I see ads for herbal knee pain patches. My 99-year-old mother has bone on bone knee pain and arthritis. Cortisone and gel shots have not helped. She uses Biofreeze which she thinks helps a little. Has anyone had experience with the patches? Do they work? Any side effects? Thanks for any info.
I inherited that gene and have arthritis in just about every joint of my body. The patches and creams helped my mother a little, if coupled with some Advil or Aleve. But for me, several of my joints are bone on bone and those are the areas that the patches and cream will not work for the pain - mostly because there is no other surrounding tissue around the joint - once bone on bone, no cortisone, no gel, no prp injections work. About the only thing for me that helps lessen the pain by a teeny bit is not moving/resting (but that isn't good for the rest of me), applying heat, and taking some tumeric and also some Aleve. I know surgery is inevitable.
I would be surprised if any surgeon would approve a surgery for your mother - if she was even 90, they might consider it. But unfortunately, at 99, it probably won't be authorized. So, trying to keep her as comfortable as possible is the key.
im 56 with bone on bone deterioration and arthritis gets worse every year in my hands and ankles. Hereditary blah
i use Tiger balm every night and hit showers and heating pads help
glucosime works for me (I had one doc recommend, another scoffed). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
jello every day has helped too reducing stiffness.
good luck!
With regards to replacement surgery, it is now sometimes done with a spinal block, instead of a general anesthetic.
I will mention a procedure called Coolief. They go in and sever the nerves around the knee cap. Small holes and a cool laser thing is used. Some light drugs used during procedure, but she got ALOT of relief from that for well over 6 months. You might talk to her doctor or an osteo doctor about doing it. Recovery was nothing, no pain at the site and just a little sleepy right afterwards.
I've had moderate success to lidocaine patches. I can buy 4% OTC, but 5% requires prescription and my insurance won't pay so I stick to the 4%. Patches I've found come in two basic types: lidocaine or menthol. The mentol often have other stuff in them. I prefer lidocaine. Good luck to you and your mom.
I’m not familiar with the patches that you are describing. I bought the Blue Emu cream for her to use. It may have helped slightly. I’m not sure if anything will give much relief though.
Mom took Tylenol as well. She preferred Aleve but she was told not to take it, Advil or Motrin.
Best wishes to you and your mom. I hope you will be able to find something to give her relief from the pain that she is experiencing.
Keto 10
Keta 10
Lido 5
Cyc 1
DMSO 10
TPB
I put anywhere I have PAIN, and it works pretty quickly. If I put it on my arthritic fingers, I wear non-latex gloves over it, which keeps it working for hours.
I also take three Purity Products for my knee arthritis:
1. Joint Gel (chocolate) (shaken in one of those shakers that has the coiled metal ball)
2. G.C. Flex (which has glucosamine)
3. Flexuron
(If you call them directly, you can get 50% off the website prices.)
If your mom is 99, she's doing pretty well. I'm only 59 and falling apart! Doubt I'll make it past 89 with all of the arthritis coming on, coupled with an E4 gene. I hope you can get the compounded cream. It really helps.
The two differing temperatures created a moist heat but also turned off pain receptors that were slightly “confused” by 2 types of sensations. Ice is your friend for pain and inflammation but our elderly ones don’t like the cold do the heating pad helps address that as well.
Otherwise I have noticed that CBD orals (tinctures or edibles) with low milligrams of THC (must be indica) taken at night in very small doses are effective at reducing the levels of the pain over time and improves sleep quality but it’s very important to start small and not get an elderly patient dizzy which they are prone to do.
Bone on bone means the nerves are impinged and nerve paid does not respond to NSAIDS as effectively as to Acetaminophen but as always there are risks so do consult her Primary Care Physician for dosage advice or interactions with other medications if taking any.
There is something to be said for a placebo effect, however, and the presence of a patch she can see may help her, and is not likely to do any harm. Things ARE absorbed through the skin, so I would pass past her MD your intention to try this.
As far as OTC herbals, there is no regulation concerning dosage and formulation. Prescriptions are well studied as compared with a company that makes a product sold to thousands and not fully researched.