Beth was a 45 year old lady who came to me with severe osteoarthritis in both of her feet and ankles. It would flare up every few weeks. Sometimes in the left foot, sometimes the right. It only seemed to affect one side at a time! There seemed to be no reason for the flare ups. Beth tried many different diets. She was extremely conscientious with her food choices every day. She tried a whole regime of supplements. Nothing helped.
The only thing that would decrease her pain was Prednisone. She took it when the pain was severe. She noticed that her voice would be hoarse and she also had severe heartburn when taking the drug for more than 1 or 2 days. Her doctor made her aware of the long list of side effects of Prednisone. Things like weight gain, eye problems, osteoporosis, to name a few. Beth decided she didn't want to take drugs if there was another way to deal with her pain.
Often it was so painful that she couldn't walk at all. She used a moon boot when the pain was moderate, but when the pain was severe she had to use a knee scooter to be able to get around at all - even in her home. Even when the pain was mild, her ankles were weak. She had to walk slowly, even on a flat, level surface. Going up or down stairs was a challenge because she felt like her ankles would collapse easily. She almost fell down stairs a few times when there was no handrail. She used to play tennis each week. Now running or playing any kind of sport was out of the question. Even a 20 min walk would cause the pain to flare up. She had to buy special shoes that cushioned the normal impact of her foot striking the ground.
Beth had to organise her life around her feet! Things most people take for granted like going shopping had to be carefully managed so she could do short walks, rather than long ones.
She came to me to try laser therapy. Initially there was no noticeable improvement. We did 2 treatments 1 week apart and she felt no change. She decided to stop treatment.
The laser treatment Beth received involved her sitting in a chair. I would put the laser on multiple areas around her feet for about 3 minutes in each spot. It took about 30 minutes to cover both her feet and ankles. The laser is painless and all she felt during the treatment was the pleasant warmth of the treatment.
After about 6 months her situation was no better. She returned to the clinic and we started doing 2 treatments a week for 6 weeks. She noticed her ankles were a little better when going down stairs. There was less weakness and she had much more confidence when walking. She could walk faster than she had for years. The low level pain didn't change, but she had no flare ups in the first 6 weeks.
We continued the 2 treatments per week for another 6 weeks. By the end of the second 6 weeks, the low level pain had almost gone. She could walk up and down stairs with confidence, and best of all she had now gone 12 weeks with no flare ups!
We continued with weekly treatments for another 9 weeks. By the end of this, Beth felt her feet were back to normal. She had no pain and could walk in regular shoes. She even tried a short run and had no issues. This was in 2019 and I haven't seen Beth since, but I have seen lots of her friends and work colleagues.