I'm 43 recently diagnosed with OA in my left knee was to...

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I work in R/D for Ossur and have myself witnessed incredible results with these devices. Osteoarthritis is most commonly a mechanical disease because the loading on one side of your knee is abnormal so bracing is an excellent non invasive treatment option that is alot less expensive than surgery. A brace is also a mechanical solution because it changes the loading pattern in your knee and gives you pain relief at the same time. I´m real sorry to hear about your condition, please give this a look.

am 52 and was only told in mat that I have oa ,ive done physo , insoles ,knee braces ,swimming plus meds of all kinds , I was also told that I was a long way from having any thing done , the consultant sent me for an mri with a follow up appointment on 31st January this year , I had a fkr on the 17 th feb , now 6 weeks on and im on the good side of things , and looking forward to the 2nd knee , cant tell how much change this has already made to my life ,so please don't worry about how fast things move there is light at the end , good luck x

Sorry to hear of your recent diagnosis at 43!! Seems like you are way too young for OA. However since your symptoms are mainly range of motion and stiffness not pain, that is good news. It is hard to say how much it will degenerate as there are many factors. Your weight, your activity level and your general health all come into play. It may not degenerate at all or it may go quickly. Now that you know, you can be proactive about it. If pain starts you can always get another xray and compare it to the first one. This gives the doctors a real good idea of how fast the degeneration is happening. There is no way to know if OA will effect your other knee, but an xray will help see the beginning signs. Having said that, there is lots of proactive things you can do to help yourself. Most importantly keep your weight down, this is the most important thing on a weight bearing joint like the knee. Keep fit, if you can. Exercises like swimming and biking are great for strenghthening the knee but not aggravating the joint. If you can walk without irritating things that is also great for keeping your hips, back and legs strong. I would also get to know a good physio, they can give you strenghthening and mobility exercises to try to keep the range of motion as long as possible. Hope this helps.

I'm in the same boat as you 43, just recently diagnosed in right knee, but both knees can be extremely painful especially when I'm going up/down steps, but my doctor told me I'm too young to have knee replacement surgery and didn't think it necessary for me to have x-ray or MRI I have suffered for the last 10 years with painful knees and I'm concerned for my future prognosis as I am a full time care for my disabled husband, should I push my doctor for for further tests and treatment, I'm just on pain killers now so would be grateful for some advice

Thank you Debbie, I was thinking along those lines myself and I will be having my yearly review in June, so If I'm still suffering like I am now, I will push to have some x-rays done. At least then I will know to what extent, the damage has already done to my knees over the years, because the doctor only seemed to think it was in one knee, but I think it's in both of my knees, and if they are badly damaged then surely for that reason and being a full time carer , I would have a stronger case for surgery.

your welcome dawn ,just hope every thing works out for you , I just think if it needs doing do it ,I know you may be looking at having another one in years to come but as I told my consultant I want to live today and we don't know what lies in front I could even get run over by a bus . he laughed and said well what can I say . xx

hi dawn , how things going for you , im waiting to see the consultant in july re my left knee , im doing good with the right one now at last , did get told off at physo for pushing to hard and was told to slow down , so i did for a few weeks now im back swimming doing breast stroke ( at last ) i do still have a little pain but feel its going away slowly ,do push for the consultant to sort your pain out , i dont care much for this age thing its all about the money ,and having another on later in life ,things change all thr time and there will be different treatment then , i think the sooner the better and you can get back to work and put back into the system insted of living of the system , and more important living your life pain free , doing the things you like , good luck x

Hi Debbie, I'm afraid things are much the same with my Knees, I have good days and bad days, but on the whole still in quite considerable pain, the worst thing I find is steps and as we live in a maisonette (first floor) this does cause problems with  bringing in the shopping bags up/down two sets of steps about 3 or 4 times, then this sets my knees off for the next few days or so, and so it becomes a vicious circle.  My husband can't lift anything heavy as he is recovering from two major operations on his spine.  This is what I shall be explaining to my doctor, so I can at least have an x-ray to determine what damage has already been done over the years, then hopefully I will be refered to a consultant.  Glad to hear you are doing so well and things seem to be moving quite fast for you, really pleased  I will be seeing my doctor soon and will let you know how I get on !!  tc