Miriam Margolyes recalled her ‘first symptoms’ of osteoarthritis

I’m A Celeb: Miriam Margolyes calls Hancock ‘vile’

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“I actually noticed the first symptoms of osteoarthritis when I was only 35 years old,” she remembered. Now 81, the BAFTA Film Award winner recalled the “swelling” in her knuckles that “turned out to be “Heberden’s nodes”. Dermatologist Professor Amanda Oakley explained that “a Heberden node describes a bony swelling of the finger joint”.

This “sign of osteoarthritis” is due to “exostosis (a bony enlargement)” that people can have a “genetic predisposition” for.

Telling Arthritis Digest about her Heberden’s nodes, Margolyes added: “I was grateful that it didn’t progress any further at that stage.”

In her mid 60s, Margolyes said her “knees started to progress”; she elaborated: “I had broken a bone in my knee when I was at school and that was where the new problems began.”

The famed actress continued: “For a while I lived with it, but the pain became progressively worse.”

For anybody experiencing the condition, Margolyes advised: “Keep moving as much as possible.”

The multiple award-winning star added: “Get up and stretch and bend… and do that little bit more than you want to.”

The NHS assures that regular exercise can help to manage mild symptoms of the disease.

Miriam Margolyes starred in the film Babe, which is showcasing on ITV on Sunday, November 20 at 12.45pm.

When the pain was severe enough to interfere with her everyday life and work, she knew that “a knee replacement operation was the only option”.

In the 2017 interview, Margolyes explained: “I did some thorough research using the National Joint Registry website, which gives the statistics for surgeons and hospitals.

“The South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre seemed to be a state of the art hospital for knee replacements and other operations and, luckily, was local to where I was living.”

Since having had her knee replacement in May 2016, Margolyes has noticed that the degenerative condition is affecting other joints.

“I suspect I have osteoarthritis in other joints,” she confirmed. “Certainly my hands and shoulders.”

For her, her painful condition flares up “when the weather is damp and wet”, but she says moving about helps to ease her achey joints.

“It’s staggering how many people have arthritis and my situation is nowhere near as bad as others,” she added.

“When you’re young you just never think you’ll get things like this, it never enters your consciousness.”

Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis in the UK, the NHS says.

The main signs of the condition are joint pain and stiffness, in addition to lowered mobility.

Some people might develop swelling, tenderness, and a crackling sounds when moving.

“The severity of osteoarthritis symptoms can vary greatly from person to person, and between different affected joints,” the NHS adds.

For anybody experiencing the condition, Margolyes advised: “Keep moving as much as possible.”

The multiple award-winning star added: “Get up and stretch and bend… and do that little bit more than you want to.”

The NHS assures that regular exercise can help to manage mild symptoms of the disease.

Miriam Margolyes starred in the film Babe, which is showcasing on ITV on Sunday, November 20 at 12.45pm.

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