The advice should be to go somewhere where they can actually physically examine him, there’s a host of hands-on physical tests that would point the way.
Barring that, he is missing a host of crucial information, such as family history, connection of affected joints to sports done at the time, what kind of pain, triggers for the pain, the list goes on.
That he doesn’t provide his health care provider’s opinion makes me wonder if he even sought professional medical attention. If so, why withhold it and make it even more of a guessing game? If not, I mean, really? (It’d be hard to help someone who—if my suspicion proved correct—chooses such an irrational way of solving a problem that he attributes “feeling the worst he ever felt in his life” to.) OP, if you’re reading this, what did the orthopaedic doctor say? Had any bloodwork done, ANA, dsDNA etc. antibodies in particular?
I wonder why noen’s bad advice is downvoted, while a random stab of “might be autoimmune” isn’t.
I’m one of noen’s downvoters, so I can at least explain part of what’s going on.
Their comment seems wrong, malicious, and destructive, whereas drethelin’s advice is a probably harmless suggestion to investigate. My stab in the dark would be to check for side effects of prescription drugs, some of which (statins) can affect connective tissue.
I’ve been to doctors for the major joint problems, but they’ve said various contradictory things that have never helped. They’ve told me that it’s aging. When I had my knee scoped the orthopedic surgeon told me that I “have naturally soft cartilage” . I don’t think highly of that diagnosis.
In my experience, modern medicine is not that good with things unfamiliar to it.
I have been to doctors many times, but I don’t believe that they’ve given me information that’s useful.
You’re getting old. The long term prognosis is that the condition is fatal. ;)
What he’s describing isn’t normal aging.
Depending on the kinds of sports he did, and the intensity with which he pursued them, it might well fall in the normal range of expected attrition.
It might be, but noen’s implication that he shouldn’t try to do anything about it is still bad advice.
I agree.
The advice should be to go somewhere where they can actually physically examine him, there’s a host of hands-on physical tests that would point the way.
Barring that, he is missing a host of crucial information, such as family history, connection of affected joints to sports done at the time, what kind of pain, triggers for the pain, the list goes on.
That he doesn’t provide his health care provider’s opinion makes me wonder if he even sought professional medical attention. If so, why withhold it and make it even more of a guessing game? If not, I mean, really? (It’d be hard to help someone who—if my suspicion proved correct—chooses such an irrational way of solving a problem that he attributes “feeling the worst he ever felt in his life” to.) OP, if you’re reading this, what did the orthopaedic doctor say? Had any bloodwork done, ANA, dsDNA etc. antibodies in particular?
I wonder why noen’s bad advice is downvoted, while a random stab of “might be autoimmune” isn’t.
I’m one of noen’s downvoters, so I can at least explain part of what’s going on.
Their comment seems wrong, malicious, and destructive, whereas drethelin’s advice is a probably harmless suggestion to investigate. My stab in the dark would be to check for side effects of prescription drugs, some of which (statins) can affect connective tissue.
I’ve been to doctors for the major joint problems, but they’ve said various contradictory things that have never helped. They’ve told me that it’s aging. When I had my knee scoped the orthopedic surgeon told me that I “have naturally soft cartilage” . I don’t think highly of that diagnosis.
In my experience, modern medicine is not that good with things unfamiliar to it.
I have been to doctors many times, but I don’t believe that they’ve given me information that’s useful.