I have never been one to do exercise - for exercise sake. I find it a boring waste of my time. I try, but it does not last more than a week or two.

I am in pretty good shape for my age. Strong with muscle tone, and limber. I do morning stretches to limber up my arthritic joints, and I garden. I don’t mean prissy, never get dirty gardening. I dig in the dirt! With a shovel! I tote around bags of cow manure and peat moss - you should see my biceps! Shovel mulch and compost. Move bushes. Then there is the weeding and the harvesting. What do I get for all that hard work - I get “buff” and I get organic fresh food for my body and flowers for my visual enjoyment. I plant flowers and veggies. I also have a “edible landscape” with figs, blueberries, grapes, blackberries, peaches (when the squirrels will leave me some) and I just discovered my first apples!

There is something so satisfying to plant, grow and harvest. Maybe, it is a latent “hunter gatherer” instinct. And to be outside in the fresh air with the birds singing. The breeze, the sun, the smell of the earth and the flowers. Wonderful!

Does Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate help arthritic joints? Here is what the Institute of Nutrition has to say:

The Americans Can’t Stop Talking About It

Does the glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate combination have a positive effect on arthritis?

Miami, FL, March 08, 2008 –(PR.com)– Does the glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate combination have a positive effect on arthritis?

The studies are mounting at U.S. universities and the majority of American health websites (including CNN Health, HealthNetwork and Medicinet.com) are reporting on them.

Nutritional supplement advocates speak positively – these supplements stimulate cartilage regeneration and reduce inflammation (results of an observation of treatments for osteoarthritis of the knees).

However, in the U.S., the focus is no longer on “proving” the efficacy of these products but on the analyses and quality of nutritional supplements on the U.S. market.

In April, during the annual conference of the American Nutraceutical Association in San Diego, Natalie Eddington, a researcher at the University of Maryland, warned consumers about the increasing number of products available and criticized the lack of federal regulation. She noted that certain products contain only 25 percent glucosamine and chondroitin.

The Institute of Nutrition in Miami (www.ionnet.com) is gathering many positive testimonials from individuals who use these sulfates. Institute President Jules-Gilles Bitbol says, “The composition of these two sulfates offers excellent results. However, our laboratories do recommend additional Vitamin C, calcium and zinc, which are key to properly absorbing these sulfates.”

Statements from many U.S. doctors who specialize in arthritis treatment agree that “when this product is administered as a dietary supplement, the process of cartilage deterioration in the joints is reversed, and remarkable results are achieved in relieving the pain and simple discomfort caused by the arthritis.”

I know people that swear by it and others that say it does not help. I took it for awhile and my hands seem to hurt more. I wondered if the joints were opening up and more cartilage was growing???? I tried several brands, pills and liquid. I wonder how we can find out which brands have the recommended amount in them?

Just got this great book “Gardening Through Your Golden Years”. It profiles 11 different older gardeners. I mean some OLD gardeners. Like 93 years old! It has great ideas for labor-saving gardening, making choices, great tools, minimizing the effects of old age and has a lot of insights as to why we all like to garden.
If you are young or old, it is a delight to read.  The author, Jim Wilson, writes like he is talking to you. You smile a lot as you read this book.

Sometimes, when I get up , I hobble around until I get my joints moving good. I noticed when my cat, Spike, gets up, he does some big stretches. He has not taken any Yoga classes! Hummm, makes sense. So, now I do some BIG long stretches when I wake up. I do add some things from a yoga class I took. I do ankle, knee, and hip circles. Couple more leg stretches. Pull my knees up to my chest, that really feels good! Then I sit up and do some neck rolls and stretches a few shoulder rolls. Stand up and do some deep breaths and hug myself a couple times. My shoulders like that. Then, I bend over and touch the floor and do a couple leg stretches. I am now all limbered up. Actually, I feel energized!

Since I developed arthritis in my thumb joints, it is painful to hand weed my garden and flower beds. Now, before I go out to weed, I turn on my paraffin spa, to get the wax warmed up. And then, I put on my thumb splint gloves and go weed. The gloves restrict my thumb joint movement, and it does not get as irritated. When I come in, I dip my hands in the warm melted paraffin a few times, that helps any inflammation and then take a couple aspirin. If I have done a lot of work with my hands, I usually end up rubbing in some horse liniment. YES, horse liniment! It seems to do better than all the different pain creams. I am also planting a lot of ground cover among the perennial flowers. There are a lot of interesting textures and colors, that look good by themselves or among the flowers. It will save me a lot of work once they get established.

I read somewhere, that ridges in your fingernails are a indication that you will have arthritis. My fingernails used to be smooth and strong. I used them as “tools”. Over the years, they started peeling in layers, then they got ridges. And I got arthritis in my thumbs! I do not remember when all this started happening. I wonder if this is true? And if it is, how do we keep it from happening.

One thing that I have noticed, since I have arthritis in my thumbs and do not do as much with my hand., my fingernails get real long. I am always cutting them bac. I guess if I am not using my hands much, I don’t beat up my nails. I would trade these long nails in a minute for good thumb joints!

My body is made by Nature. So, there should be something natural that will help in my poor thumb joints. I, of course want something that will re-build the cartilage, and get rid of the bone spurs! Make those thumbs young again!

I have been reading about different foods, and herbs and supplements, trying to find something natural that helps. I just cannot accept that the only treatment, is to manage the inflammation and pain.

A older lady (than me) told me to drink gelatin everyday, that it cured her arthritis. I am going to try it for a month and see how it works.

My husband was recently diagnosed with prostrate cancer. There were bone scans and MRIs, and all kind of other tests and scans. Good news , the cancer is early and confined to the prostrate. A 98% cure rate! Big relief. However, the doctor told him he had “old knees and old feet”.

My husband was a jock in his younger days. Even went to college on a basketball scholarship. All the running and jumping and pounding those feet and knees. And he was also the captain of the football team in high school. It is no wonder that one of his knees regularly gives him fits. It is usually after he plays golf. I call it his Golf Knee.

Blackberry Thumb and text message thumb. New terms for inflamed thumb joints! It makes sense, people are text messaging all the time on their phones and blackberrys. Have you watched a teenager lately? Both of their thumbs just fly over the keyboards of their phones! To show how times have changed, my son told his teenage daughter - “No text messaging while driving!” How scary is that! A inexperienced teenage driver - driving and text messaging at the same time. Talking on the phone is bad enough.

Back to the point. Over use of the thumb joints, at any age, can inflame those thumb joints. I wonder if we are going to have a epidemic of thumb joint arthritis in a few years among the younger set?

Over Spring break my “city boy” grandsons came to visit. They wanted to build a tree house. I live in the Georgia woods with big trees. They live in Kansas, no trees. We collected lumber, bought nails, measured and I cut the main supports. The boys are 10, and 12 years old and 16 penny nails were a little too hard for them to hammer. So, SUPER GRANNY hops up on the ladder and hammers in about thirty 16 penny nails into 2×6’s! My right shoulder killed me! I had to use heat pads, cold packs and pain killers. I think my heavy hammering days are over. The boys had to wait for their daddy to get here to finish it up.

I hate this, I have a Estwing hammer that I have had for 4o years. Perfectly balanced hammer! I have never hit my thumb with it. I like hammering things! I guess I will have to limit it to hanging pictures!

Writing causes movement and stress to your thumb joint. I like to write. I drink coffee in the morning with paper and pen handy. Make lists, write my posts in longhand , work out problems, all on paper! If I write very much , my thumb joints start hurting. I have experimented with all kinds of pens. Thin ones are a NO NO . Too much of a “pinch” grip. Fat ones are not much better. I found a rather odd looking pen that is designed to take the stress off of your thumb and finger joints. I will attempt to upload a picture of it. It won all kinds of design awards.

I found it at the gift show at the Atlanta Merchandise Mart. I recommend this pen highly. You use less pressure, have better finger support. A better viewing area, no strain or cramping. It is a dream to use, if you have finger or thumb joint problems. The grip can be turned to work for left handers. I really like it. So , if you can’t find them - I have a source.

March 8th and it is snowing in GEORGIA! Fortunately, it is not sticking here in Atlanta. It was 70 degrees yesterday. I wore shorts in the garden! These wide temperature changes are making my arthritic thumb joints “cut the buck”! That is Southern for - hurt like hell! And my shoulder joints ache.

Never thought that I would look forward to washing the pots and pans. But, that hot water sure does feel good! I had to break out my special joint warming mug this morning. It is a craftsman made mug that has a pocket in the side to slip your fingers in and a pot belly type shape. You slip your fingers in the pocket and cup your hands around the belly of the mug. Toasty hands in no time! Sure helps the hand and thumb aches that cold damp weather brings. Here is a picture from the brochure. I bought my friend a “shades of blue”, left handed one! Mine is green with royal blue and lavender, similar to the one pictured.

As you you grow older, arthritis reminds you of all your old injuries.

As a teenager , I used to roller skate, even danced with my boyfriend on roller skates! One night I took a bad fall and dislocated my right shoulder. Guess where I have some arthritis?

I went snow skiing, once. A slope in North Carolina, icy snow, inexperience and a torn up knee! They gave me some crutches and I waited a couple weeks to go to the Doctor. It was too late to operate. Thank goodness! Back then they butchered knees when they operated. So they put a cast on it for 6 weeks. It was stiff as a board, but I got it working again and really never had any problem - until a few years ago. My knee does not like to go up and down hills. It swells on one side and gets real cranky.

Now for the biggie, about 15 years ago, I had a ladder accident. Rode a ladder down to the concrete. 8 shattered ribs, punctured lung, nerve damage to my hip and tore all the muscles in my left arm and side trying to hang on to roof shingles. And a concussion. Damn near killed myself, and all I wanted to do was wash the skylight before our out of town quests arrived! Took a long time to get over that. Those ribs were in a X shape, with pointed ends. Over the years the points turned into little balls and then one day my ribs were killing me! I went to see what was happening. Well, the good news was I now had solid bone over my left lung. But, rib 4 broken end had grown to rib 5 broken end, ect. I had 8 ” Z ” shaped ribs! And they had , you guessed it , arthritis! All I can do for them is make sure they stay warm in the winter. I wear a lot of vests.

You never realize how much you use your thumb joints, until they get arthritis. Just every little movement with your hands involves your thumb! I over used my thumb the other day, planting seeds for my garden transplants. I like to grow a lot of heirloom veggies, so I grow my own plants. I mixed up the potting mix, cut holes in the cups, packed the mix in the cups, planted the seeds,watered them, and moved them all to the growing bins. Then I had to slather on pain cream and take aspirin!

The next day, I planned to change sheets , do laundry, cook and clean house. The first sheet I tried to remove - HURT - my thumbs were still VERY MAD at me. I  bought two FUTURO THUMB STABILIZER gloves. One for each hand! You slip your thumb in and then wrap it around your wrist. There are two removable metal stays in the thumb area. It keeps you from using the thumb joints. But you can still do things. I did the laundry ( you have to fold it- lots of movement) and I cooked. Cut a cabbage and sliced onions and carrots. I used my special Chef’s knife. I LOVE that knife!

The next day I had to go book shopping. I sell books. I have to pick them up and turn them over to read the back. More hand and thumb movement! So, I just wore my thumb splint gloves and it worked great! I write this one day later and my hands and thumbs are not hurting. Moral of this story, if you are going to be using your hands a lot and you have arthritis in your thumb joints, wear thumb stabilizer gloves.

Since I developed arthritis in my thumb joints, it is painful to hand weed my garden and flower beds. I am planting a lot of ground cover among the perennial flowers. There are a lot of interesting textures and colors that look good by themselves. I must have flowers, I like to cut them to bring inside. I have flowerbeds by the garden, in front of the house, on the side of the house, down by the pond and waterfall. Then we built a deck - that needs some shade plants. I need LOTS of ground cover. I beg some from friends and buy some and propagate some. Eventually I will get it done. Meanwhile, before I go out to weed, I turn on my paraffin spa . And I wear my thumb splint gloves to weed. They restrict my thumb movement, and it does not get as irritated. When I come in , I dip my hands in the warm melted paraffin a few times, take a couple aspirin and usually end up rubbing in some horse liniment. YES, horse liniment! It seems to do better than all the different pain creams.

You would think I would learn not to over use my hands and thumb joints! But, NO, I have to use some paint remover and scrape paint!. It was a ergonomic handle. But, my thumbs were quite angry with me. Add some cold damp weather and it is not fun to have arthritis! Hot wax dips, hot water and aspirin.
It is almost Spring. I have a lot to do. I am a gardener. I guess I will remember to put on those thumb splint gloves in the future.They will look awful after I garden and scrape paint. I will just get some more. Hey, I am worth it!

Arthritis in your thumb joints makes it painful, difficult and almost impossible to cut hard, dense things, like cabbage, sweet potatoes and winter squash. Because, when you cut those type things,you have to press down hard directly on the lower thumb joints. It is very painful! I tested a lot of different types of knives. I did find a winner. This knife looks weird. It is L shaped. The handle sticks UP. The design transfers the pressing motion from your lower thumb joints to your forearm and palm. I found several different brands that look similar. This is the ONLY ONE that works! I can cut through anything easily! As you can see from the diagram, it shows with the arrows how the exertion is accomplished. Down the arm to the hand - but not the thumb joint! It means you can cut hard, dense veggies, cheese, etc. without putting any strain or pressure on your thumb joint. I LOVE THIS KNIFE.

When I first found out that I had arthritis, I wanted to learn everything that I could about it. First I wanted to FIX IT or STOP IT! I bought several books and poured over the information. The most informative, easy to understand, most readable was the , The Arthritis Helpbook.

This book tells you all about why and what happens, in laymen terms, and tells you what happens in the future. It is comforting to know that it will get worse and then be stable for a long time. That, with use the rough bone ends will become polished , smooth and more functional again.  There is a section on self-management. A very complete section on exercises for arthritis.  A section on pain management without drugs. Even a chapter on talking to your Doctor. You know, you need to know the right questions to ask! Then there is information on drugs, medicines, painkillers and even Surgery options and treatment decisions.

I highly recommend getting this book. I learned a lot from it.

Your shoulder is the most movable, flexible joint in your body. Arthritis in your shoulder can be real troublesome. Think about it, we swim, play tennis, paint, hammer, throw balls, swim, scrub, vacuum, and golf. Just to name a few. Activities that require you to raise your arms over your head can be especially hard work for your shoulders.

A few points:

• Always warm up. Do some shoulder circles, big arm circles, hug yourself, raise your arms to shoulder level turn your palms up and move your arms behind you.
• Keep your work within easy reach to avoid strain.
• When you are painting or hammering, use a stool or ladder so that you don’t have your arms overhead.
• Use dollies and wheelbarrows, and get help when you need to move, lift, pull or push something heavy.

When you have arthritis in your thumbs, you need to avoid tools that cause a twisting motion. I am speaking about the wrist twisting motion that involves the bottom thumb joint. You never notice this motion, until your thumb joint gets arthritis. Throw in a few bone spurs and it will get your attention!

Look at screw drivers. The twisting, pressing motion will remind you right quick that you need a cordless screw driver. I personally have found most cordless screw drivers wimpy. I have a cordless drill too, but it runs out of power and it is kinda wimpy. If I have alot of screws to do, I get out my old drill to get some real power. It has a cord! It is 35 years old!

Another twisting motion is peeling potatoes. Look for a peeler that uses your arm motion, to pull back, rather than twisting your wrist. I found a real cute one that looks like a monkey. I particularly like it because there is room between his head and the blade. I can put my index finger on his head and it gives me more control and pressure if I need it. He looks cute sitting around too. I will attempt to upload a picture.

If you want one of these, contact me. I bought extras.