I have developed severe arthritis in my knee. Apparently the cartilage has worn away. I can not run more than one mile without pain. My orthopedic surgeon is starting Supartz injections in two weeks. One shot for 5 weeks straight. Has anyone had any luck with this treatment or by using a patella stabilizer brace or tape?
Have a good talk with your doctor. Have you had cortisone first? Will it progress? Is running critical for your life? A friend went through this process and still ended up having to replace a knee due to the pounding of running. If he stuck to the bike and swimming he probably wouldn’t have ended up in this situation. Now he can’t run.
I have another friend who is not an athlete, but is also about to have these injections. I hope they work for both of you. Keep us posted.
Had a friend get them. He claimed they helped. I suspect he’s a prime placebo candidate though. 
The pubmed stuff on them was interesting, but not sure it saw long term benefits (greater than 1.5 years).
-Jot
Thanks for your replys. Running is pretty important for me both physically and mentally. I used to train for marathons 30, 40, 50 miles per week. I know those days are over, but was hoping to compete in TRI’s to keep the running to 15-20 miles per week. I’ll keep you updated on the injections. p.s. A placebo affect is OKay by me. Along as I can complete the run portion of Eagleman.
My arthritis is not critical but I did have these injections. They seemed to help a little bit. You really can’t feel any results until about the 4th injection tho. Insurance now covers this treatment based on studies that indicated it worked well for some people - that’s an endorsement as to effectiveness because the series costs about $600 per shot.
I assume you are already taking glucosamine. I have found that to be effective as well, but only the liquid not the pills.
I’m currently taking glucosamine 1500mg and chondritin 1200mg(from SAMs). I didn’t know there was a liquid version. Is the general consensus it works better? I’ll do whatever it takes to make my knee feel better. Even if I had to inject is straight into my veins. OK maybe not that far. But I’d consider it.
Is cortisone normally used for arthritis?
No cortisone is not for arthritis and more than 3 cortisone injections is not recommended because it can cause damage in the joint. There are some recent studies mentioning PRP helpful for arthritic changes
I have an appointment to start injections in my arthritic hip on the 15th but this has ended my almost 30 year running career. I’m just trying to extent the life of the joint. My surgeon said ‘‘further running will hasten the demise of the hip and quicken the need for replacement’’. Just like that my 30 year running career came to an end and yours probably should too. I moved on to long distance mt bike races and don’t plan to return to tri.
Want to get that Iron feeling again? Try a 6 hour mt bike race!
I’m slowly starting to come to the conclusion my running days are over. So depressing. I qualified for Boston this year and had to drop out. Looks like the Aqua Velo is going to be my vice. Hopefully I can still ride without knee pain??? Moutain biking is my other vice. I hope the supartz will at least let me do that.
I haven’t had Supartz, but have had both Synvisc and Euflexxa injections (both of which only required three, versus the five you’ve got scheduled). Both gave me good results in terms of noticeably improving knee function, although I think that the Synvisc worked better. As a side effect, the Euflexxa in particular caused my knee to become extremely sensitive to cold (and made icing it extremely uncomfortable).
I tried using various patellar stabilizers; none of the methods worked for my particular problem(s). I’d certainly defer to your ortho, but it seems that the injections and the patellar stabilizers attack two different problems.
In response to a similar loss of cartilage, I just had microfracture surgery nine weeks ago. I hope that you don’t have to go that route.
VR,
I have had Synvisk injections for the last 2 years, once every 6 or 7 months. It is liquid gold for me. Once my knees start to get real stiff and sore, after long runs, its time for another round. Ortho will keep doing them as long as I get relief. I have been told by the ortho that my knees look like dimpled golf ball on the surface and down the road knee replacements. I have about 20 % cartlidge left in the right knee and 40% in the left. I don’t tear up the time table when I run but I run with little to no discomfort. I also got some orthodics that also helped out alot. I am a bop racer, 14 hours IM. I do 2 a year for the last 2 years and have 2 on the books this year. Just take it slow and easy. I enjoy the sport and will do it till the knees quit!! At least you still can enjoy the run instead of giving it up.
good luck
Wow. Pretty impressive Jerry. That gives me some hope. I will soon find out. Thanks
Just a quick update. Supartz did not work for me. I’m scheduled for arthroscopic surgery in June to see how bad the damage is. Guess I’m looking at at total knee replacement. Does anybody know if it’s possible to ride after knee replacement?
Surgery for what? To just have a look around, or to actually do something?
I suggesting looking into someplace like the Stone Clinic in SF, or Centeno Schultz in Denver. See about alternatives before letting an ordinary dude go hacking up your knee.
I didn’t want to bore anybody with the details. But here is the cliff notes version. 5 years ago I shattered my knee cap in too many pieces to count. Got it fixed up and rehabbed enough to run two marathons. Right after qualifying for Boston last year I started to feel the pain. Had some x-rays and MRIs done that show severe arthritis and degeneration of cartilage. Problem is the screw in my knee is preventing the MRI from showing everything. Doc wants to scope it to see how bad it really is and possibly clean it up. Won’t know until he goes in. He fears a total replacemnt is imminant. I know most people think their doctors are great. I go to Dr Frederick at the Rothman Institute in Philly. He one of the best there is. Worked with the US Olympic team and even work on Meb who won the NYC Marathon. If he’s good enough for Meb he’s good enough for me. Being injured, you know what it’s like to think it ALL over. I’m hoping for some hope of competing again if a replacemnt is necessary.
Just a quick update. Supartz did not work for me. I’m scheduled for arthroscopic surgery in June to see how bad the damage is. Guess I’m looking at at total knee replacement. Does anybody know if it’s possible to ride after knee replacement?
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Yes, you can cycle after a replacement.
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There is a long way from cartilage degeneration/OA to TKR. (I mean, there CAN be, at any rate) Do you already know size, location, depth of your damage? How old are you?
Honestly, the last thing you want is a replacement–partial or full. Your doc will probably go over your options with you, after he sees for sure what he’s dealing with. Before I did anything though, I’d want my films (xrays and MRI) evaluated by a couple of doctors.
Great advice. Thanks Something as major as a TKR would necessitate other opinions. I’m 40 now. I don’t know the extent of the damage yet but will be scoped on June 18. I’ll post the results. I’m sure there are many out there who have been through this already. But this forum is hard to find what your looking for even when I did a search for knee replacement.
Chances are, unless you are in REALLY REALLY dire straits, they won’t give you a P/TKR. Too young. (I am in that boat…although I don’t want one, anyway.)
Hopefully, your scope will reveal only minor issues, and you can get it cleared up with some less invasive options!