It’s not for me.
It’s for my Uncle, veteran marathon runner. Had meniscus surgery years ago, & they took too much cartilege.
But, he’s running again, on his treadmill, and wants to increase his mileage.
I’ve done some research, but I’m looking for testimonials from people I trust, ie: YOU GUYS
Thanks in advance
yes, I have had the injections done twice. I honestly don’t think I’d be able to run much without them. I had meniscus surgery in 2000 and they removed about 75% of my right medial meniscus. Then a couple of months later I tore some of the cartlege on the medial condyle of the femur. That resulted in a complete layoff from all activity for 4 months to see if the cartlege would heal by itself without another surgery. It did but when I tired to start running again, it was painful just to go one mile. I got my first set of synvisc injections then and was able to start back running almost immediately with very little pain. But over the years the pain eventually came back and by this summer it was hard for me to run much more then 20 miles a week. Got my second round of injections in August but they told me this time that it would be about 6 weeks before I could really tell any difference. They were right, by October I was running everyday and built up to a 70 mile running week by the end of November, when I threw my hip out. Now I am building back again (a little smarter this time)and have been running consistent 30 - 40 mile weeks for the past month now.
If your uncle’s doctor recommended the injections, I would give it strong consideration. If he gets it done, tell him not to expect overnight changes, like I said they told be about 6 weeks and they were spot on with that estimation. I plan on doing it more regularily from now on instead of waiting until the pain just about stops me from running again.
I’ve given a number of these injections in clinic, however, I’d say >75% of them were for older folks with arthritis. That said, the few younger/athletic patients I have injected seem to do quite well. They were in similar situations…i.e. had lost some cartilage through injury/surgery. It might be worth considering, but that is obviously up to the patient/doctor…can’t comment on this case in particular since I have not laid hands/eyes on the patient.
Philbert
I looked into them but my doctor suggested I try Hyalgan injections instead - they are usually given out for osteoarthritis but can be used for knee problems in younger athletes as well. SynVisc can cause bad reactions in some patients is what he told me. I had a great experience with the Hyalgan - ran a half marathon 7 weeks after the injections and have been pain free for 6 months so far.
My father is in a position of possibly having a knee replacement in the future, not immediately though. He will be retiring in a year and a half and was hoping to have surgery after he retires so as to not effect his work schedule. His doctor told him that this could bye him some time if he wanted to stay active before electing to have surgery, do you think this is a good recommendation? He really wants to get back into running and was hoping this would enable him to do so until he could commit the time to surgery and recovery.
Is that the stuff made from rooster combs? I had that in 2003 and it seemed to work fairly well.
This is exactly the kind of info I was hoping for! Thanks so much.
Sp great that you’re able to run regularly!
Thanks again!!!
He hasn’t seen a Doctor yet, I’m just doing the preliminary research.
But, it sounds like it could help him, if he’s a good candidate, accd to his Doc.
So, what about those Hyalgan injections that Telebump got - how do they compare to Synvisc?
Thanks so much for your input!!!
I’ll look into Hyalgan too, then. Thanks!!!
Glad you’re running!!!
Both the Hyalgan and SynVisc seem to work pretty well…seems to be a difference of who’s insurance company wants to pay for which. I think every doc (and every patient) has different experiences, though. For my part, I have never seen a bad reaction to either.
Philbert
I looked into them but my doctor suggested I try Hyalgan injections instead - they are usually given out for osteoarthritis but can be used for knee problems in younger athletes as well. SynVisc can cause bad reactions in some patients is what he told me. I had a great experience with the Hyalgan - ran a half marathon 7 weeks after the injections and have been pain free for 6 months so far.
I am one of those unfortunates…I was so allergic to the stuff that I’m now allergic to eggs, too. My knee blew up like a balloon. I reacted for months afterwards. It got so bad that I was on prednisone for awhile. It didn’t help me one single bit, in fact it made the situation worse, but I’m sure I’m in the minority.
Had the Synvisc injections as part of tx after one doc said I was done running. Did a couple of IM’s and gazillion training miles since. Seemed to work well for me.
Cool!!!
I’m forwarding all this info to Unc! Thanks so much for responding!!! Glad you’re feeling good!!!
Thank you for the info!!!
To make long story short, I had knee problem 2years ago and doctor xrayed and said OA, possible meniscus tear. Gave me celebrex and I got thru IMFLA. Knee flared up again (just on run) pain more severe. Went to another ortho and he said same thing…take nsaids/celebrex and come back if pain too much. Tried to run yesterday after 10 days off and same sensation. Wonder why second doctor just didn’t do mri right away and maybe meniscus tear would be evident.
I’ve read that meniscus knee repair is difficult (age 58). Can you briefly describe your symptoms, the ordeal of surgery (75% of medial is a lot…guess they could not repair), how long away from training, and prognosis for your ability to train say 5-10 years down the road? Anything you would do differently?
I’d not like to end up in wheelchair, but I really do love tris. Best of luck to you.
I’ve had 4 series in the right knee and a couple for the left. Hyalgan and Synvisc are the same, just different companies. Synvisc advertises that 3 injections do the trick, while Hyalgan is supposed to be 5 injections.
I’ve had one reaction to Synvisc, knee swelled to the size of a watermelon, so my doctor recommended trying Hyalgan the next time. The results were not as long lasting (4-5 mos) as with Synvisc (6-9 mos). Other than that I tolerate the injections just fine and am able to continue to run despite mild to moderate osteoarthritis.
Good thing too, because I have a Synvisc appoinment in an hour.
Tyrod,
back in 2000 around this time of year I experienced knee pain and knew it was more then just normal soreness so I got the knee looked at. MRI showed a Meniscus tear but the Ortho said it wasn’t bad and that I could still train on it and when I had a break in the schedule that we could schedule the operation to clean it up. Scheduled the surgery for mid June. In that time from from March to June, it was never too bad (pain) but it was there. When they went in to clean it up they found that since the last MRI I had totally shredded the meniscus and that 75% of the medial mensicus had to be removed and now there was going to be considerable bone on bone contact within the joint.
Rehabbed it (probably not enough) and was back racing in 6 weeks post surgery.
Then in September of that same year, in the middle of the run at a sprint tri I got the sharpest, worst pain I have ever felt in my knee. Even the slightest movement was excruciating. Another MRI showed a small tear in the cartlage on the medial condyle of the femur. Since it was so soon after the first scope of the knee, the ortho didn’t want to go back in so he recommended complete inactivity for the rest of the year, nearly 4 months to see if the cartlage would heal on it’s own. In January I tried to start back running and the knee was very stiff and sore. Riding wasn’t as much of a problem. My family doctor, who is a very good sports medicine guy recommended Synvisc injections so we did those and they helped immensely. I was able to start back running again with very little pain after the injections. Gradually over time, the knee has good periods and bad, but never bad enough that I couldn’t run at all.
I had another round of Synvisc injections last August and also started taking Feldene. This is similar to Celebrex except that it has a generic equivilent so I can get it for $3 a month. At this point I can run every day and the knee still is a bit of a problem after real hard run workouts but I would have to say that this is the least limited I have been for the past couple of months compared to the past 5 years.
The two main things I would have done differently, should have the knee scoped right away instead of listening to the doctor and probably could have rehabbed a bit better. I was only off for about a month but I was surprised how much strength I lost in my right leg. One more thing, I probably shouldn’t have waited so long to get the Synvisc injections again. I’ll probably start doing those every couple of years instead of waiting another 5 years.
Mike, thanks for that response. It was very helpful and sounds very similar to what I have experienced. I hope I did not completely shred my meniscus as you did. Being somewhat older and now retired with time on my hands, I sure was looking forward to doing more racing. Oh well, at least I will have time to heal… best of luck to you and if ever back in ATL for tri or du I owe you a meal/beer.
I am a F56 with osteoarthritis. I have been running since I was 20 and doing tris and IMs since 1988. I had it done in November 2005. It definitely took away the pain when walked down the stairs in my condo. I never hurt to run. It was always AFTER and the accompanying stiffness. I still get stiff but the pain is definitely gone. A friend just had the one where you get 5 injections versus 3. The difference, I’m told, is the viscosity of the fluid. Some people can’t tolerate 3 injections and need 5. I was fine with 3. You also can have this done yearly if needed, which I would do again.
The worst pain is drawing out the old fluid. Of course, when they went in and there wasn’t any – duh!! They use a bigger neddle. So I didn’t need to do it again. The injection is bareable. I would recommend it.
I looked into them but my doctor suggested I try Hyalgan injections instead - they are usually given out for osteoarthritis but can be used for knee problems in younger athletes as well. SynVisc can cause bad reactions in some patients is what he told me. I had a great experience with the Hyalgan - ran a half marathon 7 weeks after the injections and have been pain free for 6 months so far.
That would be me. I was so allergic to it. My knee blew up like a balloon, had to be drained. Now I’m allergic to eggs (Synvisc is derived from chicken combs). It never helped me, in fact it made things worse. But I may be in minority. If you have any issues with allergies, give it careful consideration.