Now the knees and OA

I had a suspicion that I had torn a meniscus in my left knee. Having done it twice in my right knee, I knew what it felt like. Knee went out on and off and I could not walk on it. Asked my rheumy and he said to go see my surgeon. I can’t have MRI’s so he did an arthrogram on the knee, fully expecting it to be a meniscus tear.

Got the results back and I now have bone on bone on the medial side of the knee. No other issues like tears. 18 months ago I had MILD OA in my knees. The surgeon said the PsA would speed it up.

I am now discussing Synvisc with my doc. Has anyone had luck with it? I searched and found some feedback from 8 or 10 years ago.

My doc did give me a steroid shot in the knee, but it only help for a few weeks.

Working from home, I do not do much walking, but my knees are now very painful. I am trying Voltaren now. I have tried Pensaids with little results and it is only by script. Since I cannot have Tylenol or NSAIDS, any type of arthritis is a big issue for me.

Once at the point of bone on bone, knee replacement is likely the only solution. The ortho specialist I had a recent consult with didn’t think much of the Synvisc but my knees are painful for other reasons. At least he acknowledged PsA as a contributing factor. It would be good if you could talk to someone who has PsA and knee replacement to see how it went.

That’s a very fast progression. What about physical therapy? Strengthening around the joint can make a huge difference but clearly it’s not permanent

My legs a pretty good strength wise. I tried PT 18 months ago. They wouldn’t listen to me and screwed my back up and I am still dealing with that. They did help the range of motion in my shoulders and hips.

I try to get outside and walk and do things as much as I can. I think I did too much lately and it brought on the arthritis issue. I am going to dial it down for a month and see if it gets any better.

I have to travel to a convention this week for the first time in 2 1/2 years. Can’t wait to see how my legs hold up!

I know someone over here with PsA since being 18 months old and who has had a knee replacement I believe in her early 40’s. It was successful. However I very much doubt OA caused your knee issue - it has to have been PsA. Regardless it’s damaged. According to this friend there is a less percentage risk of success when you have a any joint replaced with PsA, healing takes a little longer too. But it changed her life for the better.

I have OA and PsA-how fun! I did tear the meniscus last spring(14months ago) had it cleaned up in December and had limped around for the 5 months since. I knew I was bone on bone prior to the December surgery as I had been told about 10 years ago when I first went to the rheumatologist that it was bone on bone, but there was only a little pain on hills at that time. I just got done with the gel shot series and am able to walk with no pain sometimes-big improvement. I use to walk 10,000 steps a day at work; now I am back up to about 5000 before the pain increases(was at 0-20 steps for the last year). They took no time(I returned to work same day after 15 minutes at the orthopedic office. I know not everyone has such a great impact, but I was desperate-if I couldn’t figure it out, I was looking at changing to a desk job with a big pay cut or disability.

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Welcome @hoper to a great place to share experience and get good input from people who really know and care! Thanks for letting the community know of your success with the gel shots, please keep us informed as to how long they help. A lot of the talk here is of course centred on the many “problems” found with PsA so when we hear of small or large “victories”, we all smile with you! I find that my rheumy tends to blame OA when he is frustrated with being less than successful taming the PsA.

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Was that sinvisc/hyaluronic acid?

They called it “gelsyn”. It did well for a couple of months. I ended up having surgery to clear out the meniscus. It’s done very well. While this is primarily osteoarthritis, I sometimes think that the PsA just adds to the deterioration and pain level.

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My rheumy said he stopped giving the chicken fat because it was very expensive and only worked for a short time for a few people.

I read an article this week that said they should stop shooting steroids into a knee. Studies show that in the long run it makes OA worse faster.

I eventualy needed both knees replaced when they got bone on bone. Replaced 20 years ago and are wonderful. Key to success is following the rehab guidelines.