Hi everyone.
I'm new to this site and am very interested in how to help my mum cope with her knee pain and other ailments that have come along within a small space of time which in turn has knocked her confidence. Hopefully I can also help others in the process too.
I have arthritic knees which are more painfull if I sit for long periods. It helps me to keep moving. Im also in the process of trying to loose some weigh it in order to help them as our knees take most of our weight. I rub Volterol cream in when they are very bad as they were yesterday following a social outing when I wore different shoes with a slight high heel. I personally dont like taking pain relief but my GP has given me Co Codamol in the past.I also purchased Lycra knee supports in Boots and sometimes wear them for comfort and they do help
Hi. Thankyou for your help. Mum uses volterol and cream from her GP but hasn't had the relief she thought she would get so now a friend has lent her a tens machine so hopefully over the next couple of days there will be some improvement. She says it's taken the edge off which is promising.
I suffer from knee pain. Would be interested to hear if the TENS machine helps
I have had knee replacement surgery , and much better now, but before that I suffered for 4years, best thing is to keep active , good pair of shoes , no heels , and I bought some wrap around ice packs from Amazon , they worked wonders , and a pillow longways down the back of my affected leg , can't take strong painkillers so had to alternate paracetamol and ibuprofen , hope this helps x
Hi 5855, many thanks for your ideas on how to help mum more. What a great idea the ice packs will tell her about this and the pillow another good idea.
Glad your surgery has been successful and thankyou once again
Thanks , also better if she sleeps on her back and add an extra pillow so she's more elevated x
Brilliant thankyou👍
In addition to the great advice others have already offered here (e.g. weight loss; keeping active; knee support etc), try aromatherapy massage and avoid food that cause inflammation. Hypnotherapy/ meditation etc are good for pain control.
Just experiment to find out what works best for her.
Hi Superhealer.
Many thanks for your advice. I would never have thought about foods causing inflammation and the aromatherapy such welcome support.
Thankyou so much
Hello there, and welcome to the site.
Many older people find they are suddenly afflicted with joint pain and especially in the knees and hips and there are various ways of dealing with it. It's best to begin with the simplest, least invasive treatment, such as creams etc., to rub in, and onward from there to analgesia and culminating in surgery if things get bad enough. And always, through it all, try to keep exercising, gently, as the more you sit to avoid the pain, the worse it becomes. And of course doctors will lecture about the need to be as slim as possible, but that's actually a much more complex issue than a doctor will every understand or acknowledge. (Such as my own need to reward myself with chocolate to avoid depressive feelings).
As we get older we do suddenly find that health begins to break down in all sorts of ways. It does help if you can continue to eat the healthiest diet possible and, as well as to exercise, to keep as sociable as possible. Meeting a group of people to 'moan' about your various ailments is a therapy of its own!
Try, on her behalf to make sure she has good access to a GP known to her, and not end up being passed around every locum in the practice she attends, as so often happens and leads to a lack of thorough care.
But keep on doing what you are doing, and that's to be a supportive daughter. The people who end up suffering the worst are those who are socially isolated.
Hi Callendarsgal,
Thankyou for your welcoming message and your very supportive help. Fortunately mum is quite a sociable person and does still manage to get out I think it's more of me worrying that she doesn't say how the pain is until someonelse gets to know first then tells me!
Anyway, onward and upward and as you say it's the people who don't have anyone that's more worrying.
Thankyou
Hi Janecrossland, Welcome to this supportive community. You have found out already how ready and willing folks are here to offer advice and support. I presume your mum has been to see her GP, as well as medications, they can get some basic investigations done, and refer on to specialists e.g. physiotherapy. Take a look at this NHS Choices link about knee pain, as there are many conditions that maybe at play here:
Let us know how you and your mum get on.
Take care,
Hi MAS-Nurse, many thanks for your message. Yes Mum is under her GP for her knee. She has had two steroid injections so far but they don’t seemed to have given her the pain relief she was expecting hence some really good ideas to try from yourself and other members.
Will keep you informed and thanks again.
Hi Mydexter, thankyou for your help. Mum has been diagnosed with osteoarthritis in her knee which was xrayed a while ago. She hasn’t seen a rheumatologist. She’s trying a tens machine at the moment see if it gives her any improvement then go from there.
I've been told that "ease oil" is quite good for pain in the knees.. Sold at amazon and ebay..
Thankyou John, will take a look
An good drug-free alternative to a TENS machine is an ActiPatch (available online or from Boots). Works in a similar way, but without trailing leads or the sensations you get with a TENS. Also the benefit increases the longer you use it and unlike a TENS you can keep it on when you're asleep at night. Might be worth a try?
Hi Ajnos, must admit not heard of the Actipatch but it’s definitely worth a try and like you say no leads to trail and the sensation isn’t to everyone’s liking. Thanks for that, will let you know
Hi, My husband has been using Movelot cream and it has helped him a lot with his knees.
Hi Superannie, thanks for your message. Mum uses Volterol and Arthro with not much effect really but will certainly tell her about it as anything is worth a try. Thanks
Hi, I was prescribed this for my back, arthritis in the spine but didn't help. so hubby tried it on his knees and had lots of relief. Hope it helps. Ann.
Well at least it helped one of you! Thanks Ann
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