hi all,
just found this forum! i am 34 years old and was recently diagnosed with OA in both of my knees. have been dealing with pain for the past 8 or so years, and it was first diagnosed as patella femoral syndrome. i tried everything for it: physiotherapy (exercises, taping, bracing, ultrasound), osteopathy, acupuncture, diet (consumed turmeric, and avoided nightshade veggies), orthotics for the feet, ibuprofen (effects are only temporary and i don't want to be dependent on drugs since i normally avoid meds in general most of the time), glucosamine, etc. and nothing helped.. in fact, my knees seemed to get worse over the years. i recently went for a bone scan and MRI and that is when my doc told me i had OA.. so i guess the PFS caused the OA over time with all the wear and tear.
i am lucky in that i only mostly feel pain during activity, like running, dancing, jumping, biking (on a bad day, it is only mild since it is a low impact activity), on stairs and hills, after lots of activity like hiking all day, etc.. i don't generally feel pain if i am not active and walking is okay as long as i don't overdo it (e.g. a 2-day hike just about
killed me once!). that still sucks though because i have always been a very active person and am pretty depressed about
having this problem at my young age. there are still some activities i just don't feel it is possible for me to give up, so i still do them. for example, i love to play volleyball (with knee braces on), dance and i ride my bike to get around.. so i'm not about
to give these up at age 34 if i can help it! however, i am worried about
the condition worsening over time.
anyway, my doctor recently recommended trying a hyaluronic injection called durolane. unfortunately, it is not covered by my insurance, and it costs about
$400 per knee every 6 months. this is really unaffordable. :( also, i read online that there is only a 50/50 chance of it being effective.
i'm kind of at a loss of what to do at the moment. anyone ever try durolane? did it work?
i can currently do some activity if i wear braces (and play through the mild pain that still comes with it, and then deal with swelling afterwards and having to ice my knees), but am worried about
it making my knees worse. over the years, my knees have gotten worse (even over the past year) so i am worried about
that. i want to be able to stay active as i can be (which is already limited), but not have my knees get worse as time goes on.
i don't suppose surgery is an option for me since it is not severe OA...
any advice would be appreciated!
p.s. i should mention i am just under 5'2" and weigh between 100-105 lbs so weight is not a factor.
p.p.s. i had this idea of buying durolane from an online pharmacy because it is cheaper, but then discovered that a lot of them (even the ones in canada) won't ship to a canadian address! if i could buy it cheaper, i might try it out but my doc is only willing to do the injection if i get it from a canadian pharmacy (so he can be sure of the stringent regulations). anyone know where i can get it in canada, cheaper than $350 (which is the online price from the durolane manufacturer (smith & nephew) themselves)?
Post Edited (helenhelen) : 5/9/2011 4:38:49 PM (GMT-6)