What do you broken down Ol' farts use?

[not-fishing]

Drugs and alcohol!  Ibu. and a good shot of Scotch every evening.  Keeps me going at 79.  J�rgen

Which reminds me of my Great Granddad, Yes I do remember him as he was alive when I was in my 20's.  He was a long time "Distributor" for whisky which he made near the family farm in Arkansas. Distributors made it in drums not little jars.  When Great Granddad had to be put in the old folks home he'd just sat in his easy chair and drool.  Dad and Granddad would visit often and bring him a pint of whisky.  After he downed half the pint then they'd snatch it away, after a few minutes Great Granddad would become animated, get up, walk about and talk.

You see for the last 70 years or so he'd been running on Booze.  Dad/Granddad had to take the pint away to stop Great Granddad from just downing the whole bottle.

Even though most of my life I've been a teetotaler I've been upholding the family tradition of consuming greater quantities of whisky now as I get older. 

Yesterday I even talked to my #1 son about getting the marc to make Grappa.  I figure I need about 4 medium garbage cans full which is pretty much what I can fit in my jeep.  He said no problem.  That grape press leftovers and a copper contraption for distilling water (to use in car batteries & medicinal) and I'll be in following in a long tradition.

Griso Riders need Grappa for their aching bones.

[Orange Guzzi]

Zinc picolinate vitamin, proper amount of protein in my diet, inversion table.  Naproxen has to be taken regularly to work well. 

[HardAspie]

I find the thing that helps me with all my troubles ( I am collecting them the way some women collect Lladro figurines ) is the avoidance of stress. All sorts of stress, but mainly the soul killing mental kind. Hope this helps. Pain is nasty.

[jas67]

You guys with chronic pain...It f***ing sucks...

Sure does.    Different ways of dealing with it work for different people.

[Rough Edge racing]

 This threads proves each person must find what works for them.

[mtiberio]

Or as Dad said, 'if everyone put their troubles in a pile, given a choice, they would pull their own back out.'

[Yukonica]

This is a new one for me. What is the scientific basis for it. Rarely a day goes by I don't eat uncooked vegetables. I have a few stiff joints but no debilitating arthritis.....yet.. . and into my eighth decade.

Pete

Raw almonds were a staple snack food and salad was an everyday meal course for me. The information came from my Chinese doctor. ~ Lot's of questions about why/how something works but his explanation was that my body needs help processing the food. Raw veggies takes more 'energy' out of my system than cooked items. He does say all things in moderation (life is about achieving balance) so If it choose to eat a salad I should drink a hot green tea to assist in digestion. He has a very holistic approach that has been good for me.

[donn]

No problems here, but friend with arthritis reports significant relief with turmeric.  I think she was already using some turmeric, but a naturopath or something suggested a specific dose combined with a black pepper extract, apparently piperine helps absorption.

I don't know enough about rheumatoid vs. degenerative, maybe they're close enough to the same thing.  I'd say from casual web search that turmeric is mainly for rheumatoid, but thait could be just a matter of numbers.

Keep an eye on the medical marijuana options.  Even here where it's legal, we're working with very minimal science and a very pharmacologically complex plant.  There are a handful of different cannabinoids in there, to start with.  Cannabidiol is lately the one of most pharmaceutical interest because it doesn't get you high, but does have other cannabinoid effects such as relief from seizures (poster child case, kids who get severe seizures minutes apart all the time and this is the only cure.)  I have a gram of a fancy high-CBD strain, and it's interesting, very subtle, but I don't have arthritis so don't know.  Anyway, a few years down the line we'll have more experience, more science, more work with plant breeding, etc.

[sib]

Reminds me of the endless oil threads here.  In fact, this could be considered a snake oil thread.  What weight snake oil should I use?  10W-60?  20W-50?  Everyone has his/her favorite, they all work for some, many true believers, etc.

[Yukonica]

Reminds me of the endless oil threads here.  In fact, this could be considered a snake oil thread.  What weight snake oil should I use?  10W-60?  20W-50?  Everyone has his/her favorite, they all work for some, many true believers, etc.

Ah, Sib, it's only snake until you are so stiff with pain that you can't bend to sit down; leaving you to crap standing up.
Then everything becomes a viable option.

[krglorioso]

In the mid 1990s, I began having very painful arthritis of both knees and one elbow.  My wife, a retired physical therapist, suggested glucosamine, which is made from shark cartilage.  The reasoning is that arthritis occurs when the cartilage layer between joints wears away over time, the bone to bone contact increases with attendant pain.  As we age, the body's ability to  produce its own glucosamine decreases, which is why the cartilage wears down. 

I am a terrible skeptic, but I started taking glucosamine.  Within 30 days I was experiencing much lower levels of joint  pain and by 90 days I was pain free, as I am almost 20 years later. 

Glucosamine has no side effects that I know of.  I've certainly not experienced any.  In the USA, it is available "over the counter' with no prescription.  Pain medications should be a last resort.

Ralph

[Sasquatch Jim]

  Half hour ago my left knee was agonizing me as it sometimes does.
I slathered on some absorbine vetinary liniment gel.  Pain gone.

[Penderic]

However very dangerous to do while driving! (Dont ask!)

Afterwards when I regained consciousness, the Nurse asked .......

 

[sib]

Ah, Sib, it's only snake until you are so stiff with pain that you can't bend to sit down; leaving you to crap standing up.
Then everything becomes a viable option.

Not denying your pain and discomfort (my 73-year-old body has its share of it), my point is that the advice you'll get here is about as consistent, reliable, and trustworthy as what we get on (non-snake) oil threads.

[Yukonica]

your view is undeniably true... there is no science, there is no single solution mentioned in any of these posts.
Trustworthy? That is a matter of human faith. Snake oil sales infers an underlying knowledge of misinformation and deceit.

Take Pendric's post about staring at boobs. There may or may not be credible science in that claim; but I'm willing to try it out.

[sliphorn]

OK, so my mountebank has confirmed my skeleton is stuffed. Degenerative osteoarthritis has galloped into my life and I can look forward to increasing pain and hassle. So? What treatments are you other wrecks using to cope?

Pete

I don't use drugs, legal or otherwise, instead I take 3000 milligrams of MSM internally, daily, and apply DMSO gel to painful areas. I think it's also a good idea to get gluten out of your life and consume a lot of turmeric too. All of these things helped me tremendously.

[Yukonica]

I don't use drugs, legal or otherwise, instead I take 3000 milligrams of MSM internally, daily, and apply DMSO gel to painful areas. I think it's also a good idea to get gluten out of your life and consume a lot of turmeric too. All of these things helped me tremendously.

There seems to be some background to turmeric. Even my acupuncturist mentioned it.
Aside from curry, how do you take it?

[sliphorn]

There seems to be some background to turmeric. Even my acupuncturist mentioned it.
Aside from curry, how do you take it?

It's my understanding that it should be cooked in order to receive its full benefits. I live close to an Indian grocer where I buy both fresh and ground turmeric. The fresh resembles small ginger roots. I slice the fresh and add it to a pot of basmati rice along with a generous portion of ground turmeric for a tasty yellow rice.

You can add the turmeric to ground meat before you cook it into a burger or meatloaf. Be creative!

[TBShorty]

Industrial accident in 1982 left me with 3 herniated lumbar discs.  3 surgeries over the next 25 yrs. has kept me working but needing gabapentin to control the pain.  I used ibuprophen for yrs. it worked better than percocet but now my stomach and esophagus won't let me use it anymore.  I recently decided to lose some weight and work on strengthening my legs because the Thunderbird Sport was getting too top heavy to control at walking speeds.  Getting the V7 Stone helped a lot in low speed situations but going to the gym was the best thing I could have done.  It was amazing during the first session that 30 mins. in all my back pain dissapeared.  Of course it came right back after an hour or so and combined with the sore muscles in my legs from the workout I was miserable and layed in bed for an hour trying to decide if I wanted to continue.  I did and over the next months it got much easier to recover and I have, overall much less back pain.  I will turn 69 in a few months and I feel better than I have in years.  Doc. says my spine is in terrible condition with worsening stenosis so I must continue the gabapentin.  I can ride the bike anytime for a good long distance at least until the carpal tunnel sends me home.  Old age sucks but it beats hell out of the alternative.  Ride on.

[donn]

There seems to be some background to turmeric. Even my acupuncturist mentioned it.
Aside from curry, how do you take it?

It seems that you get a lot more ("bioavailability") curcumin, the primary active ingredient, if there's a hefty dose of piperine, which comes from black pepper.  Looks like you might end up with curry anyway!

[Rich A]

Speaking of Ol' farts:



Back on topic...I think supplements may help. I use Cosamin (glucosamine & chondroitin). I started using that after finding that the analogous product for dogs (Cosequin) seemed to help my German Shepherd.

Rich A

[bad Chad]

In the mid 1990s, I began having very painful arthritis of both knees and one elbow.  My wife, a retired physical therapist, suggested glucosamine, which is made from shark cartilage.  The reasoning is that arthritis occurs when the cartilage layer between joints wears away over time, the bone to bone contact increases with attendant pain.  As we age, the body's ability to  produce its own glucosamine decreases, which is why the cartilage wears down. 

I am a terrible skeptic, but I started taking glucosamine.  Within 30 days I was experiencing much lower levels of joint  pain and by 90 days I was pain free, as I am almost 20 years later. 

Glucosamine has no side effects that I know of.  I've certainly not experienced any.  In the USA, it is available "over the counter' with no prescription.  Pain medications should be a last resort.

Ralph

No one should be taking glucosamine made from sharks!   There are many sources of glucosamine, there exist no need what so ever to take it from sharks.  Sharks are being killed by the tens of millions each year, and the effect on oceans and ultimately on us may be huge.

[HDGoose]

I was told 15 years ago to look forward to having both knees and hips replaced. But to put it off as long as possible. I have had my right knee go out twice, and I fell. The incidents were months apart.

For my abused and aging back, I learnt me some exercises to help. Was sent to physical therapist (cute young trainer) to learn that. What did you doctor say about exercise?

[Vasco DG]

Careful excercise

Actually I've booked in to re-start Pilates classes again. It's something I have done for years to get into better shape before long bike trips or holidays. Think is I detest excercise and fitness training, always have, always will! Needs must though 

Pete

[Muzz]

Hope ya got ya pink leotards ready and all.

Seriously Pete, if I don't do my warm/stretches /weights in the morning I am seriously compromised by the end of the day.  When I retire next year I will probably be looking along the same lines.

[Stormtruck2]

Hope ya got ya pink leotards ready and all.

Hell, I'm just happy if I can get into anything pink now days. 

[Bottler]

Pete,

I recently bought a rowing machine that gives a good workout to most muscle groups. About half an hour and it says I have covered five Kms, all while watching tv. That and some jogging after which I like a few Peronis and a couple of glasses of Shiraz or Cabernet. It works for now. Also gave up salt some years ago. So far so good.

And I need some heated handgrips for the Stelvio please.

Cheers mate.

[Sasquatch Jim]

 Turmeric? yes, ginger? yes, other magic herbs ? yes, but the secret is in the preparation.
 In my case, my young hippie chick slices and dices all the above and other magic herbs into what ever she cooks for dinner
and any other meal she prepares.  I asked her what other ingredient and she said, "Love".
 Who am I to argue with that logic?

[cruzziguzzi]

I really like the Tai Chi comment earlier.

So many benefits.

Start the day with and evaluation/assessment
Calm, self focused activity
A wonderful sense balance regarding your surroundings
Forced inclusion of the entirety of your body in an early to the day activity
Attention to the base significance of breath


Yup, I say in addition to the other great non prescription/surgery ideas that TC should be way up there.


Todd.

[balvenie]

Careful excercise

Actually I've booked in to re-start Pilates classes again. It's something I have done for years to get into better shape before long bike trips or holidays. Think is I detest excercise and fitness training, always have, always will! Needs must though 

Pete

Have you considered Aqua exercise, Pete?
Takes the weight off your body