Are you living with arthritis? Have you lived with arthritis?

Arthritis used to be a large part of my life!  I wish I knew more about it when I suffered from it but I got diagnoses long after it started to be a problem for me, and is one of the lucky few who was able to get permanent relief.

My mom also has arthritis and deals with its struggles everyday, especially on rainy days like it use too (which coincidently today is a rainy day… blah).

I had osteoarthritis.  This type of arthritis is caused by aging joints, injury and obesity.  And while not all people that that osteoarthritis are obese, have a single injury that starts a problem or have the age where arthritis usually starts to occur, it can still happen.  And that is where I come in.

Due to the fact of being born with Dysplasia in both hips and it going undiagnosed, and therefore untreated, it caused my joints to age and wear down at a much higher rate than a normal person.  I could not tell you exactly when the arthritis started, whether I was really young or later in my teens or early 20s but something was always there.  And it wasn’t until I was told I needed a total hip replacement that the word arthritis was even brought up.  The x-rays didn’t show the normal colouring that would identify arthritis and the MRI showed so many problems that the word arthritis was likely not the biggest surprise so it was not mentioned.  OR perhaps people assumed I already knew that part so just never really talked about.  Either way it was there.

Many younger people don’t feel understood or believed when talking about joint pain.  I follow @curearthritis on Instagram, along with many other sources, and this has really helped me come to a better understanding of this disease, including the large variety of types (which I had previously had no idea about).

I’d love to hear your story about arthritis and how it has affected you or a loved one.  We are nothing without the support around us, I know that’s what helped me through it all.