.

Thanks for thinking of me, my friend! Yes, to say that I'm having a rough time of it would be an understatement, as I have both rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. The osteo is what's ailing my hands - both thumb joints and left wrist, to be exact, and the rheumatoid (or "RA") makes me sick all over...very sick. It's something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. RA is systemic - it attacks joints, yes, but it can also wreak havoc on the sufferer's internal organs; in my case, it's my intestinal tract. During severe attacks, I'm in so much pain/discomfort I can't even go out and other than the foods I have found to be triggers by trial and error (such as dairy and legumes, i.e., lentils, beans, etc.), I have no idea whether what I eat is going to make me sick or not. There is a proven correlation between some types of arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, so none of this is all that surprising - the worst part of it is that nobody's quite sure whether my gut problems are just the RA, or whether I also have Crohn's Disease - they're still trying to figure that one out.

RA attacks can also last quite a while - during the last long one (over a year), I became really weak and dangerously thin. My rheumatologist had me on a really nasty medication called methotrexate for a couple of years: it's a drug normally used for chemotherapy but in lower doses and in combination with hydroxychloroquine can be effective in treating RA in some people. I had to self-inject the stuff once a week. It's also cytotoxic and can do nasty things to your liver, kidneys, immune system, etc., so you have to be closely monitored when on it. It didn't really work for me and I hated putting that stuff in my body, so we agreed that I should stop taking it.

Right now the RA isn't roaring too loudly, it's mostly the osteo that's flaring up and making me miserable - my hands are in agony and the base of my left thumb looks like a small football. I also have some Voltaren and I find that it does work fairly well, but I'm a frequent hand washer and you can't just keep re-applying it. So these days I'm pretty much surviving on Tylenol or Advil (the liquid gels, since they work faster). I have to be careful though, since pain meds can mess with your stomach and I already have enough problems in that area! I have also started taking Omega3, which seems to be helping with the gut issues and overall energy. Other than that, I'm kind of at a loss. I wish I had a wonderful solution to offer, but different things work for different people; some of the posters in this thread have offered some pretty good advice though, I think!

Hang in there, fellow sufferers!

Patty

 

[Obo]

I remember my grandmother had arthritis very bad to the point her fingers and knuckles were almost curled over. She used to melt wax in a pot on the the stove and dip her hands into it to get the benefits of the heat.

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[Uncle Phil]

I've taken good quality Glucosamine/Chondroitin, fish oil, garlic, diclofenac, etc. for years. Hopefully it helps some, but as my knee doctor told me after my first knee scope (had 5 between the two knees)- 'Knees (and joints in general) usually don't get better as you age. There will be a day when you come in here and tell me to put you a new one in'. He cleaned them up and did what he could, but the day did come. I know that's the same deal with my shoulders and was the deal with my hands. What pushed me to my first hand surgery was I was in a right hander, went to pull in the front brake to scrub off a little speed and my right hand wouldn't close … and there's a car coming. Pre-ABS, I was able to carefully take off enough with the rear brake without locking it but it was a really close as I cooking right along - but not where a small application of the front brakes would not have easily taken care of it. On my second hand surgery, I was on my way into work and I realized that if someone pulled out in front of me and I had to grab serious handful of my front brake, I couldn't do it. Nerve damage had already started and I knew if I didn't do something I would lose most of my hand function. And for a piano player and person who makes their living at a computer keyboard, that's not a good thing. After hand surgery, I still have what I call 'involuntary release' - I'll be holding something and it just falls out of my hand. But I acted before it got a lot worse. My hands are blissfully pain free and I have no regrets about going under the knife, just like having my knees replaced. My knees were so bad that I would bring my cane along, get on the bike in the morning and not get off until the end of the day if I was going somewhere on a long trip. Getting on and off was just too painful to deal with. I'm not advocating anyone do surgery but don't rule it out. When your affliction gets to the point where every time you go to do something, your first thought is 'How is this going to affect my bad (fill in the blank)?', then it's time to explore solutions and there are an amazing number of them. One of my hand surgeries was 'experimental' at the time and only two doctors in the world had done it and I was with one of them. But it worked and solved the problem for me. I keep hoping one day some bright bio-medical engineer will come up with 'injectable' cartilage - they just stick in a needle at the right place and fix you right up! I did ask my ortho one time -
'Doc, can't you just put a grease fitting in there so all I have to do is lube 'em up when they get cranky?"
His response - "If I could figure that out, we'd both retire!"

 

[rwrolson]

Anyone here dealing with osteoarthritis? I have developed it, in both hands, but particularly in my right hand and right wrist to the point it is affecting my riding. Right hand joints are swollen and stiff and painful making it hard to grip and use throttle, release throttle and raise fingers to use the front brake. Also can't open twist off lids, lift a heavy bag with one hand, make a tight fist etc. I went to a rheumatologist and she prescribed a topical gel anti inflammatory 4x day called Voltarin. At first it seemed to work pretty well, and it still helps some but it's still an issue for riding.

Any of you sufferer's finding anything that helps a lot?

CBD OIL and done

 

[SupraSabre]

I have a sister that has RA, I'm pretty sure my dad had it also. Arthritis does run in the family...both sides. I have had it hit me in my hips, knees, ankles, feet, neck, etc. Not to the point of needing more than a little Motrin. That was until my accident back in 2008. My right thumb hit the throttle lock when I was getting thrown off and I had to go to therapy to get it so it would work again. Also, in my back, there is a spot that gets irritated every now and then. After 11 years, I still have problems with them.

Then, when I got hit a couple of months ago, I'm having problems with both hands. More with the left, than the right. So much so, I have a appt with a Dr this Thursday to have him either verify what I've been told (soft tissue damage or ?)

I keep thinking back when I was a kid and looked at my grand parents and how old they looked and acted at 65+. And here I am at 67+ and still riding a motorcycle 125 miles a day, thru this traffic!

 

[SupraSabre]

CBD OIL and done

Like this? CBoD OIl - Dukes of Hazard - Bo...

 

[Andrew Shadow]

@Uncle Phil
It sounds like, with current medical technology, that if a person afflicted with this lives long enough the need for surgery will become unavoidable. I'm curious to know if there is any benefit in doing the surgery earlier than later. Would someone who has the surgery earlier prevent more serious damage and therefore have a better outcome than someone who waited until they had no choice?

 

[wjbertrand]

I guess the first line of defense is Tylenol. Then glucosamine and turmeric with Curcumin. The glucosamine takes 2 weeks to start working. They all reduce inflammation. The really good stuff, but it's expensive and you have to get at a health food store is CuraMed, but as I say it's expensive. Also it's safe for the body. The one two punch would be glucosamine and curamed.

I dunno. Tylenol (acetaminophen) is not an anti-inflammatory drug and if you have osteoarthritis like I do in my knees, that's an inflammatory condition. Tylenol does absolutely nothing for me, further, taking large doses or taking it over a long period of time is really bad for your liver. By today's FDA standards, I wonder if it would ever be approved?. Having said that my pain management regime is Naproxin & chondroiton sulfate and gluconsamine 2X/day. Not perfect but gets me by most days. I'm eventually going to have to get a knee replacement or two...