I think that this may have been covered before, but I can't find it.
I have an extremely bad arthritic knee and the last few days have had me wincing in pain. I have returned to the Dr. and have basically acknowledged that I will have to succumb to the Arthroscopy that was recommended a couple of years ago.
However a friend who is a Jockey has similar joint pains to me, not just confined to the knee and although he has had the same procedure with a little improvement showing, he has also taken to wearing a bracelet called a Bio-Flow Sport. Whereas he struggled to put his socks on he stated that within three days of wearing this thing that that problem had been greatly reduced and under no circumstances would he ever be without the thing. I am very sceptical and the Doctor said she would only discuss if the science backed up the claims, which of course she said it doesn't.
Has anyone been down this road?
|
|
Can't do any harm can it, except £20 or so from your wallet... If I were in as much pain as you I'd give it a go...
|
Martin, without putting too fine a point on it, do you carry a bit of weight? If so, that won't be helping. Secondly, non load bearing excercise, regular ( ideally daily ) swimming in particular will help, a lot.
I had a compression fracture of the bottom three vertebrae in my back 20 odd years ago. ( I inadvertently parted company with a horse at the gallop ) severe and chronic pain resulted. Now I swim most days and on the days I do I get no pain. Miss a day or two and it all starts to seize up.
So, by all means try the witch doctor stuff, but more importantly, lose weight if necessary and move it without putting strain on it.
Some say, switching away from red meat and on to more oily fish in your diet helps too.
Don't know about that one but I eat a lot of fish anyway.
|
Yes Siree, too much weight by far (17.5 St.) and that now HAS to be addressed, but I've known that for years. It's a bit of a vicious cycle really. Work hard/eat lots and eat well. Rarely any junk though. The exercise thing: Swimming. Breast stroke is a no no as there is sideways pressure on the knee and tbh after work exercising takes some effort as one is knackered, BUT I am aware things have to change if there is to be any improvement. A change of career might help, but that's perhaps the hardest option of the lot.
I intend at last to make a concerted effort to improve things.
Thank you for your thoughtful post.
Regards, M.
|
I have had a few anecdotal reports attesting to the usefulness of these, with one individual claiming a good deal for them, but only if the magnet was strong (whatever that means - I have no idea what specifications are quoted for these products). She wore four - one on each ankle and each wrist.
As Smokie says, they may be worth a punt.
|
I had physio on a dodgy knee many years ago (NHS), part of that treatment included electro-magnetic pulses by some machine. Can't say it made any difference.
I've got arthritis and take fish oil (cod liver/omega 3, whatever's available) and glucosamine with chondroitin. Gave me loose bowels until a GP pointed out they're both effective laxatives, so I now take one of each alternate days. I asked his opinion of their effectiveness, he replied stop taking them and find out.
|
|
My Vet, well you know what I mean, says all those Cod pills etc. are a load of old cobblers and that diet should sort it all out. Who knows.
|
|
Mrs Z has an arthritic thumb koint. She bought and tried a copper magnetized bracelet. Results were inconclusive.
|
Copper or magnetized, Z? Unless it's powered it's hard to see how it can be both.
Humph's advice is very sensible, and of course Ian is right that these things - and plenty of other things that people typically 'swear by' are just witchcraft. Buy one when your chronic condition is going through a bad patch, find things improve naturally as it regresses to the mean, credit the 'treatment' and tell all your friends; find that nothing changes and rationalize that 'it can't hurt to try it'. See also homeopathy, reiki, ear candling, detox and gawd knows what else.
|
>> Copper or magnetized, Z? Unless it's powered it's hard to see how it can be
>> both.
It was both, plated magnetized steel with a copper strip laminated on the inside
|
Are you on Statins ?
My knees are not in great shape but Statins caused me real problems with pain in my knee joints.
Four times over 15 years I have tried Statins. Same results every time even withe the latest greatest version.
The last time I took them I was soon starting to think about a stair lift!!!
24 / 48 hours after stopping them my knees recovered.
I commented the same to a friend. He had the same instant results when he stopped them.
I have read doctors saying this effect is "anecdotal "
Sorry my medical friends but I do not agree.
|
Joint pain is largely anecdotal but muscle pain is certainly a well recognised adverse effect.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statin#Adverse_effects
|
>> Joint pain is largely anecdotal but muscle pain is certainly a well recognised adverse effect.
>>
It is not very reassuring that my pain is anecdotal so is it all coincidence or all in the mind or what ? Four times I have been affected and four times a very quick recovery when I stopped Statins.
I suggested I try the same Statins again to see if my knees were affected but of course the GP would not agree to it. So when will anecdotal be investigated ?
Seems to me that Statins are getting a bad name in quite a few areas.
It seems to me that the medical profession is very slow to investigate patients reported problems.
How many reports need to be made before a " scientific" investigation is undertaken?
I recall a senior nurse commenting 30 years ago when my daughter was in hospital. " Has she had chicken pox?"" We see a lot of these after effects but the doctors do not believe us."
I believe her comments were pretty accurate.
I am not having a pop at Lygonos. I appreciate his input to the forum.
|
>>Four times I have been affected and four times a very quick recovery when I stopped Statins.
>> I suggested I try the same Statins again to see if my knees were affected
Entirely likely the statin is to blame if you've tried the same one 4 times with the same results.
I think you've had a heart problem from previous posts (unless the dementia's kicking in again), so it's certainly worth trying a different statin, perhaps at a low dose eg. pravastain 10mg at night.
If you tolerate that then there is room to titrate up but even a small dose of statin is better than nothing for those at high risk of heart attack or stroke.
|
>> Entirely likely the statin is to blame if you've tried the same one 4 times
>> with the same results.
>>
Over the years it has been the latest greatest version and a low starter dose.
>> I think you've had a heart problem from previous posts (unless the dementia's kicking in
>> again), so it's certainly worth trying a different statin, perhaps at a low dose eg. pravastain 10mg at night.
Your memory is good. I had stable Angina ( which was getting worse )and initial tests showed I needed a couple of stents. I went for a further investigation and got unstable Angina for the first time just as they finished.
That was "good!" timing so they could treat it immediately, monitor things and I stayed in for stenting. A magic transformation.
IIRC Pravastatin was the last one I tried.
>>
>> ..... but even a small dose of statin is better than nothing for those at high risk of heart attack or stroke.
>>
I am not against trying anything that will improve things so am exploring the next move with my Cardiologist and GP.
Thanks again for your prompt reply.
|
|
No Henry not on statins, but the Missus was and they were a nightmare to her. The quack poo pooed Erin until she did her own research. Nasty side effects some of them.
|
Said before I think that I took myself off statins because they made me feel ill. The doc who had prescribed them in the first place agreed and approved!
I take two daily pills for BP, which work fairly well although my BP isn't perfect, a bit high usually. One of these pills is a diuretic and has the tiresome side-effect of making me get up in the night for a slash. Or perhaps that's just an old-geezer thing and nothing to do with the bendrofluomethiazide as it is now called (used to be called the same thing with the 'omethi' omitted).
Could be worse. An old and valued friend, built like a tank, just a year or so older than me, has been whipped into hospital with pneumonia.
Something gonna get us all in the end. I'm not looking forward to that bit at all at all.
|
I take two daily pills for BP, which work fairly well although my BP isn't perfect, a bit high usually. One of these pills is a diuretic and has the tiresome side-effect of making me get up in the night for a slash. Or perhaps that's just an old-geezer thing and nothing to do with the bendrofluomethiazide as it is now called (used to be called the same thing with the 'omethi' omitted).
I too take bendrofluomethiazide for very slightly elevated blood pressure. Yes it is a diuretic but as far as I can tell, if you have the tablet in the morning, it should have no diuretic effect by the evening/night. I've a feeling a doctor told me this, but it's a while ago so I don't remember who said so now.
|
>>. One of these pills is a diuretic and has the tiresome side-effect of making me get up in the night for a slash.
Sounds more like an enlarged prostate, unless you're taking your diuretic late in the day.
(Take no notice of the above, as I've no idea what I'm talking about)
|
>> if you have the tablet in the morning, it should have no diuretic effect by the evening/night. I've a feeling a doctor told me this, but it's a while ago so I don't remember who said so now.
No doubt the quantities of vodka and orange I usually consume in the evening have a role here.
:o}
|
Knees.
I'm not interested in an argument about this. I'll just say what's worked for me, for whatever reason. I have a short, bent left leg due to a motorcycle accident in '64 and have had osteo-arthritis in my knee for at least the last ten years. I seem to have kept the pain at bay by the following:
I stopped driving vehicles with heavy clutch pedals and now have an automatic.
I wore a set of magnets round my knee for about a year constantly, then just at night for a while.
I lost a stone in weight - through diet (I've never found exercise very effective in that respect).
I take cod liver oil and glucosamine.
I go to an osteopath when the pain is bad . The one I've used for those 10 years is a physiotherapist as well. That means he'll give me treatment, but also an exercise routine to take away and the result is that I'm not back there in a hurry. It's about a year since I've been.
One of things he's recommended is to sit on the edge of a table with my legs hanging down. If you swing them back and forth, it tends to cause any loose fragments of cartilage to move out of harm's way. That's worked well for me. He's also shown me how to rock my kneecap to help disperse any fluid which has built up under there.
Is any of it quackery? I don't give a toss - it's been effective.
|
Three friends of mine have bad knees....local nurse who we drink with told them to lose weight...they were all around 3 stone overweight. One did. The others didn't. Guess whose knee pain diminished dramatically? Diet also...oily fish is good, and cut back on chips, pies, nuts, nibbles, all the stuff that piles on the pounds.
My bad hip improves immeasurably with low humidity. Some days in the UK I can barely put any weight on one leg, yet in a dry desert climate I can backpack 200+ miles with barely a twinge ( not the cleverest thing to do, admittedly).
|
I can
>> backpack 200+ miles with barely a twinge
In a day? That's some improvement!!! :-)
|
I've got three of those twisted copper bangles that are supposed to cure rheumaticky pains (they don't seem to really). And an Indian silver bangle. And an African tooled aluminium bangle an inch and a half wide, kept shiny by coatsleeves. And a Help for Heroes rubber wristband. And a handsome no-nonsense Swatch which keeps perfect time.
They make me look a bit of a popinjay but on the positive side make a jolly jingling noise to warn other animals of my approach.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Sat 13 Feb 16 at 17:10
|
Do you remove them when you bathe AC?
Oh, wait, sorry, I forgot...
;-)
|
.....and you manage to lift a vodka & orange with the same arm as well ?
|
>> Do you remove them when you bathe AC?
Just the watch. They aren't always as 'water resistant' as they claim, I've noticed.
|
Works for some, not for others. Worth a punt I would have thought:
www.reviewcentre.com/reviews81884.html
|
|
Good Evening Fido. I read that little lot last night. Didn't clear the mud that much, but fanks anyweigh.
|
|
At that price they must have solid gold magnets.
|
|
I hope that they're not Stainless!
|
I tried the magnetic bracelets and they did nothing for me. Likewise the Glucosamine and Chondoitrin route. Fish oils? I'd rather eat oily fish than take tablets.
Heat works for me but is somewhat impractical.
I have some small wheat bags and some longer ones and after heating them in a microwave they can be wrapped round a knee or placed on a hip joint while the two smaller ones are just perfect for holding in arthritic hands to get some movement back.
By far the biggest improvement for me was losing weight and well worth the effort, but like Legacy Lad mine is affected by the barometric pressure. Either extreme of high or low pressure and rapidly changing pressure is agony.
I know there is no scientific reason for it, but nevertheless it's real:)
Pat
|
>> Heat works for me but is somewhat impractical.
>>
>> I have some small wheat bags and some longer ones and after heating them in
>> a microwave they can be wrapped round a knee or placed on a hip joint
>> while the two smaller ones are just perfect for holding in arthritic hands to get
>> some movement back.
Have you tried these
www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Hotties-Pocket-Warmers-Winter/dp/B001G6SQMG/
Its a sachet you unwrap, crush, and it gets warm (hot in fact but not uncomfortable hot) and stays warm for about 4 hours. Mrs Z wraps one round her wrist for her thumb issue
Costco have them cheap.
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 14 Feb 16 at 07:51
|
I've not seen those before, thanks Z
Better get some before 27th Feb ;)
Pat
|
>> I've not seen those before, thanks Z
>>
>> Better get some before 27th Feb ;)
>>
>> Pat
Training hard.
|
|
I was out filming in the cold in the Cotswolds today, so I had one of those hand warmers inside each Rohan system glove liner. Nice warm hands, I just need a way to stuff one in each ear now.
|
>> I was out filming in the cold in the Cotswolds today, so I had one
>> of those hand warmers inside each Rohan system glove liner. Nice warm hands, I just
>> need a way to stuff one in each ear now.
Try one of those pies your figure would suggest you're not unfamiliar with.
Pioneer?
;>)
|
>> Its a sachet you unwrap, crush, and it gets warm
Memory lane... used to get those chemical hand warmers from a shop in Notting Hill Gate. I got them for Herself who hates being cold, but she never really took to them. Said they got too hot.
|
Well the weight loss programme is truly under way. I've lost six pounds since I started this topic. Trouble is though I have been confined to barracks, well to within 5 seconds of the smallest room! Delhi Belly is just not funny. I blame the grandtwerps or the Missus for my free gift.
However................... I shall attempt to continue with the flying start that I've been given and see if I can shed a stone or two. Lord I'm gasping for an Ale, but I'll resist, for tonight at least!
|
I've lost about 10 kilos in a year. I figure the quality of my life going forwards is very much about mobility, and nothing aids mobility more than weight loss (and exercise - the new dog has fixed the exercise problem)
Its tough, I'm a drink and food lover big time. Has to be done tho.
|
Not sure if this helps or not...
www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3443800/The-truth-fat-sugar-Cardiologist-explains-FAT-best-medicine-s-crucial-health.html
I feel less guilty about adding some double cream to my morning muesli and banana though :)
|
>> Not sure if this helps or not...
>> www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3443800/The-truth-fat-sugar-Cardiologist-explains-FAT-best-medicine-s-crucial-health.html
That ties in with my thinking and practise where diet is concerned. Plenty of people have been putting those ideas forward for rather a long time. The problem is that they turn a lot of conventional wisdom upside down. The food industry will have to change drastically as will dietary advice.
Coincidentally, my OH desperately needs to put on weight and recently had an appointment with a hospital dietician. She came back with a diet list which, according to the article, will make her lose weight, rather than put any on.
|
Eat less, move more....That seems to be the answer.
SWM enrolled for Slumming World a year ago and has done really well....she's got a waist now ! I've been dragged along with the menu and I've lost well over a stone.
We don't have a dog now but a mile a week up and down the new pool has done me a lot of good. I'll start to cycle there when it's a bit warmer...old railway track and then on a pavement that the council have marked out for cyclists.
A new regime !
|
>> Has anyone been down this road?
>>
As you ask the question, you must have some belief in the product.
If you are a believer, then they will most probably work and do you a lot of good.
However, if you have any doubts in your mind, then you'll be wasting your money.
|
Magnetic Bracelet/s - smokie
