You need to get your orthopedic specialist to help you with this. There may be therapy treatments which may be helpful for you.

What is your level of education in Horticulture and what are your interests? Have you ever considered what you might do in the future? There are plenty of options but it does depend upon your education, experiences, and talents.

The field of horticulture is so broad and varied that you shouldn't have too much difficulty finding a hort-centered career path that keeps you away from strenuous outdoor activity. That is really just a very small part of it. Like Rhizo said, it depends on your interests and the level of education you pursue.

But arthritis of the hands is hard to deal with and I can't imagine too many tasks in this field that are completely hands off. I suffer from that myself but have never sought treatment. The only times it becomes an impediment is in my own garden and with long stretches of hand drafting with my design business.

I use ergonomically designed tools as much as possible, especially pruners. And I exercise my hands with a squeeze ball as well. Between that and ibuprofin, I cope :-)

I only have a bachelors degree in geography and currently taking courses for my ornamental horticulture associates degree. But my Time isn't flexible at all with my full time job so achieving this degree will take about 10 years since I can only take 1 class a year. I want to become a grower but that involves frequent use of your hands. Im not sure what else I'm capable of but I do know I do not want to teach. I really don't have the time or money to be going to a school either as I am scheduled to get married next year and I am saving for that. And even if I do have money my job is demanding and I really don't have the flexibility. That's why I'm taking classes just once a year. Other experiences I have is interning at an environmental crew company and a Botanical garden prior to this job I am right now. I feel like I am dead end in my career. I have considered horticultural therapy too but there's a whole new education system for that. Even sadder is I'm only 24 and I already have arthritis and also lower back problems. I still have 40+ years until retirement!

I would have to review the opportunities that might be open to me with a geology degree. I looked at a couple of websites very briefly and there seemed to be some promising directions to take. Your university should be able to help with career counseling.

Best of luck to you.

That was my original career that I pursued but I had absolutely no luck on that. I was jobless for a year after graduation. That is when I decided I wanted to go into the horticulture field and learn more about plants. That is when I started interning at a botanical garden. The environmental crew internship was before graduation when I still wanted to be an environmental conservationist. I've gained almost 3 years of experience in horticulture so far and I am not giving that up. I love plants and will continue to pursue it.