Published by

Tom on 18th August 2020

Tom has played racket sports for most of his life. Not long after his 60th birthday, he began to experience significant arthritic hip and wrist pain, which significantly impacted his performance and nearly caused him to give up the activities that he enjoys most in life. 

When strong anti-inflammatory medication resulted in kidney problems, Tom turned away from traditional medicine and tried To Better Days patches instead. After a few times of wearing them, Tom has felt a marked improvement in his mobility, allowing him to play at a better level again with significantly less discomfort. 

Tom’s Arthritis Pain Story

My name is Tom – I live in the New York area of the United States. I’ve played racket sports for most of my life – tennis and platform tennis are an integral part of my life and great ways for me to unwind. 

I live with my wife – we have two daughters and, since recently, a grandchild. In the early 90s, my wife and kids and I lived in London for six years, which is where one of my daughters met her now-husband. They actually moved to the New York area – Northern New Jersey – a month ago during the pandemic. It’s nice that they live close to us now.

A Lifetime of Sports

In the early years of school, I played baseball, football and rowed on a crew team in high school and early college. As an adult, I started playing a lot of racket sports and some golf. 

In the UK, you’ll be familiar with tennis, but you might not have heard of platform tennis (also known as paddle tennis) – it’s more of an American thing. It’s played on a smaller court with a lower net, making it quite a fast sport.

Platform tennis is played with a solid paddle instead of a strung racket, and as the courts can be heated, they’re both suitable for winter play. You could even play in the snow – that’s probably why it’s known as an East Coast sport.

Developing Pain in my Wrists and Hip

I’ve tried to play racket sports frequently throughout my life, and have done a bit of golf on the side. As both these sports require the use of wrists and hips, it was a bit of a setback when I developed pain in both of these areas soon after my 60th birthday. 

I went to see several doctors about the pain in my wrists and hip, and they unanimously diagnosed osteoarthritis. With this disease there’s not much you can do – you can get surgery and have an artificial endoprosthesis put in the joint, but needless to say, it would be madness for me to have surgery on everything. 

The Arthritis Pain Relief Treatments I’ve Tried

After the doctors diagnosed osteoarthritis, I got prescribed a strong anti-inflammatory medicine called Meloxicam – it did help, but I knew I couldn’t keep using it in the long run. At some point I had a blood test done which came up with kidney function problems – one of the known side effects. 

I tried some Advil and Aleve which you can get over the counter – they worked, but again, they cause other problems if you take them too frequently.

Trying To Better Days Patches

After I stopped taking medicine, I couldn’t play sports again at the level I used to play at. This was frustrating: some people work in the garden, or make models for fun, but I get my satisfaction from playing sports. 

After a while, I started trying To Better Days patches – they didn’t work right away, but after a few times of wearing them on my wrists and hip, they started to alleviate the pain. At first I felt moderate improvement, but when I increased the frequency of use, they started to work more.

Wearing a To Better Days patch improves my mobility quite a bit. I notice my wrists will loosen up quicker when I wear them while playing sports, which is really helpful, especially with golf.

How Arthritic Wrist Pain is Affecting My Life

On an average day, when I’m not wearing a pain patch, my wrists hurt all the time. One day I might have something done with them. Anything that requires me to twist and turn my wrists is problematic – buttoning up a shirt or tying a shoe really hurts. My family doesn’t have a history of arthritis – my Dad’s almost 90 and he takes no medication. It might be that my frequency of playing sports has contributed to my hip and wrist problems somehow.

I’m not a real believer in taking medication in the long term – the side effects that they some with will ultimately come true. To Better Days patches, however, are great because they contain only naturally occurring ingredients. I can wear them as much as I like to provide some relief and increase my mobility. 

An Empowered Mindset

Overall, my mindset is that pain is not a problem – I don’t give concessions to age and I will maintain my level of physical activity, no matter what. With the help of To Better Days I can continue to play my favourite sports at a level that gives me enjoyment, and that’s really all that I need.

Thank you To Better Days for helping me continue doing what I love most.