Friend has pain in his joints. May have arthritis . Is there an x-ray
package or must he have separate x-rays of his back, knee, hip, etc.
He doesn't have any health insurance either.

Here's what I do with joint pain and it's very inexpensive. I take regular aspirin and grind it up in a smallbowl. I add a couple of drops of water to make it into a paste. Then I rub it on the painful area. It soaks in and goes right to the problem. It definitely works for me so maybe he will want to try it.

Joint Pain Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatments and Causes - RightDiagnosis.com (http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/j/joint_pain/intro.htm)


Diagnosing joint pain and its root cause begins with taking a thorough personal and family medical history, including symptoms, and completing a physical examination.
Making a diagnosis also includes performing a variety of other tests to help to determine potential underlying diseases, conditions or disorders, such as joint separations, arthritis (http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/a/arthritis/intro.htm) and bone cancer (http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/b/bone_cancer/intro.htm). Depending on the suspected cause, tests can include blood tests, culture and sensitivity of synovial fluid (joint fluid), and imaging tests, such as X-ray, CT scan, nuclear scans, and MRI.
A diagnosis of joint pain and its cause can easily be delayed or missed because joint pain may be mild and for other reasons. For information on misdiagnosis, refer to misdiagnosis of joint pain (http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/j/joint_pain/misdiag.htm).

There is more to it than just an X-ray, insurance or not it starts with a doctor, and if you can find a free X-ray clinic you can find a free clinic with a doctor. No Obama Care in your state?

It a dilemma. Gentlemen lives with elderly father on social security income . The son is 60 years old.Unemployed. No medicaid in Florida either. Obamacare is only for people that file income taxes.There are 400,000 people in Florida without health care.
Thanks for the advice

Forget Obamacare, it's a sham.

Seeing a doctor, giving reports of symptoms as well as blood tests and x-Rays, is how arthritis is diagnosed. At 60 years old it's quite probable that he has arthritis. He needs to discuss his options with his primary care provider.

He has no insurance. Only income is from his father's meager social security check.

He needs to discuss his issues with his primary care provider.

Thank you so much

I'm willing to say sure, he probably has arthritis. I never bothered with X rays.
I hurt so much at age 68 that my vocabulary is mostly one word now, OW. But I have other aches, from pinched nerves in my spine as I get shorter. And I have a set of scarred nerves from too much heavy work 40 years ago.
I can't take aspirin, nor can I reach many parts of my body with any sort of 'rub' like Icy Hot or Bengay or Oliver's aspirin ground up.
SO
I take both Tylenol and ibuprofin, generic. I vary it by how much I ache, and I can't say that I jump up and run around, but at least I'm not screaming. It takes the edge off.
I take one each of 500 mg every few hours, trying not to take too much. None of them are good for your kidneys. I often take 2 each, or I take 2 of 1 and 1 of the other. Each person has their own feelings about each drug.
Drink plenty of fluids to help your kidneys.
Oh, and a big heating pad is my best friend.

[Just looked up FL Medicaid - wow! None for low income adults. What about DISABLED adults? Has he tried to get SSI?)

I can't do aspirin orally either, that's why I do the paste. Aspirin just tears up my belly. I can do safety coated aspirin but I just think the paste works better and quicker. But I am guessing you don't get the heart benefits if you do the paste.


I'm willing to say sure, he probably has arthritis. I never bothered with X rays.
I hurt so much at age 68 that my vocabulary is mostly one word now, OW. But I have other aches, from pinched nerves in my spine as I get shorter. And I have a set of scarred nerves from too much heavy work 40 years ago.
I can't take aspirin, nor can I reach many parts of my body with any sort of 'rub' like Icy Hot or Bengay or Oliver's aspirin ground up.
SO
I take both Tylenol and ibuprofin, generic. I vary it by how much I ache, and I can't say that I jump up and run around, but at least I'm not screaming. It takes the edge off.
I take one each of 500 mg every few hours, trying not to take too much. None of them are good for your kidneys. I often take 2 each, or I take 2 of 1 and 1 of the other. Each person has their own feelings about each drug.
Drink plenty of fluids to help your kidneys.
Oh, and a big heating pad is my best friend.

[Just looked up FL Medicaid - wow! None for low income adults. What about DISABLED adults? Has he tried to get SSI?)

Yes I have known people that take Warfarin and cannot take anything with aspirin.
So if they have back problem it is difficult to get relief

Tylenol is for pain. Ibuprofin is for inflammation. Since they go together so often, people take both or either.

So Joy is it safe for a person on blood thinners to take
Ibuprofen or Acetaminophen(Tylenol). Do you believe the brand name Tylenol is better than the generic Acetaminophen.

I believe either one has any aspirin

I won't answer the 'safe' part for any prescribed drug in conjunction with OTC drugs, but the doctor would probably say OK, just keep careful track and don't take a lot. ALL have some dangers - aspirin is tough on the stomach lining, and ibuprofin on the kidneys, and even the safest of all, aceptaminophen (yes, just the same as Tylenol), carries a liver warning.
I keep huge bottles on hand. Cheaper that way.
Even a small bottle of aspirin. Wrap in a gauze pad for a cold sore inside the mouth. Put in warm water for a plantar wart.
Best 3 things in a medicine chest.

Arthritis also needs:
Gentle movement, frequently. Wiggle your way around the house.
Warmth - heating pad, bath, shower, extra clothing
NO alcohol or very little, maybe a little wine
Avoid sugar like the plague. That was my downfall. 50 years of it adds tons of extra painful inflammation.

"Avoid sugar like the plague. That was my downfall. 50 years of it adds tons of extra painful inflammation."

I've never heard that before Joy. Wow.

Tylenol and Motrin (acetaminophen and ibuprofen) are both safe for patients on warfarin.

Sugar produces cytokines, a step in the path toward inflammation. Our bodies produce anti-inflammatories (anti-oxidants), and we can eat them too, but sugar is one big inflamer for overpowering the good forces.
The main other ones are alcohol (breaks down same way as sugar), trans/saturated/omega 6 fats, and refined flour (breaks down to glycogen, same as sugar).

What is inflammation? It's oxidation. It's when a molecule has lost electrons to invading 'oxygen free radicals,' the bad guys. Once they start winning, a chain reaction of oxidation starts. Arthritis is one form of inflammation. Why does it hurt? Cells are damaged, internal scarring occurs, and some complicated chemistry goes on.

Very instructional

Sugar produces cytokines, a step in the path toward inflammation. Our bodies produce anti-inflammatories (anti-oxidants), and we can eat them too, but sugar is one big inflamer for overpowering the good forces.
The main other ones are alcohol (breaks down same way as sugar), trans/saturated/omega 6 fats, and refined flour (breaks down to glycogen, same as sugar).

What is inflammation? It's oxidation. It's when a molecule has lost electrons to invading 'oxygen free radicals,' the bad guys. Once they start winning, a chain reaction of oxidation starts. Arthritis is one form of inflammation. Why does it hurt? Cells are damaged, internal scarring occurs, and some complicated chemistry goes on.

Yes, and most of us survive with arthritis, joy. I do, and with gout to, by taking Advil ( I am on a low dose 81mg aspirin) during an episode. Key is keeping active. And don't forget some of us have a low ot high tolerance for pain and that makes a big difference.

Sometimes the golden years are not so golden. I am over 70 myself.

How would an unemployed 60 year old in Florida get a primary physician? I wonder if this fellow has done everything he can to help himself, or get help for himself? Seems his resources are limited, as are his options but has he explored them?

Is Obama Care the sham? Or is it the policy and rules of the states that's the sham?

Florida's legislature and Governor cannot pass a budget and it's a big mess right now. It's impacting Obamacare.

I have other sources of pain besides arthritis, tickle, and I have always had a very high tolerance for pain, which is what got me in trouble in the first place, carrying washing machines up flights of stairs and doing serious home renovations. A year ago, I installed a ONE PIECE TOILET, darn it, despite extreme pain, all by myself, because I am still strong.

Please don't lump all peoples' pain together and decide that they should all be like you, or that one person's tolerance is higher than another's. Of course tolerance varies but you can't measure it.

I don't think I am lumping, joy, but the adage is 'if you don't use it, you lose it'.

So, at 73 I am using everything I have !

Try telling people to use their degenerating discs.