Thanks for all of this info Gently. I truly hope you do not have and do not get RA - although the treatment for it has greatly improved over the years.

I'm curious, does your cervical arthritis cause pain from pinched nerves in the spine? If so, where do you feel the pain and/or numbness? I have severe osteoarthritis in my lumbar spine. That presses on the sciatic nerve and I then feel pain in the back of my legs, hamstrings and calves. I had laminotomies at S1, L5, and L4 in 2013 and this resolved that pain.

I keep my core muscles strong to protect my lumbar spine and avoid the need for fusion.

Thanks! Joe