Osteoarthritis :: Hip And Spine Wear And Tear

I have Osteoarthritis I think, although the doctor didn't really do any tests to confirm it.  Perhaps there's nothing they can do, I don't know.  Anyway, it started out when I had a frozen shoulder when I was sixty from fracturing a small bone without realizing it.  Because of the strain on the other shoulder that subsequently froze up as well.  I had to sleep on my back for nearly a year, but after two lots of cortisone injections into the joints and lots of active dancing in my bedroom whilst in agony, they finally freed themselves and got back to normal.  After that episode I found that my lower back was painful when I got out of bed in the mornings, and my right knee would collapse with pain up and down the stairs. My right hip now gives me a lot of pain too, and sometimes all of these joints play up together, leaving me in lots of pain. I do find that paracetamol helps, and I do use voltarol etc. I have tried using flexiseq also, which is a topical treatment that is supposed to lubricate the joint, but it is very expensive at £18 a tube and I'm not really sure whether it works or not. It seems to work sometimes, but not others.

Also, I find that I can wake up occasionally with more or less no pain at all for no reason that I can make out.  I wish I knew what it was! Perhaps something I ate, or just didn't do the previous day??  who knows??