Can anyone recommend a type of knee support for day-to-day wear when my RA is affecting my knee, making it swell and difficult to bend?

[CatLane]

My knee doesn't really hurt, just feels weird and crunchy, so I just want to be able to get on and do things but obviously not make it any worse. I don't find sitting and resting makes it feel better, so I think I might as well just get on with it.

Cheers

[Hidden]

Me too!

I have just this morning been to Boots and bought an Adjustable Knee Stabiliser made by Elastoplast. (Other shops and products are available - not trying to advertise!) It was expensive (over £25.)

I expect, like other splints, we should only wear them for activities, otherwise we can weaken the muscles. But I need to be able to get on with ordinary stuff sometimes.

The hospital recommended Physio exercises for knees such as those that build up the quads (the front thigh muscle). So I try to do those every day too.

So I hope I get some improvement.

And I hope you do too!

[Hidden]

I asked my orthopod the same question the other day - his answer was that if you wear supports the quad muscles can get lazy & not work as efficiently if there was no support.

I guess the answer if to do more exercises to build up the quads.

What exercises do you do Phoebe?

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I got a poster from ARUK called Keep Moving. It has the same exercises that a physio gave me a while ago.

I think it is mentioned somewhere on the NRAS site.

One simple thing to do is to slowly stand up from an upright chair, then slowly sit back down again. But it is hard to do when it is painful!

[CatLane]

Thank you for the replies. I have gone out and bought a knee support to wear when I really need to, but take on board what you say about doing exercises. I do feel that this is an area that I haven't been given much advice on. My consultant and team have been fantastic in getting me the right meds but don't seem to want to give advice on the day-to-day stuff.