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LexS12

Today, at the age of 21, I've been diagnosed with arthritis in my knees. There goes my volleyball career. FML

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Halloween

A failed costume, stolen candy and a very real scare: Halloween, the one night when fear is allowed.

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GhostFox 34

Uh. People? Once you have arthritis it WILL get worse, and excessive activities- like dozens of hours of training for a professional level of a competitive sport- WILL accelerate the rate at which it gets worse. You can slow it down to a crawl, but if you do high impact sports you're going to hit the point where your joints are too damaged to play sooner rather than later. OP essentially has the choice between playing competitively for a few years and living with crippling arthritis for the rest of their life, or playing a recreational levels and extending the time they can use their joints. It's really, really ignorant or outright malicious to tell someone to do something that is damaging their body. Medicine can only help so much, the rest is life style changes.

RedPillSucks 33

perhaps this will be the start of your awesome swimming career

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Comments (22)

Magnafiend 0

arthritis is basically caused by calcium deposits forming in the joints where they shouldn't be, so in other words, stop whatever is causing the deposits, stop the arthritis. My dad had mild arthritis in his hands, but with a change in diet and proper supplements he's been able to remain active enough to do martial arts for the past 3 years with little issue, and for reference the man is in his early 60s. Don't give up hope just yet!

GhostFox 34

That is a specific form of arthritis called pseudogout, aka, Calcium Pyrophosphate Deposition Disease (CPPD). Most forms of arthritis have to do with the damage or loss of cartilage in the joints from injury, infection and/or injury. Others are caused by inflammation from those same factors. Then there is rheumatoid arthritis that is caused by the immune system misidentifying cartilage as a harmful foreign body and breaking it down. So unless OP has a VERY mild case of CPPD, cutting back on calcium won't help, and could in fact compound issues if they start losing calcium from their bones. Your father was very lucky if he responded so well to treatment, but your father was older than OP is now. OP needs their joints to last longer than your father needs his to last. High impact activity is the enemy of ANY kind of arthritis, even if you are treating it with everything you can.

ChristinePi 36

Not all forms of arthritis are caused by that. The cause of mine is unknown. Basically my immune system thinks my joints are foreign bodies and attacks them.

Samantha Elizabeth Adamo-Apodaca 10

someones been on their knees to much.... ;)

pjsr 33

'Have you ever played volleyball?'

Breanna York 2

I'm 20, play beach volleyball, and a month ago found out I have arthritis in my back as well as a back disease so I know what you're going through

goodread2200 10

I know in sports like soccer and hockey being a referee is just as competitive (if not more) than being a player and unlike those sports a volleyball ref doesn't do a lot of running. It's probably the same for coaching/managing the team too.

Spottedfeather 7

why would you think you could have a career in volleyball ?

GhostFox 34

Because you can make a career out of pretty much any sport. Presumably OP was skilled enough they were being scouted prior to this discovery. Just because basketball, American football/rugby, and football are the three most well known sports doesn't mean there aren't others.