Can bad knee be fueling PMR?

[1Purplecrow]

Thank you to everyone eho sent reassuring posts re my impending knee surgery. Now I'm curious if the pain and inflammation of the corroded knee might be "fueling" my PMR?? Any thoughts?

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Hehe! Just posted about that on the other thread so for completeness for the benefit of anyone reading this who doesn't see the other thread here is my response again! I like to cover all options

I'm pretty sure that you not being able to walk properly will put a lot of stress on muscles that are also suffering because of the PMR. It isn't uncommon to find people with both PMR and something called myofasial pain syndrome (MPS) where there are concentrations of inflammatory substances at trigger points in the lower back, alongside the spine and in the shoulders. You can have that for some time with just sore bits that come and go but at some point the muscles which have compensated for so long and kept you upright just can't cope any longer and they go into spasm. Then it is very similar to really bad PMR - in fact it may be the way someone with mild PMR that they've just dismissed as "getting old" suddenly wakes up immobile. I suspect that is what happened to me and it has happened twice. The first time the pred was enough to get it to a degree I could just about live with. The second time I was here in Italy and the options for getting it sorted out were a bit better. Having got the MPS pretty well sorted I have been able to reduce the pred steadily from 20 down to 4mg without the PMR apparently flaring - I do use the "dead slow and nearly stop" technique mind!!

[rosalinda in reply to PMRpro]

After just three treatments of Bowen therapy I am feeling really well. Went for a longish walk (for me) this morning and my knees which were both replaced within the last few months were fine.

Joanne my therapist says that all my aches and pains are probably the effect of muscles being under stress because my walking was incorrect because of the painful knees over a long period.

I went to have the Bowen therapy as it was recommended on this site and would certainly recommend it on the short term results I have had. I am lucky that the therapist lives just a few miles away from my home.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to rosalinda]

Are you in the northeast by any chance? My Bowen therapist there was called Joanne! She has been invited by the northeast PMR GCA UK support group to go to talk to them at one of their meetings.

Bowen kept me upright and reasonably mobile for 5 years when I had PMR that hadn't been diagnosed and also had occasional twinges of myofascial pain syndrome - that's why I have written about it on here in the past. Since I first started talking about it several PMR friends have tried it with success: one lady was in bed and unable to get even to the loo without a zimmer frame. After one treatment she walked back to the car having forgotten the walking stick she'd used to go in with a friend on the other side! Now she's on "maintenance" visits. Another lady says that although it isn't perfect, she does feel much better and walks better.

I often hesitate to recommend alternative therapies - but will always try anything fairly sensible and use it if it works for me. Bowen in combination with aqua aerobics and Pilates worked miracles for me and it was when I was forced to stop them all because I was stopped from driving for a few months (totally unnecessary and wouldn't have happened if the doctor had LISTENED to what I told her) and then moved here to Italy that the PMR hit like a ton of bricks, before that it was a pain but livable with even with no medication.

Thank you for a vote of confidence in my suggestion of Bowen

[rosalinda in reply to PMRpro]

I am actually in Norfolk, 16 miles from Norwich. I don't know if Joanne has always practiced in Norfolk. I had a treatment yesterday and today I feel better and more iively than I have felt for years. I will definitely keep going to her, although it is expensive.