There is no evidence that exercise can worsen osteoarthritis so gyms are being unfair if they won't take you. Exercise and losing weight are the two most important things that you can do to help yourself if you have osteoarthritis and will delay the need for surgery, so try speaking to your gym mana...

Progressive joint damage is not inevitable although hand osteoarthritis does tend to run in families. You are already doing the right things by continuing to exercise, as execise can't damage the joints, but pain as you say,may come and go. Try stretching your joints or exercising with a ball that y...

Keeping as mobile as possible may help. Certain medicines can help with nerve pain and improve sleep which are also important so you should ask your GP for advice. Some pain clinics or spinal surgeons also try injections called epidurals into the spine which can be safe if you are not well enough fo...

Pain in a replaced joint can have several serious causes including loosening and infection. You should ask your GP to arrange investigations and if necessary refer you back to see your orthopaedic surgeon. Dr Wendy Holden FRCP Consultant Rheumatologist Medical Advisor to Arthritis Action Arthritis A...

Exercise doesn't cause osteoarthritis, unless like your husband you have had an injury, so you must not blame yourself. Surgery is definitely not inevitable and the fact that you have osteoarthritis definitely does not mean that you will have progressive pain and disability. The most important thing...

Hi Gerry, Thank you for your question. As you rightly say, exercise is often reported by those exercising with arthritis and is not necessary a sign that things are being aggravated. What we do know from the evidence is that we feel more pain around joints if we loose our strength. This is why it is...

It sounds as though you are doing really well if you only had your surgery 2 weeks ago. Everyone is different after orthopaedic surgery but usually by 4- 6 weeks most or all of the medication should have stopped. You are doing the right thing by cutting down the longtec (oxycodone) first, and this c...

Many people with chronic pain find that they still have pain in spite of high doses of opiates. This clearly means that after a while, these drugs stop being effective and that is why all guidelines say that they should therefore be reduced, especially as they are associated with dependence and many...

All non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs including diclofenac and celecoxib are associated with stomach problems including reflux, heartburn and ulcers. For these reasons and others, NSAID use should be kept to a minimum and most people are prescribed a proton pump inhibitor such as omeprazole to h...

Studies show that losing just 10% of body weight can lead to an improvement in knee pain of 30% or more, which in many people means that surgery may not be needed at all or at least can be postponed. In other words, self-management really works for arthritis pain. Anyone with a BMI of over 30 can se...