The Tube of Gel Always in My Walking Bag

The tube lives in the bathroom medicine cabinet, behind my toothbrush, and it has been there for about nine months. Voltaren Arthritis Pain Gel. I put it on my right knee before I put on my walking shoes, wash my hands, and head out the back door. That is the whole routine. It is not dramatic. It is the reason I still get my two miles.

I am 61. I live in Bloomington, Minnesota, with my husband, Gary, and I have mild to moderate osteoarthritis in both knees. The right one is worse. My doctor told me that about three years ago, and my first thought was not about medicine. It was about the lake trail near our house. Before my knees flared, I walked about four miles most mornings. Now I walk two, maybe three on a good day. Stairs and long downhill stretches are the parts that talk back.

I tried the sensible things first. A physical therapist worked with me for about eight weeks on strength and balance. I bought a compression knee sleeve, and I still wear it on the right knee for every morning walk. I use an ice pack wrap after longer days. None of that fixed the problem, and I am not going to pretend it did. What I wanted was a way to keep walking while my knees and I negotiated.

The gel came later. About nine months ago, I asked my primary care doctor whether Voltaren was okay with the other medications I take. That question matters to me, and it should matter to you. I am not a doctor and I am not giving medical advice. I am telling you what I use, how I use it, and what changed. The label directs the dose. I follow the label.

What changed is smaller than a headline and bigger than nothing. On an achy morning, I can put on the gel, wait a bit, and walk the loop instead of sitting it out. On a day of errands and stairs, I notice the knee less by late afternoon. I still feel the downhill. I just do not dread it the way I did.

The gel does not give me a new knee. It gives me a two-mile morning and a reason to keep the walking shoes by the back door.

I want to be precise about what Voltaren is and what it is not. It is a gel you rub into the skin, not a pill. The active ingredient is diclofenac sodium 1 percent, an NSAID. The tube has a flip cap that is easy to open, which sounds like a small thing until your hands are stiff in the morning. The listing says it is the number one doctor recommended topical pain relief brand. It also says it is clinically proven to relieve arthritis pain, improve mobility, and reduce stiffness. I am not adding to that. I am saying I noticed less of an edge on the days I used it.

The way I use it is plain. I put it on the right knee, as the label directs, and I wash my hands afterward. I do not wrap the knee in plastic or heat. I do not use it and then take a four-mile walk to prove something. I use it on the mornings that feel stiff and on the days with a lot of stairs, and I keep the tube in the cabinet so I do not have to hunt for it. Gary knows where it is too, which helps on the days I am moving slow.

There are things the gel does not do. It does not fix the downhill. It does not make me 40 again. It does not replace the strength work from physical therapy or the compression sleeve I still wear. If I skip the sleeve on a long walk, I feel it. If I skip the gel on a stiff morning, I feel that too. The gel is one part of a small system, and the system is what keeps me on the trail. I would rather tell you that than sell you a single tube as a stand-alone answer.

I also pay attention to the small stuff. The tube is 150 grams and fits in the cabinet without taking over a shelf. I wash my hands because the label says to, and because I do not want gel on my eyes. I do not use it on broken skin. I asked my doctor first because I take other medications and because NSAIDs are not for everyone. If you take other medications or have health conditions, ask your doctor first, as I did. I am only telling you what I did.

What I'd Tell You If We Were Sitting at My Kitchen Table

Here is what I would tell you if you were sitting at my kitchen table with a cup of coffee and a knee that has been talking to you since spring. First, get the diagnosis. I am not a doctor, and guessing about arthritis is a bad use of your time. Second, do the boring work. The physical therapy, the sleeve, the ice pack, the shoes with a little more cushion. Third, if your doctor says a topical NSAID is okay for you, try the gel for a few weeks and judge it on whether your walks get easier, not on whether day one feels like a completely different knee.

Fourth, keep it where you will actually use it. Mine is in the medicine cabinet, beside the toothbrush, because that is the last place I stand before I put on my walking shoes. A tube in a drawer you never open is just a tube in a drawer. And fifth, give yourself credit for the two miles. The point was never to walk like you did at 45. The point is to keep walking at all.