I have very little cartilage lsft on my left knee and was told by my Dr. about two months ago that I can look for a knee replacment in the very near future.
My question is -- I know there is injection that can replace the cartl. for 6 months to a year. Anybody out there who has had this done or had replacement done? I saw my wife go through this and it was not a pleasant sight, so I want to avoid this at all possible.
Your input is appreciated. I need some info. on this new shot in the knee thing.
My husband also has very little cartillage left in his knee. He has had injections of something that is made out of the comb of a rooster. It is a series of 3 injections (one each week). It did hurt but the results were very good and it he has been pain free for a year. Ask your doctor about this; it is called Synovial Fluid.
A few years ago, I, too, was told that I would need a knee replacement in the future. Thankfully, I've done very well, without any shots or anything. But a friend of mine just had surgery about 3 weeks ago, the last ditch effort to prevent her from having a total knee replacement. She had a Unispacer placed in her knee; it takes the place of the cartilage which was gone. She had gone through the session of three shots, to no avail. At any rate, you may want to look into this if the shots do not help you. All doctors do not perform the unispacer surgery, and it, too, is very painful, like the total knee replacement. Good luck to you, though!
I had "hyalgan" injections in my lt knee for 5 shots in all. One shot per week. My knee was too far gone for it to work though. I was told I had very little cartilage left, went back to work 6 wks & wore down the rest of my knee, then did injections. The shots were excruciating since my knee was full of fluid each time. But it was worth a try at the time cause I was naive.
Later I learned the shots may work if you have enough cartilage in the knee. How does a person know how much they have? You don't....I feel the ortho & Rheumie should have been more up front. Apparently having a little cartilage wasn't enough to do the trick. I feel like it was a money making sceem. I will be getting a TKR in about 4-8 wks after PT. If that goes good then I'll do the other one.
Take Care
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Thanks for the great infomation as to what to expect in the future. I'll go for the Synovial injections first as I do have some cartilige left.
The UNISPACER PAIN SOUNDS LIKE ORTHOSCOPIC SURGERY I HAD DONE YEARS AGO TO TO REMOVE A PIECEOF BROKEN CARTTILAGE. Sorry for the caps. the Cap. key was on. Very painful recovery from the surgery.
My late wife went through knee replacment and it was not a pleasent sight.
You may also want to look into Prolotherapy. I too have little to no cartilage in my right knee. I had my 4th shot today, I get them once every 3 weeks. This will be my last shot for now, may not need anymore. I feel it has helped quite a bit. It basically gets your cartilage to regenerate itself. It's mostly done by naturopathic Doctors not mainstream Doctors.
Re: knee pain/ thin cartlilage 
