Hand care?

F

Forgedog

Well-Known Member
Im not evn sure what to call this post.

I have yet to really start my knife making or blacksmithing. Its been half a lifetime and im very close to taking off BUT...
Now I have what I think is arthritis(perhaps not) but in general I work with my hands... and this has me rather worried.

For years ive been keeping a systemic inflammatory condition under some control.

Doctors have tested everything time and time again and cant figure out why my body is attacking itself.
My hands are swollen and locked up in the morning. To straighten my fingers I have to pull them with my other hand till they pop into place.

I recently picked up a small hammer to do a little pin peening on a knife and it was difficult to hold the hammer.

Im working with diet, exercise and meds... Stretching only helps a little... My hands just tighten right back up.

What else can we do to help with sore swollen hands and prevent them from getting worse?
 
I have some arthritis going on in my knuckles, not enough to stop me from doing anything yet. I think it's from cracking my knuckles all the time when I was younger.
my knees started really hurting about five years age, I started taking glucosamine twice a day and in two months the pain went away and hasn't come back since.
three things that might cause conditions you describe are alcohol, soda and salt. I don't drink either and there hasn't been a salt shaker in my house in 11 years.
one other thing, do you drink city water or filtered or bottled water? cause city water is filled with filth.
 
Ah glucosamine! Thas a good idea.
Im on well water. Also no salt here, very reduced sugar and soda (type2 diabetic)
Not much of a drinker either.

Actually quitting salt made a HUGE difference. But now it seems like im getting worse again.

Now im attempting an elimination diet to see what that does... But im already a vegetarian and hmmmm idk how much more I can cut from my diet, soon ill be living off water
 
Forgedog said:
Ah glucosamine! Thas a good idea.
Im on well water. Also no salt here, very reduced sugar and soda (type2 diabetic)
Not much of a drinker either.

Actually quitting salt made a HUGE difference. But now it seems like im getting worse again.

Now im attempting an elimination diet to see what that does... But im already a vegetarian and hmmmm idk how much more I can cut from my diet, soon ill be living off water
Click to expand...
Glucosamine differs for everyone. I used to take it, but I noticed only a little bit of difference. Not enough to justify the expense(for me). If you do decide to go the Glucosamine route I'd get the liquid rather than the pills. It will work faster. By faster I mean you will notice an improvement (if any) in two months instead of six. It takes a while to do it's thing.
 
In my teens I did a fair amount of sports and used something called lakota for my aches and pains.
I believe it containes glucosamine and a number of other related ingredients.
I found it worked well, I may start using this again.

Im in Canada and not sure if this is only a Canadian product or not.

I would love to find a solution though, raer than just treating the symptoms.
However... Where I live medical care is worse than a third world country.

The pain I can mostly live with... Its the swelling and locking of joints, kind of makes it awkward to get a solid grip.
 
Forgedog said:
Im in Canada and not sure if this is only a Canadian product or not.

I would love to find a solution though, raer than just treating the symptoms.
However... Where I live medical care is worse than a third world country.
Click to expand...

Are you speaking of the area you live in or the general health care in Canada, I've heard other folks talk of long waits for urgent surgeries there.

Here's another thing you might look into but it might cost you a bit...have your well water tested. I talked with some one from North Dakota last week, he's about 20 miles south of the border. anyway, he said he put a pot of well water on a burner to get some moisture in the house. the pot boiled over and caught fire. he said it foamed up with a grayish foam that went up in flames. he was left with some sort of gray clay stuff baked onto the burner.

He told me he went to the county to connect to water main they put by him a few years ago, the lady asked him...you haven't been drinking your well water have you? he said, yea, I've been drinking it for years. he said she just kind of gasped and handed him the paper work.

I asked him if he had oil wells around his area and he said no but they did have natural gas wells nearby, I think that explains it, he had some sort of petroleum product coming thru his pipes.
 
bladegrinder said:
Are you speaking of the area you live in or the general health care in Canada, I've heard other folks talk of long waits for urgent surgeries there.

Here's another thing you might look into but it might cost you a bit...have your well water tested. I talked with some one from North Dakota last week, he's about 20 miles south of the border. anyway, he said he put a pot of well water on a burner to get some moisture in the house. the pot boiled over and caught fire. he said it foamed up with a grayish foam that went up in flames. he was left with some sort of gray clay stuff baked onto the burner.

He told me he went to the county to connect to water main they put by him a few years ago, the lady asked him...you haven't been drinking your well water have you? he said, yea, I've been drinking it for years. he said she just kind of gasped and handed him the paper work.

I asked him if he had oil wells around his area and he said no but they did have natural gas wells nearby, I think that explains it, he had some sort of petroleum product coming thru his pipes.
Click to expand...

Canada in general doesnt have a great healthcare system in general imo.
Many of our hospitals are like giant delapitated empty warehouses.

But im refering to my part of the country specificaly.
Its beyond sick here... Many of us go to places like mexico for better healthcare.

Where I am now theres one doctor... One... If you have an appointment it takes on averqge five hours past your appointment time to get in. Prescriptions are a monthly 5-10 hour sit in a waiting room... Good luck seeing a specialist, takes years. I once heard the doctor go on a rant at the patients sitting in the waiting room.
He said "im the only doctor here, and this is the last hospital in the area so if you dont like waiting ill close this place up for good and go golfing"

Anyway lol... Yeah I would like to have the well checked. No drilling or anything in this area though were on a small island but there is a lot of farming and pesticides in the area.

Where I came from was right in the middle of oil and gas country so we only drank bottled water.
 
I think both systems are about the same. Pros and cons to each.
And both our systems are ranked pretty low on the list of global health care systems.

You have better doctors that actually treat people... For a price.
Our doctors do diddly squat for us but its free. (Great if all you need is some prescriptions) sucks if the doctors actually have to make an effort.
 
I'm New here and just found your post. Just wanted to be sure that you have been checked for Rheumatoid arthritis. I was diagnosed with this sickness a couple years back. Same symptoms as you have described. Almost under control now but sometimes it completely disables me. If you have not been tested for Rheumatoid please do so. It is a very serious disease with many complications in addition to the pain.
 
copperhead said:
I'm New here and just found your post. Just wanted to be sure that you have been checked for Rheumatoid arthritis. I was diagnosed with this sickness a couple years back. Same symptoms as you have described. Almost under control now but sometimes it completely disables me. If you have not been tested for Rheumatoid please do so. It is a very serious disease with many complications in addition to the pain.
Click to expand...

Honestly ive suspected RA for a number of years but the medical systemmhere is so slow and difficult.
I was tested once and the doctor said the test came back negetive for RA but when I saw my medical files quite a time later it said "tested positive for Rheumatoid arthritis, but probably not worth looking into"
They got a positive result on something signifficant and just brushed it off.
Not getting anyone to look into it is like... Lets just say it feels like it would be easier to put myself through medical school than it is to light a fire under the doctors we have here in Canada.
 
we can't run a stinking blubbering postal delivery system ,,,,
what makes people think the government can run a health care system?????
less government,,,,,,
more freedom
sorry about your pain
 
Grouser said:
we can't run a stinking blubbering postal delivery system ,,,,
what makes people think the government can run a health care system?????
less government,,,,,,
more freedom
sorry about your pain
Click to expand...

So true, hopefully others have a better experience with health care than ive had.
Thanks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top