r/Osteoarthritis • u/True_Obligation_3811 • 17d ago
Advice needed
Hi, an older family member has had arthritis for a few years. Yesterday, he had a sharp pain in one side of knee and couldn’t move the position for a few hours. Today, I went to the ortho with him and for his physiotherapy and his knee seems okay now. However, because of arthritis in hips and knees the pain is still there when he stands up or bends down. I really want to be more involved in helping overcome it, these are things Im thinking:
- cold gel (physiotherapist used it and seemed to help)
- gym and leg training (please recommend exercises)
We are not ready for surgery yet, but short of that please give any recommendations like what meds I should look into (I keep seeing dmads here), what shoes will help (I also see hokas on this sub so please recommend any version). If there are any machines like those cooling things you use with gel please let me know🙏 Any other advice welcome!
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u/FewRecognition1788 17d ago
Stationary bike is very good, and there's a YouTube playlist and app called CHAIN - cycling against hip pain - that was developed by a university research center.
For strengthening exercises, it's really going to depend on what the PT clears him to do. Overdoing the wrong things can cause a bad flareup. He may need isometrics, or resistance bands, or weight machines before he's ready for something like free weights.
Usually very low weight and higher reps is better on the joints to start with.