Let’s talk about joint pain. I’m 48 but I sometimes feel like an eighty year old.

Joint pain! For me, it’s my feet that hurt.

My instagram life, with all the smiley, sporty pictures would have you believe that I have no lasting effects from cancer treatment.

It’s a lie.

I am often in pain.

Joint pain is the most common side effect of the hormone therapy drugs I take. It’s also a common side effect of chemotherapy. And menopause. Which many female cancer patients are thrown into, for one reason or another.

For me, it’s my feet. My ankles seize up. The bones across my toes ache. My heel bones sometimes feel like someone is stabbing a knife into them and then twisting it. I have stubborn, painful, tendonitis in both achilles.

It’s frustrating.

And it really gets in the way of life.

Turns out you really need your feet for everything.

Of all my cancer treatments, this has been the hardest to accept and to learn to deal with. Mainly because it’s long term. Surgery, chemo, radiotherapy: they’re all hard. But they all have an end date that is in the foreseeable future.

Joint pain? It’s probably for the rest of my life.

So, how am I dealing with it?

Firstly, and most importantly for my mentality, I have chosen to think of my pain as a sports injury. This has been the key to staying positive and motivated to fix it. I’ve been injured plenty of times before and always bounced back. As my physio says, “If we challenge the tissue, it will respond.”

I firmly believe him.

In spite of the pain being a side effect of my medication, rather than the result of a fall or an overuse injury, I absolutely believe that with the right treatment plan, we can fix it. It just might take longer than it used to, before I became an old lady.

I’m still experimenting with what works. And like many cancer-y things, it’s a bit of a roller coaster. Recently, I had nearly 3 weeks where my feet felt amazing. Relatively. The pain was minimal, most of the time.

But then it came back. With a vengeance. For no particular reason.

Some days, I go for a run and it barely hurts afterwards. Other days, I do nothing to challenge them, but yet I can’t walk across a room without wincing and hobbling. I keep a note of what I’ve been doing and I haven’t conclusively connected the dots as to why.

Most days, however, I have it under control.

It’s annoying. But manageable.

I’m learning to accept that it’s a part of me.

So, here’s what’s working for me:

First thing in the morning, I mobilise and stretch my feet and ankles. Every single day. It starts before I’ve even got out of bed. This allows me to walk normally for most of the day. If I don’t, then I shuffle around like a granny.

I do the same routine before bed. It definitely eases the pain and is keeping everything mobile. It’s also preventing it from getting worse.

I wear supportive shoes and have bought some in a size bigger so they don’t put pressure on my achilles or the bones across my feet.

I’ve invested in bigger shoes and am trying to treat my feet with love

I alternate hot and cold therapy in the shower. Boosting the circulation around my achilles - which have a poor blood supply - can only be a good thing, to promote healing and reduce inflammation. It always feels good afterwards.

I am treating the achilles tendonitis as an injury, regardless of the reason why. Which means doing a specific weights programme in gym. At least 3 times a week. I don’t enjoy it but it’s effective! My feet and calves are getting stronger and more resistant. The pain kicks in later and is less sore than it used to be.

I’ve added balance exercises to my routine. I’ve fallen over a couple of times and it’s a worry.

I’ve accepted the pattern. As long as I do my mobility exercise in the morning, I can have a mainly pain free day. But by 4pm every single day - no matter what I’ve done or not done - it hurts. So I do most of my activity in the morning and accept that late afternoons are harder going.

I take tart cherry supplements, with my oncologist’s approval. They’re supposed to help with joint pain. It’s hard to isolate if they’re working, but there’s no harm in trying!

If the pain is really bad in the evening, I take paracetamol before bed, on my oncologists advice. As he says “We need you to be comfortable in your body.” Sleeping is a whole other battle ground and I don’t want pain to be the reason I can’t sleep.

I feel lucky that my joint pain is limited to my feet. But it can affect any joints. My programme is definitely working. My aim is to be running again, pain free, by this summer. If you’re in pain too, tell me what hurts! What I’m doing is working and I can help.