The end of hiking

Gentle Reader, Sciatica, sciatica, sciatica.  On every hand I hear people complaining about sciatic pain, drop foot, back difficulties and arthritis in general.  A vital member of my Wednesday hiking group is suffering terribly from sciatica these days so I decided to revisit a post I drafted several years ago when I was having the …

Facebook Twitter Email

surgery for arthritis

Gentle Reader, There comes a time when surgery for arthritis makes sense. I have reached that time. I began blogging at www.NoWheelchair.wordpress.com in 2004, to share strategies a person with arthritis could use to avoid taking medication or having surgery. My posts have been about my own journey to manage increasingly severe osteoarthritis and spinal …

Facebook Twitter Email

Cortisone for Sciatica

Gentle Reader, Sciatica, sciatica, sciatica.  On every hand I hear people complaining about sciatic pain, drop foot, back difficulties and arthritis in general.  I have had more acute sciatic pain plus a long stretch of time at home (no travel plans until July) so I decided to try cortisone for sciatica.  I first focussed on …

Facebook Twitter Email

Physical Therapy

This article is part of a series of posts I have written about various therapies that may be helpful to relieve suffering due to arthritis. Physical Therapy has not been high on my list of therapies helpful to relieve sciatica.  However, pain up and down my right leg emanating from pinched nerves at L5 and …

Facebook Twitter Email

resveratrol for joints

Gentle Reader, There is so much I could share about this past weekend at my alma mater, Bryn Mawr College, just outside Philadelphia on the MainLine.  In keeping with the goal of this blog, I will single out arthritic joint issues and focus on possible remedies for joint pain. Twenty-nine of my classmates came to …

Facebook Twitter Email

Healthier bones

Gentle Reader, Do you ever have the experience of anticipating a really big event that is going to make demands on your body?  You become more aware of the little aches and pains, the warning signals that all is not well?  Maybe bone health has gotten worse. You worry about an escalation of the little …

Facebook Twitter Email

Yoga for Arthritis

Gentle Reader, I have a diagnosis of arthritis, osteoarthritis and spinal stenosis. I gave up yoga for arthritis about 6 years ago, as it seemed to exacerbate the pain in my hips and spine. However, when my youngest daughter Ruth raved about her 6 a.m. yoga class and the teacher, I took notice. She convinced …

Facebook Twitter Email

Grandmas on the move

Gentle Reader, The first few moments of a hike and I confess, I do not feel like one of those Grandmas on the move.  I feel every twinge in my ankles as they wake up; in my knees as the right one clicks ominously; in my left foot where the old neuropathy pain can flair …

Facebook Twitter Email

4 ways to get a sore back fuctional

Gentle Reader, Sore back?  Been traveling, sitting in an airplane for hours?  Did you enjoy a vigorous hiking holiday slogging miles over boulders, roots and bogs for days in a row?  Maybe you had back surgery, successful but still stiff and cranky.  Or perhaps, you joined a new salsa dance class (that would be my …

Facebook Twitter Email

Food Cures. Is there such a thing?

Gentle Reader, I’ve joined an on line face book arthritis support group to learn from others how they suffer and what they are doing about it.  Following the rabbit trails I came to this web site  maintained by a Joy Bauer.  She has a slide show showing foods that are helpful for sufferers of arthritis.  You …

Facebook Twitter Email