Joints

RubyXI

I'm not sure if this is considered a long term interest, But i've always had problems with my joints. It is worse recently. I'm 23. They click when i move my hands , wrists, shoulders and fingers. Sometimes they hurt too. i started taking cod-liver oil tablets every day and that did help but it doesnt seem to be helping any more. Anyone know of anything else available or know anything about this?

fozzle

You're not alone! *cracks knuckles*

I'm 26 and my joints have been getting stiffer and cracking more since I was 19/20. Saw a rheumatologist a couple of years ago and he suggested it might be stiffening due to a change in physical activity. I apparantly have hyer-extension in my joints (they bend a bit too far, not quite "double jointed" but that kind of idea), and he thought that years of ballet training had stretched my joints to the limit, and that stopping training when I went to university meant that the pain was my muscles loosing the extra stretch. I'm still more flexible than most of my friends, but I've lost a lot of the flexibility I had as a teen.

I'm not entirely convinced by this diagnosis - doesn't explain why my fingers and breast-bone crack, for instance, but it may be part of it, certainly.

I've found doing stretching excersices every day does seem to help, though it may just be postponing the problem for later life. If you're going to start streches, make sure you get a trained person to show you good stretches, don't just make them up as you go along - you'll cause bigger problems. Also, I find that if I'm having a particularly bad day, a really really hot bath or shower, or even a hot pack on the back of my neck can ease a lot of the pain.

Hope this helps.

star-pants

Hey there, I have bad joints too - fozzle is correct that gentle stretches and exercising can help. Also swimming is meant to be good - but make sure the waters not cold.
I take glucosamine & chondrotin supplements and I find they do help (they are for the lubricant & cartilage in your joints) -- but do check with your GP before taking them.