My 88 year old mom has knee pain and shoulder pain. Any advice?

I get injections in my thumb joint and it takes care of the pain for 4-6 months at a time. My dad got them in his knee and back and they worked wonders for him too. He hasn’t needed another one in his back for a few years now. Both of our issues are due to arthritis.

Eliminate sugar from diet. (Causes inflammation/pain)
Consider eliminate gluten and dairy from diet. (Also causes inflammation/pain.)

I have to kind of chuckle, realizing all the while there's nothing funny about this.
I am 80 and today my "Old Nurse's Back" complicated by the fact I can't take pain meds which exacerbate diverticulitis and the fact that 80 means spinal compression--well it has been laying me low.
Pain is a part of it at a certain age, pure and simple and we have to play around to find whatever works to whatever degree. Heat or cold, exercise of being able to lie low a while--movement or none. Just have to do the best we can.
I recently said to my Doc that old age is something else again, and not for sissies. She asked what was wrong. I told her I could start at the scalp and falling hair and work my way down through failing eyes and ears and fracturing teeth, but how much time did she have as I was nowhere NEAR my toes yet, and the ingrown toenail is killing me.
I wish you the best. Some pain is going to be there. What will work is the individual mystery we each face down. I sure wish you all luck.

If it's from pinched nerves, none of that will help.

You need to find that source of the pain. Has she been properly diagnosed, or is it a oase of the doctor saying "you're old -- it's arthritis?"

Take her to an orthopedist.

Yes, you can have her Doctor order PT in the home.

I like Advil for my pain. Tramadol you have to be careful with in older people. It made my Mom hallucinate. Also a friend who was in his 50s at the time.

mjbacheminjr427, what kind of shoes is your Mother wearing? Shoes can make a huge difference when it comes to any type of body pain.

Make sure her shoes have good arch supports. After wearing just sneakers, or just fuzzy socks, or just plain barefoot that I started to have knee pain walking up the stairs. One day I needed to put on solid shoes to show a workman around the yard, and I noticed I didn't have that knee pain walking up the stairs. Hmmmm. I experimented with that, and sure enough it was lack of shoes vs. solid shoes with good arch supports that made the difference.

Oops, I am starting to sound like an info commercial. Anyway, it is worth looking into.

Red/near infared light mats are a most effective intervention. They are extremely safe and easily available on the internet. I hope this helps her find some relief.

Has she had Physical Therapy?

PT helped with arthritis pain in both my knees and in my thumb.

Oftentimes there is nothing that will relieve arthritis pain in an 88 year old. I'm 65 and have chronic arthritis pain in my back, hip and feet every day of my life. I like to use a heating pad in addition to Tylenol, ibuprofen and 1 Tramadol a day. Other than that, it's just grin and bear it.

TENS unit?