“inflammation is now understood to be a key mediator of OA that contributes to cartilage loss and progressive degeneration of affected joints… OA is no longer considered a noninflammatory arthritis or a ‘wear and tear’ disease”
I heretofore thought age-related cartilage loss was the cause of osteoarthritis and inflammation. Turns out it’s the other way around: the inflammation degrades cartilage. Okay, no more slogging through joint pains for me, regardless of how small.
Edit: added a phrase for clarity
When I started on a low inflammation elimination diet it did wonders for my joint pain. Can recommend.
Sounds like it might be a good idea to suggest people taking glucosamine and turmeric early.
Low impact exercise is a great tool for reducing inflammation. Vitamin D is also an important part of regulating your immune system. Anything that supports a healthy immune system will help regulate its response and reduce inflammation.
Here I am staring at my sausage-like thumb that’s been swollen like this for three days thanks to rheumatoid arthritis. This article gives good context for why RA often results in OA at a younger age. Maybe I will go take a prednisone and apply another dose of diclofenac to try to knock this inflammation down…
There have been some good medications for RA created in the last decade or so. Has your rheumatologist prescribed anything longer term than prednisone? Prednisone is not really a long term safe solution.
RA… oof. That shit is a curse*, a giant FU from the universe. I hope you get the relief/management you need. Tangential: does the prednisone get you all hyper?
*My aunt had it. In my pre-teens, my mother sent me to live with and care for her in final years (it wasn’t the RA that got her), so I deeply empathize with your health struggles.
In my pre-teens, my mother sent me to live with and care for her in final years
I imagine this to be no easy task for anyone, especially a pre-teen.
My back and knees tingle reading this. Just waiting on the knee cortisone inflammation to ease off 😉
Bruddah/sistah/non-binaryah, I know your pain intimately. I got my first shot in the knee 3 months ago. “And to think… I hesitated.” Sending warm recovery thoughts your way. What kind of physical therapy regimen does the sawbones have you on?
Read up on cortisone - related cartilage/tendon concerns.
Your doc probably overstates the risk a great deal. Check NLM for studies, it looks like there’s a risk, but all the studies are of patients with injury and on-going degeneration. By the time you get to injections you’ve exhausted other treatments.
Huh, a TIL within a TIL! :D I came across this systematic review (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4622344/). Looks like for cortisone <6mg is the sweet spot.
Link above just forces me to do captchas over and over again… am I really that bad at finding the stairs, or is this a bug?
