A Bit Of A Knees-Up

I have muttered on and off about my arthritic left knee of late. When it swelled up like a football a couple of weeks ago, a GP friend and my own GP advised Rest Ice Compression and Elevation till the swelling went down. The so-called RICE technique. 

This does help - but honestly, I am very bad at this lying around doing nothing business!
The Physio had recommended turmeric, so I have been serving up golden rice, and slinging this spice into all sorts of [savoury!] recipes - also I have a bottle of turmeric and ginger capsules from our friendly little Health Shop. These were the same strength as our large chemists - but about half the cost. 

Unfortunately I find them rather hard to swallow, but I am persevering.
Then on Mothering Sunday, I was really struggling - I had spent a lot of time on the Friday getting the pot plants sorted for church, and done lots of other jobs, and I knew I had overdone it. 
After the service I limped into the Church Hall and sat down - and Bob offered to fetch me a coffee. "What you need is a magnetic knee band" said my friend . He is a jolly clever surgeon and so I assumed he knew what he was talking about. "How do they work?" I said, expecting a scientific response. He admitted that he wasn't really sure, but said his friend swore by the pain relief he'd got from his, so my friend had purchased one for his Mum who found it very helpful. "They're not expensive, find them on the Internet"
So I googled about, and read the various theories [many of which sounded like utter hokum, about the effect of magnetic fields on the iron/haemoglobin in the blood etc] I am a Big Cynic about these things. However I found a strap that cost just under £6 and ordered one. It is a "magnetic knee strap patella support"

Please Note- this is the picture from the advert, this hairy leg does NOT belong to me!
The parcel arrived at 11am as I was leaving for an afternoon of supply teaching. I put on the support- it is shaped to sit under the patella, and velcro strap makes it easy to adjust for a comfortable fit.

Twelve hours later, I reported to Bob that I had genuinely had not experienced any pain all afternoon/evening, despite being on my feet [and knees] in the classroom, and working hard in the church kitchen during the evening at the Alpha Group.

The strap is fairly discreet under my trousers, or longer skirts. After experiencing debilitating pain for what feels like months, it is so much better. I think that the curved patella support is significant, it stops my knee twisting, and maybe the strap would be just as useful even if there were no magnets in it. Yes, I still overdo it at times and then my knee does ache - but I can stand for all the hymns in church again, and I am able to walk further than I was doing previously. 
No, I do not know how it works- nor do I claim it will work for everyone, or even that it will continue working this well for me. It may well be psychosomatic, I was so desperately praying for pain relief that I believed it would work, whatever. But quite frankly, right now, none of that bothers me. I am just grateful to my friend for recommending it, and to God for answering my prayer. [NB I do not go down on my knees to pray though, because that really does hurt after a while]
I am in less pain, and therefore less crabby, and a much nicer person to be around. I just wanted to pass this information on, in case it is of help to anyone else.

[Please note, these young ladies appear to be wearing their red and black knee braces in the wrong place!]