Thread: Arthritis and woodturning

Tiger ,
I have it in both hands , and my knees . It made itself known in my left knee 2 years ago .
Over the last 9 months or so it became apparent that the right knee , and then both hands were getting rusty hinges.
The latest Xrays and blood tests ordered by the GP have shown that the hands are winning hands down , and the knees stumbling a poor second .
My next step is saying hallo to the specialists .
Rheumatoid arthritis runs in the family , and 40 years of swinging a hammer in the building trade , plus other timber related stuff , back country work , general living ,etc has added to it's development.

I make the most of the time that I can work on a lathe , which , considering that I don't have a place to set up a workshop at present , is not much time at all

Push the doctor or get another one . There is no such thing as 'too young ' to getting ill health .
Diseases to not read basic medical manuals to learn rules , they make them up themselves as they go along

Tiger I sympathise with your plight

I agree with Jock never to young for illness but it should not happen.

I have suffered arthritis since 7 years of age. I have a young relation to the wife who has got whats called JDM a damn mean form of juvenile arthritis he has had since he was 4 now 13. I take fish oil tablets, I have eaten New Zealand Green Lipped muscles which helped heaps. Dropped all alcohol.

I have a form of arthritis in the joint at the base of each thumb. Eventually it will need surgery "when I can't sleep at night because of the pain"( exactly what the specialist said.)

I take fish oil capsules and glucosamine tablets. When things get really bad I take Panadol Osteo.. They all help, although I haven't had to take the Panadol Osteo for a month or so now.

I find there are times when my grip suddenly becomes weak or I get severe shooting pain in one or both thumbs. I look on both of these happenings as an inconvenience, but also realise there are times when either event could be positively dangerous.

Same here so the Doc took out the trapezoid bone and reconstructed with a tendon.

12 weeks of rest and is now as good as before but without the pain.

Get it done asap

Having suffered from RA since my late 30s I can tell you that the normal age for that to show is about 40 + - I have also spend many hours researching and can tell you that you are unique. Every person gets different results but the one thing that helps is you researching and trying things.
My doctor tells me diet is not a factor but he has many patients who swear by eating this or that and it helps them. With me, exercise is my cure. Pain is also a factor, Dwelling on pain makes it worse, you have to learn how to manage it.

been suffering with arthritis since my 20's. Have had both knee joints replaced. a few years back the top joint of my left thum got so bad I stopped using my radial arm after a piece took flight .I was told to go to" earthclinic" on the net. Do so and found a old wives tale uning cinnemon and honey,I followed the insrtuctions and am now using my radial arm and doing lots of other things that I had stopped.Have passed this info on to others and for some it works but not all. I suggest you look the site up and give it a go. Nothehing to loose.Hope it will do you some good. PS I had good movement after about five weeks and I kept using the C and H for a while and now I no longer use it and all is fine. Good Luck

Thanks for the supportive responses. I have been taking Glucosamine tablets for almost 3 months now, I haven't noticed a lot of difference though.
Rrobor, what sort of exercises are you doing? I have looked on the Internet but not found much on this. I am hoping that if I do some exercises before turning that I can get through a session without too much discomfort.

My kung fu cannot defeat the power of wood and steel and as a consequence my hands hurt often.
Topical sprays, ointments, lotions and gels that contain Arnica give me enough temporary relief from hand and arm pain that I can work at the lathe. They work fast and last through my turning sessions.
Seppo product lines and brands may vary from here to there.
I would try a health food or vitamin shop for a recommendation.
We are in our winter here presently and I would add that cold always
seems to make it worse.
Best of luck with it.
John

The thumb in particular can be a problem joint; it's not a ball and socket joint at the base, more like a saddle joint, and so the tendons and muscles need to work in concert for the thumb to be supported. Tendons and ligaments can stretch with age or injury or constant loading and that can cause stiffness, swelling and pain (ie. basic arthritis).

There are specialist hand therapists in the big cities who can help diagnose the cause of joint pain and provide more or less proven non-invasive treatment options.

Those might be a simple as an ice-pack applied after a work session through to perforated thermoplastic splints to take the load off an arthritic joint. Soft splints may also work. Ditto for stretching and strengthening exercises to change the joint dynamics and move some of the load to the muscles.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories can also be helpful if taken for a few days after a flare-up. But the great hope of long term medication using these (eg. Vioxx) was spoiled by their contribution to higher rates of heart attack.

Good input Ern.
I forgot to mention my neoprene soft splint.
It was something a rehab specialist recommended.
I sometimes wear it while I sleep. It seems like it helps keep
everything where it is properly aligned.
During the day my hands are too busy to he hindered by a mitt
but it would probably be good to use.
I would be reluctant to use mine while actually turning because
it has nylon fabric bonded to it. The idea of having any threads near the spindle gives me the creeps...
I turn a lot of natural edge pieces and that could get ugly.
The Arnica I mentioned above is non steroidal and acts effectively as an anti inflamatory.
Traumeel
Magnesium sulfate or Epsom Salts is another effective anti inflamatory but one cannot turn in a bathtub
I'm sure there are others.

With Arthritis the joint becomes inflamed and sore. If you dont move it, it temds to start trackig further on. By moving the joint you maintain circulation and it wont get so bad.
Exercise is perhaps the wrong word, You should not stress an inflamed joint, you should try to maintain its maximum mobility. But again I must stress there is no common Arthritis, each person is unique so it will be you who finds out wbat works for you. I have done Cider vinigar diets, Boiled cod, Vegitarian, fish oils etc. With me its fresh air and a bit of hard sweat,
Try to minimise drugs, swallowing anti inflamitories by the bucket will stop the pain there but start it up as an ulcer or Helicobacter. I always found the local GP dished out seeroids etc far in excess of the specialist.
In my years of Arthritis my main secret of mobility is me in control of me. I take the amount of drugs I need no more or less.
The best judge of your condition is you. You are starting out well trying to research and find out.
Keep doing that and try anything and everything. its far better than sitting in a corner feeling the pain and asking why me.

Yes, it is important to run your own show with arthritis. If you can learn what makes it worse and how to avoid that it helps.

There are now concerns about over the counter medicines based on Ibuprofen too; in my book, a drug can buy you a bit of time for recovery from bad flare-ups but shouldn't be permanent since they all have side-effects.

Thanks for the Arnica tip John.

Re the soft splint overnight, same here; I think what's happening is that the compression is reducing the swelling.

Thanks again gentlemen, I sense some hope when I read your thoughts.
Rrobor, I think there's something in what you say. By consciously moving the thumb and flexing it, I do have less pain. Of course the acid test is when I use the lathe, I will try moving the thumb around before and during operation of the lathe and see how that goes. Am going back to the doctor today as I've had a few sessions of physio on the thumb, difficult to assess whether the physio has had much effect. I would say that not using the lathe has certainly decreased the pain. Wish there was a natural treatment for decreasing the swelling and inflammation of the hand as it's noticeable to anyone who looks at my hand that it's swollen, anti-inflammatories have too many down sides.
One question though, I now can feel slight pain in my right thumb, is it common for both thumbs to go at about the same time?

Here is a site that has helped me to not take prescription medicine which was making me miserable. I brought my cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar numbers below where I need prescription medication.

DrWeil.com - Official Website of Andrew Weil, M.D.

He sells vitamins, etc. but you can buy them anywhere.

I have read these books and found them helpful:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Aging-Lifelong-Guide-Well-Being/dp/0307277542/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295833945&sr=1-1"]Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Well-Being[/ame] by [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Andrew-Weil/e/B000AP8OEE/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1295833945&sr=1-1"]Andrew Weil[/ame]

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Weeks-Optimum-Health-Program-Advantage/dp/034549802X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295833945&sr=1-2"]8 Weeks to Optimum Health: A Proven Program for Taking Full Advantage of Your Body's Natural Healing Power[/ame] by [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Andrew-Weil/e/B000AP8OEE/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2?qid=1295833945&sr=1-2"]Andrew Weil[/ame]

I found them in a used book store.