Help with arthritis?

[caniac6]

I have developed arthritis in my right thumb. It doesn't hurt when I play,but hurts after I play. Do graphite shafts really help? Does anybody have any other recommendations? Thanks.

[retexan599]

I have arthritis in the fingers of both hands.  I wear a glove on my right hand as well as the left for this reason.  I also have oversized tourwrap grips as well as graphite shafts throughout the bag.  All of that helps a lot, so I can play 18 holes with minimal discomfort.  I usually take one acetophenamin and one ibuprofen about hole #7 or so.

[montru]

It looks like I have arthritis in my left hand, when I go to the range and start hitting balls one after the other I start getting severe pain in my fingers, when I am playing a round I'm not hitting so rapidly the pain is not so bad. I played yesterday and took three Neproxin (Aleeve) and it seemed to be Ok.

[Fozcycle]

I am 60 yrs old with arthritis in my fingers. As they are stiff and ache early in the day, I take 600 mg Ibuprofen.

We have an 8 AM tee time so I also wear the Bionic Glove from Powerbilt.....it has a thicker leather with special cushions strategically placed so that I don't have to grip the club as hard.  The glove was designed by an orthopedic surgeon......It really helps.

I tried midsize grips but they caused me to push all my approach shots to the right and my Hcap increased from 13 to 21...back with standard grips after 6 months and my handicap has dropped to 15.

[JayMc]

I'm 36 and I have arthritis already (it's genetic).  I take move free advanced supplements, which really helps my knees.  My hands hurt in the morning, but usually feel better when they loosen up and are active.  My doc recommended that I take an aleve each morning.  Not sure how much it helps.

The more active I am the less it all hurts though.

[ghalfaire]

I'm closer to 70 than 60 and have arthritis in several joints.  Most the good suggestions for elimination or reduction of the pain are above but I would like to comment on the Graphite shafts.  I didn't find them helpful except on severe mishit shots on cold days.  So I am not sure the extra expense is worth it unless you play in cold weather often and mishit a lot of shots.   Also I didn't see where anyone suggested regular physical workouts as helpful.  I spend about 90 minutes in gym 3-4 times a week and include stretching as a part of the routine.  I have found this very helpful in keeping the joints in as good of condition as your age/genes allow and it also helps in maintaining your strength and durability.  Good luck, this getting older isn't the most fun thing I've ever done but it is a lot better than any known alternative and while I won't go off topic here there actually are some benefits.