Anyone here have experience with hyaluronic acid injections?

SeniorBen

SeniorBen

Senior Member
I have bad knee pain. I had a cortisone shot a couple months ago just to see if that would help, and it did. It completely eliminated the pain... for three days. Then it was back to the old pain. My doctor said the relief was due to added lubrication in my knee joint. Once that lubrication wore off, the pain came back.

There is a treatment called viscosupplementation that provides long term lubrication in joints. Here is a description:

During viscosupplementation treatment for arthritis, your healthcare provider injects hyaluronic acid into your joint. This thick fluid may help reduce pain and swelling in your arthritic joint (most commonly, your knee).

The bones that make up your joints usually have a cap of cartilage on their ends. This cartilage helps make sure that your bones move smoothly against each other. This cartilage has a fluid coating that contains hyaluronic acid. This works like a lubricant and shock absorber in your joint.

In osteoarthritis (“wear-and-tear” arthritis), this cartilage cap breaks down. When this happens, the bones of your joint scrape together abnormally. People with osteoarthritis generally have less hyaluronic acid in their joints than they should. All of this causes symptoms like pain, stiffness, and swelling. The idea behind viscosupplementation is that replacing this hyaluronic acid may help reduce symptoms.
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/hea.../viscosupplementation-treatment-for-arthritis

Since the lubrication from the cortisone shot eliminated my pain, albeit for only three days, it seems like hyaluronic acid injections should work for me.

Has anyone here tried it?
 

No I haven't tried it... I have OA in my hands... and one knee... I have lower lumbar disc problems which meant I've had cortisone shots 3 times now over 10 years.. but last time the pain relief from it only lasted pretty much as long as it took the anaesthetic to wear off.. so I'd be interested in hearing about any other treatments
 
I just looked it up and it is a treatment for osteo, particularly for knees. It's also known as hyaluronan. I would not consider such treatment from anyone other than a qualified and reputable medical practicioner.

Hyaluronan​

Generic name: hyaluronan [ HYE-al-URE-oh-nan ]
Brand names: Hymovis, Monovisc, Orthovisc
Dosage forms: intra-articular gel (24 mg/3 mL); intra-articular solution (30 mg/2 mL; 88 mg/4 mL)
Drug class: Viscosupplementation agents

Medically reviewed by Drugs.com on Nov 22, 2021. Written by Cerner Multum.

Reference: Hyaluronan Uses, Side Effects & Warnings - Drugs.com
Click to expand...
 
I had a form called Synvisc back in2008 to try to go a little longer before R knee replacement. Really good relief for about 4 months & I think it actually helped the surgery go better.
Did the left knee in 2010, but it only lasted about 6 weeks: I tripped running for the landline and end of that.
 
I am currently now having the hyaluronic acid treatment exactly what was described exactly! I am at 2 of the 3 injections stage now with my last on 11-1, so far it has not given me much to any relief the drug is TriVisc I got. I sure hope it works as I am not wanting to get a new knee here, it got to where I could not get comfortable in any position in bed at all, not there yet either. PM/email me with any questions is ok. It is not for the weak at heart, be sure they freeze the area 1st. If you do it get all 3 injections if you even start it. 3 treatments 7-14 days apart after insurance approval.
 
No, but I asked my orthopedist about it. I first went to him with knee problems over 2 years ago, first he suggested losing weight and exercise. I did that and it helped a bit, but no real cure. Then he tried the cortisone shots, I had about the same experience as you.

He did not recommend the lubrication injections, like viscosupplementation for me anyway. I did not probe him a lot on it. He basically told me I could live with it and cortisone shots every 3 months or I could do the replacements. I went with replacements, but that is pretty radical surgery. If I were you I would consider and try any safe alternative before replacement.

I have not had enough time on the new knees to judge long term success, but from what I have learned I believe my chances are pretty good.
 
Alligatorob said:
No, but I asked my orthopedist about it. I first went to him with knee problems over 2 years ago, first he suggested losing weight and exercise. I did that and it helped a bit, but no real cure. Then he tried the cortisone shots, I had about the same experience as you.

He did not recommend the lubrication injections, like viscosupplementation for me anyway. I did not probe him a lot on it. He basically told me I could live with it and cortisone shots every 3 months or I could do the replacements. I went with replacements, but that is pretty radical surgery. If I were you I would consider and try any safe alternative before replacement.

I have not had enough time on the new knees to judge long term success, but from what I have learned I believe my chances are pretty good.
Click to expand...
Did you have arthritis in your knees? Knee replacement surgery seems to be pretty common treatment for severe arthritis and they have a high success rate, from what I understand. Good luck with that!

My doctor told me to do leg lifts and see if that would help. I've also been riding a stationary bike. The exercise might be helping some, but there's still too much pain. What a drag it is getting old.
 
Last edited:
I took my brother to a specialist clinic to talk about,
this, it seems to be a very good remedy, if it works,
unfortunately, if it doesn't, it is extremely expensive,
it doesn't always work.

The place that we went to, insisted that he had an MRI
Scan, before the injection, plus £2,000 - £3,000 for the
shot, unfortunately, he got covid during the time of the
discussions, so he didn't get the injection yet, but he did
get the scan, which showed the problem, he said.

So that is a heads-up about the costs and procedure,
but not the effectiveness of the actual injection.

Sorry.

Mike.
 
SeniorBen said:
Did you have arthritis in your knees?
Click to expand...
Yep, both knees bone on bone, for a long time.
SeniorBen said:
My doctor told me to do leg lifts and see if that would help. I've also been riding a stationary bike. The exercise might be helping some, but there's still too much pain.
Click to expand...
I think the exercise is worth trying, it has to help at least a little. And is good for you, of course.
SeniorBen said:
What a drag it is getting old.
Click to expand...
Yep, the only thing worse is the alternative...
 
Mike said:
I took my brother to a specialist clinic to talk about,
this, it seems to be a very good remedy, if it works,
unfortunately, if it doesn't, it is extremely expensive,
it doesn't always work.

The place that we went to, insisted that he had an MRI
Scan, before the injection, plus £2,000 - £3,000 for the
shot, unfortunately, he got covid during the time of the
discussions, so he didn't get the injection yet, but he did
get the scan, which showed the problem, he said.

So that is a heads-up about the costs and procedure,
but not the effectiveness of the actual injection.

Sorry.

Mike.
Click to expand...
I thought England had a good healthcare system that would cover something like that, which is a lot of money for an injection. I'll need to check with my insurance. Damn money grubbing drug companies.

What did the scan indicate was your brother's problem? Mine is a torn ligament, or that's what the last diagnosis was about 15 years ago. I've been living with this for quite a while.
 
Wayne said:
Still no real noticed improvements yet on my knee last shot a week from today.
Click to expand...
I would think that if you're going to have relief, it would happen pretty quickly. When I had the cortisone shot, I felt relief within minutes while I was still in the doctor's office. Too bad it only lasted three days.

EDIT: I just read on the Johns Hopkins website that relief may take several weeks, so don't give up! It may work as intended!
 
Last edited:
Anyone here have experience with hyaluronic acid injections?
Click to expand...
No, never heard of that, but I'm very interested. I have OA in both shoulders, right elbow and knee. Getting worse, I just resumed weight training yesterday at the gym, very discouraging- too much pain to be worth doing.
I'm going to contact my doctor, my OA is getting to be an issue...
 
Ben, I recommend typing "hyaluronic acid injection studies" in your search bar...and maybe add a comma and the word "knee".
I haven't checked out any of the studies myself, but there are some out there. Published studies the best source of info about medical treatments (imo).
 
I need to do some research on this. I had a torn meniscus repaired over five years ago. I did really well and was fairly pain free until the last couple of years. It has gotten progressively worse. About the same time my other knee started giving me problems which was attributed to arthritis. I don't want knee replacements but I am tired of walking like an "old woman".
 
SeniorBen said:
I thought England had a good healthcare system that would cover something like that, which is a lot of money for an injection. I'll need to check with my insurance. Damn money grubbing drug companies.

What did the scan indicate was your brother's problem? Mine is a torn ligament, or that's what the last diagnosis was about 15 years ago. I've been living with this for quite a while.
Click to expand...
This and other injections for the knees are fairly new
here and available, mainly to elite athletes, they will
eventually be OK for the NHS to use, they are a slow
and lumbering outfit in some things and authorising
drugs is one of the slowest things.

As for what the scan showed, I have no idea, the consultant
said "AH", my brother said that the scan was helpful, but I
never saw the results.

My brother has been paraplegic since the 1960s, when the
military here were guinea pigs for all sorts of things, he got
several injections to go to Singapore or Hong Kong and he
collapsed shortly after, there is no proof of course that it was
the injections, that caused this, but he was medically discharged
with a "Gold Plated" pension and his medical records disappeared.

Mike.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top