Hello... I'm new to this forum and to osteoarthritis. I'm 39 and was diagnosed with OA last year. Suffered a bimalleolar fracture to my left ankle about 6 years ago.
Last year my orthopedist gave me a couple of steroid injections and suggested an ankle brace, which I didn't really start wearing until earlier this year... never really needed it. A little over a month ago the pain was getting bad so I went back to my orthopedist and he put me on Celebrex. He said unfortunately the OA is getting worse and I may have to think about total ankle replacement or ankle fusion down the road.
I wear my brace just about every day now and I have a cane but I only use it when I really need it. Around the house I wear shoes called "wedges," which have slight heels. I cannot walk around flat-footed, it just hurts too much. When I go out and I know I will be walking or standing a lot I wear my brace.
This has been hard for me because normally I am a very active person. I like to exercise to keep in shape, I enjoy being outside biking, hiking or just walking... and now I can't do a lot of the things I used to be able to do. I can't even carry anything heavy because the extra weight on my ankle is just too much!!
For my small frame I am considered overweight and would like to lose about 20 lbs to help relieve some stress on my ankle. Not an easy feat when I can't do "normal" exercises!! I've taken up swimming a few nights a week and, on good days, I can use my elliptical machine. No more aerobics for me. Biking is fine as well but with the colder weather moving in it will be hard to do.
So... that is some of my story, figured I'd share so you'd all know where I was coming from. If anyone has any links that I may find useful, please post them up. Otherwise I will be browsing the forums and finding out everything I can about living with OA.
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