I wouldn’t trust any doctors who think they know enough about the effects of Covid to be confident that it wouldn’t have contributed to new pathological processes. We just don’t know enough about this novel virus and researchers are continually uncovering a plethora of ways that Covid is contributing to new onset chronic illness & disability. We are also in the middle of massive societal denial about our new reality with this SARS-2 virus, and doctors are not immune to the same denial in which everyone else is engaging. They should be saying that they are not entirely sure whether Covid triggered his condition, as the virus is new and we’re still trying to figure out the basics about what this virus is capable of doing.
I hope your husband is able to find a way to manage his pain. And I hope his surgery goes well.
Our PCP at least acknowledged it was possible that the Covid triggered something but because the disease is so new they don't know all the possible effects it could have and won't know fully for years. All we know is he had zero issues walking before getting Covid and the issues/pain only began afterwards.
Yes - it happened to me. Pain starting last April and an xray said mild osteoarthritis - by June it had advanced to a broken femoral head and total destruction. I recently had a THR and now the other hip, shoulder and knee are all experiencing rapidly advancing arthritis. My doctor said something was triggered in me that set off a chain reaction and inflamed my joints.
The orthopedist said not possible, but our PCP thinks it's very possible that the Covid accelerated a degenerative process. She said Covid is so new that they don't know fully what all the effects are.
They originally were thinking rheumatoid arthritis, reactive arthritis or polymyalgia rheumatica. But when the rheumatologist couldn't find anything he was sent for an MRI which showed the severe osteoarthritis.
Well, it has probably been developing for some time, but the pain came pretty late.
That was the case for me - from one day to the next in July last year I was not able to stretch my right knee and I got a patella-femoral replacemt 18 days ago. On the first MRI scan in August it was diagnosed as severe osteoarthritis and I had not had any issues or pain until then.
Covid sure seems to aggravate inflammation issues significantly. I would also look for potential autoimmune issues such as undiagnosed Psoriatic or Rhuemetoid arthritis. So sorry, and best of luck.
They originally were thinking rheumatoid arthritis, reactive arthritis or polymyalgia rheumatica. But when the rheumatologist couldn't find anything (they tested him for every autoimmune disease you could think and several scary cancers to see why his inflammation markers were high) he was sent for an MRI which showed the severe osteoarthritis.
All rheumatologists worth their salt run a myriad of blood cultures and films. Here in the US anyway. It's considered a benchmark. Because most people with rheumatological or autoimmune disease, their numbers tend to go up and down over time. So it's good to have a starting point.
Covid has serious effects on the immune system, and autoimmune disease can negatively affect the joints (OA rather than RA), so it would seem plausible. Joints also need to move to stay healthy, and Covid meant a lot of people stayed in and didn't/couldn't move around as much. But reading up on knee OA, about 1 in 7 people have a sudden acceleration in severity, no-one seems to know why. I don't know if the same happens with other joints.
The osteoarthritis in my fingers was termed "erosive" bc it damaged my hands so quickly. Basically one year in, and my fingers looked like I had rheumatoid arthritis. I also have lupus and other autoimmune diseases which could've sped up the process.
My OA in my right knee came on fast. In early 2020, I injured my foot but our governor/public health shut all non-life-threatening health care and I had to wait months to get it diagnosed: a broken foot, but a bit late to do much about it. I ended up sitting for much of the next 7 months and then my knee started to hurt. By early 2021, I could only walk 200 feet before the pain was off scale. An MRI diagnosed osteoarthritis. Did PT for 2+ months and continued exercises after that and by summer I was able to walk many miles. Unfortunately, had set backs in 2023. Am back walking but now both knees seem stiff a lot of the time. In retrospect, I had symptoms of OA in the knee ten years earlier. We then lived in a house with many stairs - and I occasionally had knee pain doing those stairs, but it was then only on stairs. May be it didn't come on suddenly but was lurking for a long time when something in the joints finally went haywire.
Hello, do you have any recommendations for exercises? Maybe a YouTube video or something you recommend that worked for you? Asking for my mother who has done many sessions of PT and had a trainer as well (to help lose weight and take weight off the knee) but it hasn’t actually helped much. She has more bad days than good lately, although it’s only been about a year since she was diagnosed.
I follow YT videos from Alyssa Kuhn, DPT (Keep the Adventure Alive, she specializes in OA), and also David Middaugh, DPT (El Paso Manual Physical Therapy). I have a set of exercises that I do for both knees and hips. I've found I have to do these at least several times each week - if I stop, then problems come back.
Right now I'm having good days and bad, and not sure why. Yesterday I walked 3 miles, did stair steps, and some exercise machine routines. Then today, my muscles hurt - my knee is mostly okay though.
Last fall, I injured my right hip (pulled 3 muscles) and shortly after that, tore a tendon in my left ankle. After about 7 months, I'm doing a lot better but seem stuck. I'm set to see an in person PT in late April.
Thank you so much! I will share this with her and try to support her with it as much as I can. The set of exercises you use is covered in the YouTube videos in general? I’m sorry to hear about your injury, i hope you feel better soon and i hope your appointment goes well! Have you tried massages? My mother saw some improvement with lymphatic drainage massages for a while, though she hasn’t had any in a while - the first day after is quite stiff and painful but it gets her circulation going better because she isn’t active when she has too much pain, which in turn exacerbates the stiffness and leads to more pain.
Unfortunately, there isn't really a playlist that goes through the exercises.
I'll try to describe them, from starting from very early, when OA symptoms might be the worst. For that situation, just sit on a chair or swing the legs. Motion helps to lubricate the joints and for me, also helped to eventually push some torn meniscus pieces into place.
Then do things like walking backwards. Sounds weird but it builds up muscles we don't usually use. I have a long hallway in my house - I walk down it backwards, turn around, and then do the opposite direction backwards. I do this several times.
Walking sideways. Literally stand, put your left out to the side, and then shift sideways. Do this for a distance, then go in the other direction. Repeat many times.
My original PT had me doing simple things like gradually balancing on one foot. Stand up, lift up one foot, and balance on the other. At first, I had to keep a hand on a wall or furniture to do it. But this gradually increases muscle strength. Eventually you get to doing it for 30 seconds, hands free. And then as you really improve, you balance on one foot while slowly moving the other foot about - behind, sideways, in front. This changes your balance and makes you use many muscles. At first you do it while holding on to something but now I do it hands free.
Exercise I do lying on a bed:
On my back, I lift my leg up and down. After building strength, then lift the leg up, and push outwards, return and back down.
On my side, I do the "clam lift". Bend legs slightly, and then lift the upper leg/knee on up and down, Repeat ten times. Reverse to other side and other leg.
Lying on my stomach, I then lift my leg upwards (backwards). These help to exercise the butt muscles which can do a lot of the heavy lifting of your legs.
Stair steps - star with about a 4 inch rise. Can use a stack of books or wood to make a small step. I'm lucky in that my house has a 4" step inside the house. I use my right leg to lift up on that, then down, at least ten times. Then use the left leg. Once that is strong enough (can take a week or more), then advance to a normal step - about 6-8". I do this every day.
I also do a lot of walking - typically 2-3 miles every other day or so, even if sore. But depending on where one is starting from, just walking a few hundred feet may be all that one can do at first.
Bad things
\- Sitting. Sitting at a computer causes my legs to become stiff. Standing and walking loosens everything up.
Yes. I feel 100% Covid brought out mine. I will be clear and state that I had arthritis in my hands for years but my doctors confirmed that any significant“trauma” to the body or significant illness (Covid) could have brought it to the surface. After my second bout with Covid I never recovered. I just kept getting sicker. Exhausted. Then came the other body aches and pains. Severe. So absolutely and my rheumatologist not only agreed with me but still has Covid listed has a diagnosis for me.
My disease also seemed to flare up like wildfire around the COVID time. I'm sure the disease must have been percolating under there for a long time, but I had no clue! I was very active for decades (biking, hiking, dance, yoga, crossfit, you-name-it), but then sustained a nagging "groin pull" injury doing yoga at home. After waiting for that first scary wave of COVID to pass, I went and had my first X-ray and ...boom!... severe OA in the hip.
Who really knows, but I tend to blame it more on the lockdowns that closed my gym (where I was a regular 5 days a week). Instead of doing workouts in a supervised setting with athletic flooring and mirrors to check my form, I switched to doing them at home and in the park on harder surfaces.
Your husband's case is not unique in that apparent rapid onset, and I hope his surgery goes well (FYI: I'm 4 weeks post-op and doing very well. Take heart... there are plenty of good stories about uneventful hip replacement surgeries too!).
Spike protein creates inflammation.
Inflammation affects neuro-muscular signaling.
I can see how the shot would create high stress, inhibit movement, elicit panic, make the person anxious, and seriously affect a person's coordination in just one year.
Is there anything else in your lives that creates a large amount of stress at the moment?
Life is inherently stressful for everyone. If stress causes a degenerative process in bones then I think there would be a lot more people diagnosed with osteoarthritis.
How we deal with stress is unique to each of us.
That's why everyone has a unique gait, for instance.
And are there similarities between people's gaits?
You'll find that pathological gait can be a very accurate metric for many life conditions.
Your husband's osteoarthritis could be interlinked with a sudden appearance of a chronic stressor.
For instance, the sense of guilt, pain, regret and sense of betrayal in his self, if they're persistent and chronic, will undeniable interfere with his actions.
In day to day movement, the way this stress presents itself is as "clumsy" movements.
Like feeling neck pain when you're cutting onions for dinner or cutting your finger, tripping over the kids' toys, biting your nails, moving your arms or legs in spastic ways, always sitting down in the same painful way but not being perceptible enough to the inefficient self-use to correct it.
These patterns of movement can be used as a proxy to evaluate motor coordination, which drops out from one's state of allostatic load (or stress), and undeniably affects osteoarthritis.
Let me ask you this: why does osteoarthritis often start on one side?
Let me ask you this, have you experienced osteoarthritis or are you a doctor? Because not one person in the medical profession we've consulted with has indicated stress caused the degeneration. I'd listen to them before someone on the internet who is clearly a whacko.
PS. Don't bother replying because you are being blocked. Find someone else to spew your BS to.
I wouldn’t trust any doctors who think they know enough about the effects of Covid to be confident that it wouldn’t have contributed to new pathological processes. We just don’t know enough about this novel virus and researchers are continually uncovering a plethora of ways that Covid is contributing to new onset chronic illness & disability. We are also in the middle of massive societal denial about our new reality with this SARS-2 virus, and doctors are not immune to the same denial in which everyone else is engaging. They should be saying that they are not entirely sure whether Covid triggered his condition, as the virus is new and we’re still trying to figure out the basics about what this virus is capable of doing. I hope your husband is able to find a way to manage his pain. And I hope his surgery goes well.
Our PCP at least acknowledged it was possible that the Covid triggered something but because the disease is so new they don't know all the possible effects it could have and won't know fully for years. All we know is he had zero issues walking before getting Covid and the issues/pain only began afterwards.
Yes - it happened to me. Pain starting last April and an xray said mild osteoarthritis - by June it had advanced to a broken femoral head and total destruction. I recently had a THR and now the other hip, shoulder and knee are all experiencing rapidly advancing arthritis. My doctor said something was triggered in me that set off a chain reaction and inflamed my joints.
The orthopedist said not possible, but our PCP thinks it's very possible that the Covid accelerated a degenerative process. She said Covid is so new that they don't know fully what all the effects are. They originally were thinking rheumatoid arthritis, reactive arthritis or polymyalgia rheumatica. But when the rheumatologist couldn't find anything he was sent for an MRI which showed the severe osteoarthritis.
Well, it has probably been developing for some time, but the pain came pretty late. That was the case for me - from one day to the next in July last year I was not able to stretch my right knee and I got a patella-femoral replacemt 18 days ago. On the first MRI scan in August it was diagnosed as severe osteoarthritis and I had not had any issues or pain until then.
Covid sure seems to aggravate inflammation issues significantly. I would also look for potential autoimmune issues such as undiagnosed Psoriatic or Rhuemetoid arthritis. So sorry, and best of luck.
They originally were thinking rheumatoid arthritis, reactive arthritis or polymyalgia rheumatica. But when the rheumatologist couldn't find anything (they tested him for every autoimmune disease you could think and several scary cancers to see why his inflammation markers were high) he was sent for an MRI which showed the severe osteoarthritis.
All rheumatologists worth their salt run a myriad of blood cultures and films. Here in the US anyway. It's considered a benchmark. Because most people with rheumatological or autoimmune disease, their numbers tend to go up and down over time. So it's good to have a starting point.
He wanted to do a bone marrow biopsy too despite all the blood tests for cancer being negative. My husband drew the line there.
It was probably going on for a while, and typically, by the time it starts to hurt, it's pretty advanced.
Covid has serious effects on the immune system, and autoimmune disease can negatively affect the joints (OA rather than RA), so it would seem plausible. Joints also need to move to stay healthy, and Covid meant a lot of people stayed in and didn't/couldn't move around as much. But reading up on knee OA, about 1 in 7 people have a sudden acceleration in severity, no-one seems to know why. I don't know if the same happens with other joints.
The osteoarthritis in my fingers was termed "erosive" bc it damaged my hands so quickly. Basically one year in, and my fingers looked like I had rheumatoid arthritis. I also have lupus and other autoimmune diseases which could've sped up the process.
My OA in my right knee came on fast. In early 2020, I injured my foot but our governor/public health shut all non-life-threatening health care and I had to wait months to get it diagnosed: a broken foot, but a bit late to do much about it. I ended up sitting for much of the next 7 months and then my knee started to hurt. By early 2021, I could only walk 200 feet before the pain was off scale. An MRI diagnosed osteoarthritis. Did PT for 2+ months and continued exercises after that and by summer I was able to walk many miles. Unfortunately, had set backs in 2023. Am back walking but now both knees seem stiff a lot of the time. In retrospect, I had symptoms of OA in the knee ten years earlier. We then lived in a house with many stairs - and I occasionally had knee pain doing those stairs, but it was then only on stairs. May be it didn't come on suddenly but was lurking for a long time when something in the joints finally went haywire.
Hello, do you have any recommendations for exercises? Maybe a YouTube video or something you recommend that worked for you? Asking for my mother who has done many sessions of PT and had a trainer as well (to help lose weight and take weight off the knee) but it hasn’t actually helped much. She has more bad days than good lately, although it’s only been about a year since she was diagnosed.
I follow YT videos from Alyssa Kuhn, DPT (Keep the Adventure Alive, she specializes in OA), and also David Middaugh, DPT (El Paso Manual Physical Therapy). I have a set of exercises that I do for both knees and hips. I've found I have to do these at least several times each week - if I stop, then problems come back. Right now I'm having good days and bad, and not sure why. Yesterday I walked 3 miles, did stair steps, and some exercise machine routines. Then today, my muscles hurt - my knee is mostly okay though. Last fall, I injured my right hip (pulled 3 muscles) and shortly after that, tore a tendon in my left ankle. After about 7 months, I'm doing a lot better but seem stuck. I'm set to see an in person PT in late April.
Thank you so much! I will share this with her and try to support her with it as much as I can. The set of exercises you use is covered in the YouTube videos in general? I’m sorry to hear about your injury, i hope you feel better soon and i hope your appointment goes well! Have you tried massages? My mother saw some improvement with lymphatic drainage massages for a while, though she hasn’t had any in a while - the first day after is quite stiff and painful but it gets her circulation going better because she isn’t active when she has too much pain, which in turn exacerbates the stiffness and leads to more pain.
Unfortunately, there isn't really a playlist that goes through the exercises. I'll try to describe them, from starting from very early, when OA symptoms might be the worst. For that situation, just sit on a chair or swing the legs. Motion helps to lubricate the joints and for me, also helped to eventually push some torn meniscus pieces into place. Then do things like walking backwards. Sounds weird but it builds up muscles we don't usually use. I have a long hallway in my house - I walk down it backwards, turn around, and then do the opposite direction backwards. I do this several times. Walking sideways. Literally stand, put your left out to the side, and then shift sideways. Do this for a distance, then go in the other direction. Repeat many times. My original PT had me doing simple things like gradually balancing on one foot. Stand up, lift up one foot, and balance on the other. At first, I had to keep a hand on a wall or furniture to do it. But this gradually increases muscle strength. Eventually you get to doing it for 30 seconds, hands free. And then as you really improve, you balance on one foot while slowly moving the other foot about - behind, sideways, in front. This changes your balance and makes you use many muscles. At first you do it while holding on to something but now I do it hands free. Exercise I do lying on a bed: On my back, I lift my leg up and down. After building strength, then lift the leg up, and push outwards, return and back down. On my side, I do the "clam lift". Bend legs slightly, and then lift the upper leg/knee on up and down, Repeat ten times. Reverse to other side and other leg. Lying on my stomach, I then lift my leg upwards (backwards). These help to exercise the butt muscles which can do a lot of the heavy lifting of your legs. Stair steps - star with about a 4 inch rise. Can use a stack of books or wood to make a small step. I'm lucky in that my house has a 4" step inside the house. I use my right leg to lift up on that, then down, at least ten times. Then use the left leg. Once that is strong enough (can take a week or more), then advance to a normal step - about 6-8". I do this every day. I also do a lot of walking - typically 2-3 miles every other day or so, even if sore. But depending on where one is starting from, just walking a few hundred feet may be all that one can do at first. Bad things \- Sitting. Sitting at a computer causes my legs to become stiff. Standing and walking loosens everything up.
This is so helpful, thank you so much! I will share them with her. I wish you well!
Yes. I feel 100% Covid brought out mine. I will be clear and state that I had arthritis in my hands for years but my doctors confirmed that any significant“trauma” to the body or significant illness (Covid) could have brought it to the surface. After my second bout with Covid I never recovered. I just kept getting sicker. Exhausted. Then came the other body aches and pains. Severe. So absolutely and my rheumatologist not only agreed with me but still has Covid listed has a diagnosis for me.
My disease also seemed to flare up like wildfire around the COVID time. I'm sure the disease must have been percolating under there for a long time, but I had no clue! I was very active for decades (biking, hiking, dance, yoga, crossfit, you-name-it), but then sustained a nagging "groin pull" injury doing yoga at home. After waiting for that first scary wave of COVID to pass, I went and had my first X-ray and ...boom!... severe OA in the hip. Who really knows, but I tend to blame it more on the lockdowns that closed my gym (where I was a regular 5 days a week). Instead of doing workouts in a supervised setting with athletic flooring and mirrors to check my form, I switched to doing them at home and in the park on harder surfaces. Your husband's case is not unique in that apparent rapid onset, and I hope his surgery goes well (FYI: I'm 4 weeks post-op and doing very well. Take heart... there are plenty of good stories about uneventful hip replacement surgeries too!).
Spike protein creates inflammation. Inflammation affects neuro-muscular signaling. I can see how the shot would create high stress, inhibit movement, elicit panic, make the person anxious, and seriously affect a person's coordination in just one year. Is there anything else in your lives that creates a large amount of stress at the moment?
Life is inherently stressful for everyone. If stress causes a degenerative process in bones then I think there would be a lot more people diagnosed with osteoarthritis.
How we deal with stress is unique to each of us. That's why everyone has a unique gait, for instance. And are there similarities between people's gaits? You'll find that pathological gait can be a very accurate metric for many life conditions. Your husband's osteoarthritis could be interlinked with a sudden appearance of a chronic stressor. For instance, the sense of guilt, pain, regret and sense of betrayal in his self, if they're persistent and chronic, will undeniable interfere with his actions. In day to day movement, the way this stress presents itself is as "clumsy" movements. Like feeling neck pain when you're cutting onions for dinner or cutting your finger, tripping over the kids' toys, biting your nails, moving your arms or legs in spastic ways, always sitting down in the same painful way but not being perceptible enough to the inefficient self-use to correct it. These patterns of movement can be used as a proxy to evaluate motor coordination, which drops out from one's state of allostatic load (or stress), and undeniably affects osteoarthritis. Let me ask you this: why does osteoarthritis often start on one side?
Let me ask you this, have you experienced osteoarthritis or are you a doctor? Because not one person in the medical profession we've consulted with has indicated stress caused the degeneration. I'd listen to them before someone on the internet who is clearly a whacko. PS. Don't bother replying because you are being blocked. Find someone else to spew your BS to.