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Osteoarthritis at 29

Posted , 8 users are following.

lee38833
lee38833

Hi, I am a 29 year old active male and have been recently diagnoses with Osteoarthritis of the Lumbar spine, doctors were fobbing me off with ' You are too young to have any issues' until my work got me an MRI and showed this, anyway my pain has been getting worse and worse, I have tried everything , anti inflammatorys, tramadol, muscle relaxants, excercise ie swimming stationary cycling walking, soothing gels patches , cbd, chiropractics, physio, pilates..you name it! And nothing ia getting rid of my back pain .anyone have any tips at all?? I am waiting on my appointment with the Orthopaedic specialist at the minute.

0 likes, 21 replies

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  • holly83
    holly83 lee38833

    Posted

    Hi lee,

    In order to treat you symptoms, you must have a diagnosis. Hopefully you will be able to have imaging and that your doctor will be able to put your symptoms together with what they see in order to provide treatment. 

    You cannot treat that which you do not know, i.e. identify problems so they can be solved. Hopefully, they will not offer cortisone shots as a way out of providing sound diagnostics.

    • lee38833
      lee38833 holly83

      Posted

      Hi Holly, I have been given a Diagnosis? In the MRI Scan it showed Moderate degenerative changes in the fact joints in my lumber (another term for Arthritis) and the Doctor referred me on.
    • holly83
      holly83 lee38833

      Posted

      Hi Lee,

      That's a first step, although I personally wouldn't recommend cortisone shots. They cause long term degradation to the joint while providing some short term anti inflammatory relief. Did the imaging show any disc irregularities? 

    • lee38833
      lee38833 holly83

      Posted

      Yeah I have heard this about the injections but im willing to try anything atm to ease the pain, on the MRI it states my discs are well hydrated! So all is good with them..frustration is the main issue for me atm.
    • erela
      erela lee38833

      Posted

      Hey Lee.....

      I had injections...... they told me they would last 3 months..... they didn't even last 3 days and the pain came back even worse.  The Hip and Back specialists both told me that the long term effects of injections can lead to "Bone Deterioration....... yup..... after I received a lot of them from the age of 28.....to 50......been dealing with this "pain" for 10 years ..... brutal daily 24/7/365 ...... is there a warm indoor pool near you???..... I personally cannot handle coming out of the water...... can you get in and out??..... I use to spend "Hours" in the pool at Mills Peninsula Hospital 6 days a week.... 4 hours of "Heaven"..... minimum pain.......  they also have something called Watsu in hydrotherapy...... OMG...... Watsu is very gentle massage movements in water...... you can find out about this on the internet..... Walking , stretching, and swimming is easier on your bones... there are in water weights you can use for muscle strengthening..... have you tried Accupunture??..... it helped me...... I was told by my back surgeon never to see a Chiropractor as adjustments can cause disc impingement and leakage.......  

      Will keep you in my thoughts and prayers....... they get longer and longer each nights with everyone I meet living in a similar situation whether it is severe or mild.  Do you think that GOD comes and listens to "laugh HIS butt off" at this 60 year old broken hippie????..... I wonder.....

      I hope you have a good day!

      Erela

    • holly83
      holly83 erela

      Posted

      Hi Erela,

      Great advice all around. I do agree with you on the aqua therapy if Lee can have access to it and have a therapist that knows what they are doing. This kind of therapy is what made all the difference when I returned from Germany after my ADR L4/L5. Now, we're going to be putting in a pool w/ hot spa for therapeutic purposes on my arthritic shoulder. 

      I kept meaning to ask you about the brother that you said is a shoulder specialist. Is he a surgeon?  I just about ruled out seeing anyone in TX as the skill levels are so much lower here than non the east or west coasts, based my research. I'm not gung-ho for surgery at all, but if it looked like it was my best option for being pain free - and right now that option is far from it - I would probably investigate competent surgeons in Europe first, and then if that didn't work out I"d look in NY - HSS, NYU Langone

      WRT edibles you mentioned previously.  I've tried those also, and as you know, in TX so far these are not available so people who want that type of medicine have to "put it together" on their own. I did, however, see a reduction of pain when I have tried it even though other side affects like drowsiness were not desirable.

      The other thing i"m trying this week and would also like your take is DMSO. Do you think it's more hype or could it have potential? 

      Thanks so much for all of your encouragement. I'm also an old "hippy" of sorts - once one always one, I guess.

      Holly

       

    • erela
      erela holly83

      Posted

      Dear Holly.....

      We so need to chat!!  how do I send a message here??...... I am not very computer savvy..... I have lots of info to share with you but do not want to share under your discussion as I am not sure what one is allowed to say....  My brother has Down's Syndrome....lol.... I so hope I did not say my brother as it is cousins.  Any way my one cousin sent me to see a Doctor Mochizuki  (Chris is his first name)..... he no longer does surgeries but does consult out of Stanford Hospital....... If you can see him I would.... this was his office number when I saw him..... 650-364-6577.  I hope this number still works otherwise you will have to call Stanford Hospital.....

      You mentioned that you were building a pool and spa..... yay!! I so miss my water days....... does weather and barometric changes or cold winds bother you????...... if so I would get that pool covered..... maybe an enclosed breezeway into your bedroom...... I have lots of info on therapy pools too..... message me if you want the info...... and if you come for a visit you can come see me in Modesto.... 2 hours from Stanford..... and I will send you home with lots of goodies.......

      I will eat one edible in the morning, but mainly eat them at night so I can get 8 hours of sleep and I feel better when I wake up..... stops me from tensing up in my sleep making movement near impossible when I wake up.....

      Take good care of yourself..... sounds like you have a wonderful hubby like me...... we are Blessed........ I Look forward to hearing from you soon.....

      Erela

    • lee38833
      lee38833 erela

      Posted

      I wouldn't mind trying edible, Its a bit harder here in Ireland to get them and they are not common here lol might txt an old friend!

  • isabell51157
    isabell51157 lee38833

    Posted

    Hi Lee sorry to hear about your pain. I have also been diagnosed with ostio in my spine. I am 60 and the docs have said I am too young!! I take a tramadol every night or I can’t move in the morning. I have also tried all the medication you mentioned. I think I am going to go back to the Docs and insist that something needs to be done. I am at my whits end with the pain. I also have it in my right hip and am finding it very difficult to walk. I have researched every alternative method and am now looking into   Massage I think it’s called point massage.

    Hope you get a solution soon.

  • lee38833
    lee38833

    Posted

    Hi Isabella, Yeah it is torture I feel your pain (literally) what is frustrating is that this has gone untreated for years because a young fit man like myself could never have this condition apparently! I think my next step is the injections .
  • erela
    erela lee38833

    Posted

    Oh Lee,

    My heart aches for you..... I went through the exact same thing!!!  I am 60 year old broken hippie woman.....lol  Are we related?? lol.....just kidding.....

    At the age of 3 I started telling my Dad ( the doctor) that my leg hurt.  He said it was growing pains...... when I was 14 I fainted from the pain..... that's when my Dad finally took me to an Orthopedist....... something was in fact very very wrong with my hip and I required emergency surgery..... my Dad cried as he never believed me...... I had to have 2 hip surgeries....... then when I was 28 years old I had to have a total right hip replacement..... uncemented...... since I was one of the first in the USA it took 2 years before I could walk without crutches...... that was when they found out that something was very wrong with my bones...... sheeez...... now on top of bad bones I am told I have OA,,,,,, my back is shot..... my hips, knees, shoulders, and elbows all need replacement and I am too sick or I would now be a bionic woman! lol......

    Swim and walk in the water as much as you can......  avoid land physiotherapy.... it tore all my muscles...... yup......  eat lots of edibles....... they work better on the body.... not the mind...... and get real edibles..... CBD's might work but they didn't for me..... guess it cuz I am an old hippie! lol.....  Have you ever tried White Lily Oil.... or Terocin cream ( only available at a sport's medicine orthopedist.)????  

    Where do you live???...... Message me and I will share with you everything that actually worked for me.......  stay away from the Chiropractor!!!..... 

    I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers either way!

    Always..... Erela

    • lee38833
      lee38833 erela

      Posted

      Hi Erela, ouchhh sounds like you have the rough times of it!! And sounds like you are trooper =) I am in Ireland! Of all places , But yeah my pain is unbearable at the minute and I have a child on the way which will need my full capacity so anything you have for me is welcome =) your lower back in pain all the time?
  • Anhaga
    Anhaga lee38833

    Posted

    So sorry to hear this.  A good physiotherapist should give you exercises to strengthen the muscles which support the spine.  As well, ask about your muscle tone.  A new physiotherapist said the muscles on either side of my spine were "hard as bricks" and gave me a few sessions of "dry needling" which reset the electrical signals in the muscles.  This was something I'd been entirely unaware of.  The most obvious result for me of this treatment was the vanishing of pain in my hip, which had been so severe I thought I should be in line for a hip replacement.  It was referred pain from the spine.

    Please be aware that NSAIDS interfere with cartilage regeneration so should be avoided as a regular medication.  Consider taking a largish dose of glucosamine - I take 1000 mg morning and evening.  I take capsules, not a hard tablets or caplets which are hard to digest. 

    Keep warm, keep mobile, and eat as healthily as you can.  

    All the best. 

    • lee38833
      lee38833 Anhaga

      Posted

      Hi Anhaga, Yeah I think I am going to stop taking NSAIDS to be honest as they do not help the pain much and they cause me to have constipation! I was doing lots of weights to try and strengthen the back but think I may have made it worse, thanks for the tips =)
    • Anhaga
      Anhaga lee38833

      Posted

      Glucosamine doesn't work as a painkiller, but taken over time it should help to keep the cartilage in the joints from worsening, and maybe even improve it.  I'm a lot older than you now, but I was diagnosed with OA when 40, and I'm sure I had it much earlier, in my feet starting in childhood I think.  I'm now 70.  So I'm living proof that the advance of OA can be slowed down as there has, over 30 years, been very little advance in my OA and I'm still completely mobile and functional, although my back does trouble me from time to time and I have to do my exercises faithfully every morning and evening.

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