Arthritis in the UK

[Oldbasslover]

Your choices are not just rheumatoid vs osteoarthritis. There are many, many forms of arthritis. For people past 40, by far the most common is osteoarthritis, which is basically aging / wear and tear.

Someone above mentioned not getting medical advice here on TB. As a Family MD for 40 years, I wholeheartedly agree with this. While I think most of the suggestions are likely not harmful, many of them are also likely not helpful, only delaying your diagnosis and treatment as you are trying things out.

See your Primary doctor, ask them about what type of arthritis you have and get their opinions about what medications / supplements / diet can help. This is part of medical training. Additionally, you will have someone seeing how you respond or not and can then make secondary or tertiary treatment recommendations and can help you long term.

I hope you feel better soon.

As a PS, TB’ers frequently do provide a lot of excellent “medical” advice, much like a baseball coach can help a pitcher throw so as not to cause elbow or shoulder problems. There is much excellent advice to questions like - I have a lot of wrist pain, or finger pain, or hand pain, or low back pain, etc. - how do I manage these. Things like different straps, hand positions, guitar positions, sitting or standing positions are things that many TB’ers have a lot of advice that a doctor likely won’t have experience or advice about.

 

[TyBo]

Undoubtably, losing weight will help with arthritis either osteo or rheumatoid. There is however, no legitimate research that shows an improvement due to a “inflammation reducing” diet. There are many, like Gundry, who are not averse to making a buck by exploiting people with pseudoscience.
Gundry MD | Complaints | Better Business Bureau® Profile

There is some legitimate research showing arthritis improvement through diet, as I noted earlier. But not for the Gundry thing, as you mention. Or not that I've seen. It's possible that some can find it helpful, I don't imagine that people are trying to mislead about that (though Gundry himself ... I'm not so sure ... ).

Certainly a good idea to start with doctors' diagnosis and recommendations in any case.

 

[erratick]

I wouldn't go to a doctor's or arthritis sufferer forum and ask about bass tone....

mainly because they wouldn't be experts. They'd just have some at best anecdotal evidence.

 

[TyBo]

Arthritis impacts bass playing. Lots of bass players here, some of whom have arthritis. Can't see anything wrong with asking other bass players about how they deal with that, or other such ailments for that matter. Doesn't imply not also consulting doctors. It's all grist for the mill.

 

[12BitSlab]

Your choices are not just rheumatoid vs osteoarthritis. There are many, many forms of arthritis. For people past 40, by far the most common is osteoarthritis, which is basically aging / wear and tear.

Someone above mentioned not getting medical advice here on TB. As a Family MD for 40 years, I wholeheartedly agree with this. While I think most of the suggestions are likely not harmful, many of them are also likely not helpful, only delaying your diagnosis and treatment as you are trying things out.

See your Primary doctor, ask them about what type of arthritis you have and get their opinions about what medications / supplements / diet can help. This is part of medical training. Additionally, you will have someone seeing how you respond or not and can then make secondary or tertiary treatment recommendations and can help you long term.

I hope you feel better soon.

I have no medical training whatsoever but wholeheartedly endorse what @Oldbasslover wrote. I deal with severe psoriatic arthritis and I can say with utmost conviction that the advice and guidance I received from my doc has helped me more than anything that can be found on the Internet.

 

[Oldbasslover]

Arthritis impacts bass playing. Lots of bass players here, some of whom have arthritis. Can't see anything wrong with asking other bass players about how they deal with that, or other such ailments for that matter. Doesn't imply not also consulting doctors. It's all grist for the mill.

I don’t disagree with you, however it appears OP does not know even what type of arthritis he is dealing with. I suspect the vast majority of TB’ers dealing with “arthritis” have osteoarthritis and are suggesting remedies they use for dealing with that particular disease. When someone has a specific illness, seeing how other bassists deal with that illness may have benefit, or at least is grist for the mill. It does not make sense to seek advice where an illness can have many etiologies and taking remedies that may have nothing to do with their specific diagnosis.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

No, not a new band

I was thinking of a 65+ Sex Pistols cover band

 

[TyBo]

I don’t disagree with you, however it appears OP does not know even what type of arthritis he is dealing with. I suspect the vast majority of TB’ers dealing with “arthritis” have osteoarthritis and are suggesting remedies they use for dealing with that particular disease. When someone has a specific illness, seeing how other bassists deal with that illness may have benefit, or at least is grist for the mill. It does not make sense to seek advice where an illness can have many etiologies and taking remedies that may have nothing to do with their specific diagnosis.

Yes, so you consult a doctor to get a diagnosis, as I said. Nothing wrong with hearing how others deal with their issues as well. And so on ...

 

[Kaplan]

Seeking medical advice here, as well meaning as we are, is a crap shoot at best.

I don't think so. We are grown people with experiences. I've become wary of doctors. We're not talking about heart surgery.

 

[MrLenny1]

See your doctor. I’ve had arthritis
for a while & ibuprofen works for me.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I don't think so. We are grown people with experiences. I've become wary of doctors. We're not talking about heart surgery.

Frankly, without the skill of my team of physicians, I’d be looking at the underside of grass 6 feet down. Maybe when you get a little older, you will appreciate them a little more. That said, there are a lot of folks that share your opinion.

 

[pbass2]

First and foremost, is it rheumatic or osteo ?

NSAIDs generally wreak havoc on one's digestive system in the longer run. I've never used them topically so I can't comment on that side of the story.

Change of diet and certain natural remedies - depending on the exact type of illness - are likely your best bet IMO.

Disclaimer: I am NOT a doctor, just a fellow (osteo) arthritis sufferer so this is NOT medical advice in any shape or form. My opinion is likely worth less than what you paid for it in the first place...

Good luck. Seriously.

NSAIDs are toxic, and not just for your gut. They're actually really bad for you. It's incredible how western doctors just prescribe them like candy, very often when they're contraindicated with other drugs, like certain antibiotics.

 

[DrThumpenstein]

No holistic bullcrap diet will help in either case.

I rarely call out comments here, but that’s patently false. There is support in the medical literature for an anti-inflammatory diet in helping to manage pain and reduce inflammatory markers in both inflammatory and non-inflammatory arthritis. Think primarily plant-based, low in saturated fats and meat.

I am a board certified physician in the US. My best advice is to see a doctor and get a solid diagnosis. Curcumin (turmeric) does have some supporting evidence, but don’t be fooled into thinking that supplements are free of side effects. It does appear to be safer than nonsteroidals but can have some adverse effects and drug interactions, so again, get good medical advice for medical problems.

OP, good luck getting this sorted out and feel better soon!

 

[Ewo]

By no means touting myself as a medical expert, but I've got both osteo (shoulders replaced, arthroplasty) and rheumatoid (finger joints).

IMH(nonexpert)O it's worth trying various supplements; they might work for you, they might not.

For occasional pain relief--I wouldn't take it on a daily basis--the best I've found is the combination of ibuprofen and acetaminophen. The Advil brand calls this _Dual Action_. Yeah, I caught it in your post that you had a bad reaction to ibuprofen. If that was because the dose was high, in the Dual Action caps it's only a modest dose of ibuprofen.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

You must find out whether you have osteo or rheumatoid arthritis. Treatment is completely different for each. Rheumatoid is systemic, an autoimmune disorder, and osteoarthritis is caused by wear and aging and could affect only one or any number of joints. This is basic. No holistic bullcrap diet will help in either case.

^This x 10.
I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis at age 25. This ain't your grandma's aches and pains. There are a lot of excellent prescription drugs around these days to deal with it. Not so much when I started out decades ago. If it is R.A. and being systemic as previously mentioned, it can involve other organs, not just joints. Joint pain is just the knock on the door that should get you to a doctor, preferably a Rheumatologist.

It is not easy to diagnose R.A. but a qualified Rheumatologist will know what to look for, where a family doctor may not. I was lucky that my fam doc admitted to being in over his head on what was happening. He was smart enough though to know to refer me to someone who could help. It may not kill you, but there can be days when you wish you were dead. The sooner you get R.A. eliminated from the many possible causes (and I hope that's how it goes for you) the less damage will be done.

 

[Knavery]

Wishing you the best OP. I was just diagnosed with diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH). So, I'm in chronic pain always. NSAIDs do help a little but for me, but they're not a miracle drug. I'm currently going through PT and doing exercises at home. I'm also trying to change my diet and lose some more weight. Hopefully, that will lesson the symptoms. But as a 50-year-old, I can't imagine living like this for another 20-25 years--if I even last that long.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

I don't think so. We are grown people with experiences. I've become wary of doctors. We're not talking about heart surgery.

No. But in my case it was an aggravating factor with my, not bass related, Capel Tunnel Syndrome.
And why is everything complicated compared to heart surgery? Not to be dismissive of anyone suffering from heart disease, but there are a lot of other types of surgery that are way more complicated in nature.

 

[Oldbasslover]

No. But in my case it was an aggravating factor with my, not bass related, Capel Tunnel Syndrome.
And why is everything complicated compared to heart surgery? Not to be dismissive of anyone suffering from heart disease, but there are a lot of other types of surgery that are way more complicated in nature.

There are a lot of medical problems way more complicated than heart surgery as well.
US medicine pays a lot of money for doing - procedures, surgeries, diagnostics. Doctors don’t get paid well to research and really think about what is going on. They only get paid if they are seeing people. Thinking requires after hours work and the drivers there are typically internal, not external (money). In my world, the doctors taking time to think is shrinking rapidly, its sad to see.

 

[whero]

I was thinking of a 65+ Sex Pistols cover band

Haha - beat me to it. I was going to say "Is that the new Sex Pistols single, what with all the (surviving) members in the mid-60s?"

But seriously, as others have said, you need to get proper medical advice. There are different types of arthritis, which will take different treatments, and as you've already said you've had adverse reactions to some existing medications you'll need a professional to run through your options.

But good luck! I hope everything works out and you can continue playing (and doing all those other things you need limbs and digits for).

 

[BlueTalon]

Steroids can help with inflammation, but that's obviously something you'd have to get prescribed by your doctor.

The only other thing I've got is drink lots of water. And you might consider ionized water -- an ionizer is kinda expensive, but if you drink bottled water anyway...