Jennie Garth felt bewildered when she was diagnosed with osteoarthritis at the age of 45.
Jennie Garth thought she was too young to be struck down with osteoarthritis.
The 'Beverly Hills, 90210' star went to the doctor five years ago to complain about pain in her knees and hips and she was shocked when she was found to have the condition - which is the most common form of arthritis - as she was convinced she was not old enough.
She explained to People.com: "I was sort of shocked to hear that news from my doctor after going in and complaining about some pain in my knees and my hips and different places around my body and wondered what was going on.
"And I was shocked to hear the word arthritis come out of his mouth. Because I kind of associate arthritis with ... I'm not old enough to have arthritis. Let's put it that way. But yeah, you can have arthritis at any age and I wasn't really aware of that."
The 50-year-old actress discovered arthritis runs in her family but she still had no idea it would affect her especially as her symptoms started very slowly.
She told the publication: "I'm just used to being a go-getter and taking care of business all the time ... I've always been up and down on my knees, up and just doing everything, in and out of the car a million times a day it feels like. And those little things started to not feel as painless as they always had. And so it was just this sort of creeping realisation that something was different. That's what sort of caused me to go in to the doctor initially."
Jennie now treats the symptoms of the condition using an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory gel, while she also tries to stay active and eat a diet that includes anti-inflammatory foods including berries and whole grains.
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