That's terrible that you've suffered so much in spite of an active lifestyle! I am so sedentary in comparison and have no troubles at all. My grand father does, but he did some awful jobs on the farm and laying railroad ties. My mom and her mom (and even great-grama when she was still with us) all have arthritis in their hands. I attribute that less to genetics and more to the fact that they were all clerks for their whole working lives. Mom actually has rheumatoid arthritis now because she fell from her horse and had a compression fracture in her lumbar region. She did that in 1999 and the long-term stuff is starting to show through. Sounds similar to your story--she would never have gotten this way if she hadn't been an active equestrian!
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