Jars, Keys and Kettles: Arthritis in the Hands
Arthritis of the knee or hip announces itself. It affects walking, and walking is visible. Hand arthritis is quieter. It doesn’t stop you leaving the house. It just makes about forty small things a day slightly harder, and then progressively harder, until you’ve reorganised a surprising amount of your life around it without ever quite deciding to. Here it is by the tasks, because that’s how people actually experience it.
What the Guideline Your GP Follows Actually Says About Arthritis
Most people with osteoarthritis have never read the guideline that shapes their care, which is entirely reasonable — they’re written for clinicians, not patients. But the current one contains several things that genuinely surprise people, including some that contradict what they’ve been doing for years. NICE published its guideline on osteoarthritis in over 16s in October 2022. Here’s what it actually says, in plain terms.