Problems diagnosed as Osteoarthritis CAN be cured in some cases.
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If you're a proactive individual that's been diagnosed with incurable Osteoarthritis it's *possible* that you can in fact beat the diagnosis and get back to full fitness and functionality. It happened to me.
I should add that I was diagnosed at age 42 and was very fit and active at the time. I think it might be very different for older individuals, people who's condition is advanced, or people that don't enjoy exercise.
Here's my story. I can't make any promises that it'll be the same for you. But I will if people are interested share some of the resources that helped me to beat what I considered to be a life shattering diagnosis, for which I was assured there was no possibility of a cure. I don't know whether to believe I was misdiagnosed and never actually had Osteoarthritis, or whether they're wrong when they say Osteoarthritis is incurable. What I can say is that I was told my symptoms were 'classic' and that the diagnosis was certain - that my symptoms couldn't be explained by anything else. The whole area is so poorly defined and slap-dash that it's impossible to tell. Either way, it means there's at least hope of beating it if that's what you want to try and do.
I've spent 8 years battling against the people that were hell bent on brow beating me into believing I had Hip Osteoarthritis when I knew I didn't. My real problems were ignored - I was essentially left to rot. I was treated like an idiot. Told I researched too much. That I was in denial. Told that I was making my problems worse by training to keep myself fit, strong and active. Told I should swim and cycle and give up all other sports. I was asked repeatedly "You've had numerous experts try to help you - don't you think one of them would have succeeded if this really was curable?".
Finally I've been vindicated. I figured it out for myself. A simple, treatable muscle imbalance causing all of my problems. Obviously I wanted to let the people know that have tried to help over the years. I expected them to be amazed - a breakthrough that could help lots of people. These cases that we think are incurable can in fact be fixed!!
My excitement was met with apathy: [paraphrasing]. "The reality is that most people are inactive and unwilling to put in the work needed to address muscle imbalances like this. Even if the correct diagnosis was made, for most people the end result would be the same. People who are willing to put in the work necessary to reverse the condition are so few and far between that they aren't statistically significant to make it worth the cost of training and research. We were unable to solve your problem because we've not been adequately trained to do so. But well done for hanging in and figuring it out yourself."
Why wasn't I told this BEFORE I discovered the solution for myself? Why did they try to convince me I had incurable OA when they knew how determined I was to beat it?
Here's the reality as I now understand it (as it's been explained to me). This may not reflect every health professionals view, but it is a summary of what I've been told by various health professionals:
GP's are responsible for diagnosing OA. Yet they know very little about bio mechanics (unless they've got an interest and educate themselves).
They don't understand the condition in great detail, but they don't need to. They're working to a script. It seems not to be widely known who writes that script (so who to go to with questions or doubts)...which is a little bit of a worry.
Some know that often it's a misdiagnosis - more forward thinking GP's are aware that it's frequently a treatable soft tissue issue. But like the physios, think it doesn't matter too much as for most patients it makes no difference. They lead inactive lifestyles and any attempts to restore them to full functionality will fail. There is little point in wasting resources trying to give an accurate diagnosis when the end result will usually be the same regardless. So OA is the 'catch all' category you put them in. There is no cure - you manage with drugs and operate if and when necessary.
Even when someone is in great shape, keen to be proactive in their treatment and has an active lifestyle worth preserving there's nothing to be gained in finding the correct diagnosis as there is no one to refer them to to get it fixed. People worth bothering with (because they can be restored to a good, active life) aren't statistically significant enough to be worth the research and training needed to put systems in place to help them.
So, the GP's make the OA diagnosis despite not necessarily knowing much about OA. Who are the specialists then if you're determined to find the real cause of your joint stiffness or pain? Well, there's a bit of an oversight there. There is no one.
Orthopedic surgeons know about surgery. If your problem is an easily curable soft tissue issue they probably won't know enough to detect it. They may well put you under the knife unnecessarily. Or tell you that you have an incurable problem that will deteriorate over time - that your active life is over (that's what happened to me). But this is more a case of them forcing your problem into something that fits their specialist knowledge. Not a proper diagnosis.
Then there's physios. They aren't trained to detect and treat curable soft tissue problems that lead to joint wear and might otherwise be diagnosed as OA. However, some are better than others. Some might actually be very capable. It's pot luck. I think it's unlikely to find someone with these skills working for the NHS, but I may be wrong. I have been told (by a physio) that the failure rate in these cases is 99% within the NHS.
There are people out there that do know how to diagnose and treat these soft tissue problems. And there's plenty of info on this on the internet that you can use to help yourself. It's down to the individual to separate the wheat from the chaff. Contrary to what we are led to believe, OA isn't an incurable degenerative disease. Strictly speaking it doesn't exist. It's a 'catch all' diagnosis used to put people with joint problems in when there aren't resources and training to find out and fix what's really wrong with them. Contrary to what we're led to believe, there is no category of the medical profession with expertise in the multitude of conditions commonly labeled as OA. If you think you've seen an expert and had a reliable diagnosis of OA - think again.
There is no easy fix - that's true. There is no way of knowing if yours is a curable soft tissue problem without trying to fix it. I'm led to believe that official research into OA is centered around keeping this 99% of people that are deemed incurable (because they are perceived to be inactive and unwilling or unable to adhere to the required rehab plan), as pain free and independent as possible at minimum cost. It's simply not cost effective to put time and effort into finding the cause, the cure, or training people to make diagnosis and cure soft tissue problems in the cases where how to do so is already known by some.
But there are people out there that have figured out how to diagnose and cure at least some of these cases. Some speculate that all OA is initially a soft tissue dysfunction. However, this is mainly in the private sector - or perhaps in the NHS, but on an unofficial level. You're faced with the dilemma of separating the fakes from the real deal. Most will claim to be able to help - and many will diagnose incurable OA when they fail. That doesn't necessarily mean you can't be helped. Many tried and failed with me before I figured it out for myself.
But if you're willing to work at it yourself - or maybe even find the right person (which is very difficult) then it is quite possible that what you have is very curable.
31 likes, 607 replies
susan67756
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Something else has sprung to mind though - you mentioned the tricks of the mind.
In the post above - which you won't see for a while - I mentioned that I'd had bad sciatica for 6 months. At first it was OK during the day, but I got very little sleep at nights. At one point I was on every pain killing drug known to man and it wasn't controlling the pain. I'd been put on a drug to specifically settle nerve pain - that drug was working because I stopped getting night time pain. But now I couldn't move without setting off the pain. It made no sense.
Anyway, long story short, but it WAS in the mind. The pain was very real, but it's the mind that decides to generate the pain. I watched a youtube video explaining this, and used a technique called 'anchoring' basically associating positive thoughts with an action. The pain stopped very shortly after this. Knowing that my mind was overreacting was enough to put a stop to it.
So, take a look at the video. You never know, after watching it you might figure out a way to use your mind to control the pain. Certainly fear of it - giving it any respect - will make it worse.
I won't attempt putting a link in. Search YouTube for this " Pain. Is it all just in your mind? Professor Lorimer Moseley - University of South Australia" - a fellow Australian !
AnnieDelico susan67756
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Reading the posts at this site has given me a glimmer of hope that I might be able to help myself somewhat, so thank you. :-)
fran64082
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Looking forward to your links once they're approved.
Haven't tested myself yet, with identifying culprit muscles. Will let you know.
susan67756
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Overnight I turned into a cripple. Afraid to move for fear of my joints crumbling. My own mind nearly destroyed me. I got over it and got back to training thank goodness. But for a while they did turn me into a fat, unfit cripple waiting for a hip replacement.
Knowing what I now know about the cause of my problems, I realise that swimming and cycling would have been the worse thing I could have done. So it's very fortunate I trusted my instincts and ignored the specialist.
I think it's shocking the ease with which they diagnose such devastating diseases. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you take their advice you will probably end up with shredded joints - through atrophy and decline. Soft tissue problems MUST be addressed no matter what - they will destroy you before a joint problem will. But this is too difficult for the 'experts' it seems. I wrote to the arthritis research place in the UK - they don't mention ANYTHING about biomechanics and soft tissue problems on their website - yet this is something that I guarantee could help everyone. It's impossible to have a joint problem and not have soft tissue freaking out as a result and making things worse. And soft tissue problems will increase your chances of abnormal joint wear. So even if soft tissue isn't the cause of your problems it's something that everyone with OA should be informed about. They should have the choice to put a bit of work into helping themselves. Cheaper and less bother to lie to people and tell them they have no chance of turning things around.
I would have thought the fact that your pain comes and goes is a good sign. More indicative of soft tissue problems than of something happening within the joint. Stay positive. No matter what is going on with your joint, the better you understand the biomechanics the stronger, fitter and more pain free you'll be for the rest of your life. You won't be wasting your time even if you do have a problem with your actual joint.
AnnieDelico susan67756
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A few years ago I was sent to some kind of specialist because I have an ongoing problem with both my knees. One or the other knee will just suddenly "go" (collapse) while I'm walking. It's painful. It scares me too because I don't want to end up incapacitated.
The specialist told me to stand up & then he asked if I could do a squat, which I did in front of him. He said that I needed to strengthen the muscles above the knees as they were causing the problem. He suggested that I get something that weighed around 500g to a kilogram or so & to balance it on my ankle & exercise by lifting my leg etc. I never did it. I thought he was wrong. I felt ripped off actually!
I have this crackling noise in both knees. They creak & crackle yet x rays showed no problems. I am so anxious when I walk around at shopping centres. I forget about it for awhile when I don't have any pain or one of those "knee collapse" episodes but I have this fear that one day BOTH knees will "go" at the exact same moment & I'll have a fall that might result in an injury, not just humiliation in a public place!
Could the specialist have been right? Do I just need to strengthen the muscles above each knee? Will the pain upon the knee/s collapsing miraculously go away with strengthening exercises?
I also have problems with pain in the left side of my groin, often when I get off an ordinary chair. Sometimes when I'm just walking along. It's painful enough sometimes (similar to the pain when one of my knees "goes") to take my breath away momentarily & I have to stifle a "moan" if I'm in public. :-(
susan67756 AnnieDelico
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To understand this, joints have groups of muscles that act on them. It's important that the muscles on either side of a joint are balanced. If not, the bones in the joint tend to get pulled towards the stronger muscle. This can lead to pain and joint wear.
Your knees probably hurt and crackle because they aren't tracking smoothly. I think there's an extremely good chance that if you strength the quads as advised that you'll see improvement if not complete resolution of symptoms. You'll need to work hard at it and you might need to progress to heavier weights to get the best results.
In addition, massaging what is known as 'trigger points' can give immediate relief - although the root cause WILL be the muscle weakness. Just dig your fingers into the muscles above your knee, and also the muscles behind and beneath your knee joint. You'll almost certainly find sore 'knots' in the muscles. Just press firmly on them for 10 seconds or so and if you keep repeating this they should release. They're probably what are causing your knee to buckle.
It's not quite that simple though. Quads tend not to weaken in isolation. Chances are other muscles are out of balance. This is likely to result in tilting of your pelvis and the groin pain is highly likely to be a consequence of that. Start with strengthening the quads though. That *might* be all it takes to put everything right!
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ross74872 susan67756
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My chiro says i have lordosis in my lower spine - from your experience in muscle balancing does this sound like a potential cause for the knees & the hips? I realise you are not a doctor - but to be honest - my doctor isn't doing much...any help gratefully received.....
Regards - Ross.
susan67756 ross74872
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Prompted by the responses in this thread I'm currently in the process of putting all of this in a self help book. It is still a couple of months off though. But happy to help out anyone in the meantime.
Yes - I think there's a very good chance that this is all down to muscle imbalance. Regardless of the root cause without a doubt addressing muscle imbalances will help with pain and symptoms and halting progression of the dysfunction.
Since starting to write the book my confidence in telling people this is growing. When you delve deeply into the research and methodology behind the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of OA you realise it's not quite what we are led to believe. Basically (by the admission of the very people that write the guidelines on OA) it's not a single disease or condition but a label to describe a bunch of poorly misunderstood symptoms. As such it's impossible to define (and no commonly accepted definition exists) and therefore impossible to reliably research or give prognosis and treatments.
The 'evidence' that we're told oa advise is based upon is so scant and for the most part so inappropriate to most cases of OA that the advice is largely based upon expert opinion - so essentially intelligent guesses....that to my mind don't seem very intelligent at times!
Additionally, the driving factor (quite rightly)Â is to keep NHS costs down. Which means getting the best possible results with the population as a whole at the lowest cost rather than getting good results for each individual. Advice given is therefore likely to be wholy inappropriate to minority groups .... such as active 38 year olds.
Those responsible of recommending diagnosistic criteria for OA in the UK have got around the problem by basically widening the definition to include any joint pain that can't easily be explained by anything else. It can only be diagnosed by exclusion but there are known causes of joint pain that AREN'T first ruled out. The main one being muscle imbalance. Doctors couldn't rule that out if they wanted to as there's no relevant training within the NHS.
The guidelines say that the key treatment for OA is exercise. Yet they don't have enough evidence to tell them which type of exercise is best for which type of OA. So it's mainly left for the patient to guess for themselves. Consequently, very many patients give up on it because it doesn't work or makes them worse. In order for exercise to help you need to understand your dysfunction in detail and choose the RIGHT exercise to address your problems. Correction of muscle imbalances comes under the 'exercise' banner.
Bottom line is that without going against standard advice you can treat muscle imbalances. Even they - in a round about way - acknowledge that this is the best thing that you can do.
There is LOTS of knowledge out there about muscle imbalances - just not in relation to cases diagnosed as OA.
This is where I can help by sharing my findings - the most helpful sources of research and the things that worked for me. I've also worked out a model for diagnosing some types of imbalance that I think will be hugely helpful for many. Twisting of the pelvis is VERY common in hip OA sufferers. Interestingly, twisting in the pelvis is highly likely to cause pain and wear in low back and knees. So it could well be all related. It's certainly not normal to have OA in 5 joints at your age, but if your doctor has ruled out all else then addressing muscle imbalances is the way to go. It can only do good.
Send me a PM and I'll give you some tests to do to see if there's signs of twisting in your pelvis. If so, then we can fairly reliably predict the nature of your muscle imbalance and work out the corrective exercise that will start to balance things out. I can definitely help you find the answers and info you need to help yourself with this.
Too soon to be gutted. Honestly, all the OA diagnosis means is "you've got joint pain that we can't explain". Even if you've got x-ray evidence it matters not - more than half the people that have that are asymptomatic and it is a known (but often benign) consequence of a muscle imbalance.
No guarantees, but still loads and loads of room for hope for full recovery.
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AnnieDelico susan67756
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A similar thing has happened to me with pain in my groin (mainly the left side, whereas with the knees it's both, but fortunately not both at the same time - yet anyway). I'd be standing or more likely walking along & oh boy, all of a sudden I'd get a moan-stifling pain that took my breath away. It doesn't happen as often lately, but each knee is a real problem.
Your help & advice is greatly appreciated. I'm in Australia. Looking forward to your book's release! : )
susan67756 AnnieDelico
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Just start off very gently with the trigger points - that way you can't do harm. There's a great book "Trigger Point Therapy Workbook" - it'll cost you less than a single treatment with a therapist and will give you all you need to treat all future aches and pains.
AnnieDelico susan67756
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AnnieDelico susan67756
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susan67756 AnnieDelico
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The reason I think this book is so good is that it has a section where you look up where you feel pain and it tells you all the trigger points that can refer pain to that place and tells you how to find and release them. It really is a very good book - one that everyone should own!
The theory as to WHY trigger points cause pain and why massage releases them is still conroversial - so perhaps some of the explanations in the book don't stand up to scrutiny. But the fact remains that it DOES work!
Amazon is probably the best place to buy.
AnnieDelico susan67756
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susan67756 AnnieDelico
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liz36073 susan67756
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meredithm liz36073
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Hi liz, I too am finding all of this very interesting. I have OA knees and hips. I found a book thru an acupuncturist that has been amazing. Its mainly about getting your joints back in balance and strengthening muscles. Very easy to do stuff in this book. "pain free" by Pete Egoscue. Im pasting the link in here but I'm not sure how that will work. https://www.amazon.com/Pain-Free-Revolutionary-Stopping-Chronic/dp/0553379887/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1515536907&sr=1-1&keywords=pain+free+by+pete+egoscue.
Pete Egoscue has a web site and videos on youtube also. I did buy one of his cd's and LOVED it ! The problem was about 3 days later I would hurt my back. So Im going to still do the exercises, just a little more gentle. I felt amazing after I did them each time, but obviously pushed to hard.
Im 63 and I'm not giving up !! I's still hiking (with 2 walking sticks now) but not the intense stuff I could do years ago. I did find that when I strengthen my muscles my knees were much happier. And sadly i've read that 1 extra pound is like 4 on the knees. So i'm going to loose some weight. Im 5'5" and 145 lbs, sure hope that helps.
susan67756 liz36073
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Hi Liz,
As Patient.co.uk are now allowing links to be posted then here's the link to the book that was written as a direct result of this thread. All the discussion and coming and going in this thread resulted in requests for it all to be put in a self-help book. In fact I went a step further and came up with a very precise method of testing for a whole body muscle imbalance that seems to be always associated with hip OA. With the help of lots of people on this thread I was able to come up with a treatment plan that is getting good results for lots of people.
You'll find the book here (if you get the book please do get in touch to let me know how you get on).
https://www.amazon.co.uk/HIP-Osteoarthritis-CAN-Cured-Treating/dp/1541100182/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1515602720&sr=8-1&keywords=osteoarthritis+can+be+cured
roger75701 susan67756
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Hi Susan, first, thanks for keeping up on this topic and helping everyone out. It helps to find a different take on osteoarthritis. This is sound information that I've not come across yet.
I've been battling what was diagnosed as osteoarthritis in my left knee. It came on slow probably 6 years ago and progressively gotten worse.
About 25 years ago I was in a bad auto accident that busted up that leg pretty good. There is a rod going down the lower leg. The docs also said I had a chip taken out of a bone in my lower back. This has caused me to have nerve damage to both legs. The muscles the back of both legs and left ankle are pretty much useless. I cannot stand on my toes, run or balance very well.
After reading through this article and other info gathered, I'm sure that muscle imbalance has caused my issues. My gate has never been the same sense the accident. This, over time I assume caused the wear and now pain.
My right leg had been fine up until towards the end of last year about a month or so ago. Now it is very painful on the inside of the knee and down the front of the leg to the foot. This had come on real fast. I have burning sensations in both legs (front side of both upper legs) if I'm standing very long and they feel very weak.
With the nerve damage, I cannot exercise very well or walk very far. I can do some basics and have tried the treadmill, Vibration Plates, mini trampoline and now an ecliptical machine.
It just seems that I cannot get any improvement with those routes. I can tire my legs easily but it never seems to build up so I can do more.
I'm in a lot of pain standing and walking. It gets better sitting for a little while. It's a little painful at night trying to sleep and I'm really stiff and in pain getting up in the morning.
The book you wrote sounds like it would be full of good information. I'm not sure if the subject of the hip osteoarthritis will be beneficial to my knee and legs. What is your opinion on that?
I'm also in the U.S. so not sure if I can buy it from the UK Amazon and have it shipped or not.
Please let me know if you think it would do me good to get it and/or any other information that my be beneficial to me. Or if you have in PDF I could buy of your book or other books on this type of information that would be beneficial to my knee.
You have given me more hope that I can possibly find some relief from this pain. Thank you.
Roger