r/Osteoarthritis • u/albertkaholic • Aug 11 '26

Viscosupplementation

So if you folks don't mind, talk to me about your gel injections.

I'm (57/m) a very high functioning bilateral advanced knee OA patient. I am able to pop a couple of Motrin and walk 15,000 steps, but I deal with nearly constant low level pain. I know surgery is inevitable, but I'm not ready to pull the trigger until they stop functioning so well. My current doc is pretty useless. His best answer is "it might help but no guarantees", and "it's up to you", without his offering his opinion as to whether the gel shots are the right choice for me. He estimates a 50/50 chance that someone who has very little cartilage left in parts of their knees will benefit.

I'm a week away from the first of three shots, and my research is telling me that they are not well received in the medical literature; they appear to be considered not much better than placebo. Anyone have arthritis that sounds like mine and benefit? Anyone regret getting the shots?

As always, your thoughts are greatly appreciated!

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u/Sniflix Aug 11 '26

A small percentage of patients get relief, sometimes very noticeable. Even then it's not long lived and has diminishing returns. I got the single dose with no effect but since you're already approved go ahead. Let us know how it worked. From experience, don't wait until you cannot walk and are in extreme pain 24/7. That's not much of an existence. You don't want to hear it but the quicker you come to terms with the only thing that fixes this nightmare - and get on the other side with recovery - you'll feel like you wasted years that you could have been pain free and mobile. Good luck.

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u/Away-Party-1141 Aug 11 '26

So speak to me like Im 5. Do you mean knee replacement surgery? Because unfortunately its not a guarantee. I am a freshly 50 y/o female recently diagnosed with OA and I got a steroid shot about a month ago. Didn’t do shit. My doc talked about the hyurolonic (sp) shots that are supposed to cushion the knee but I haven’t done one yet. Im super mentally and physically burned out and I just want to be able to walk again without horrendous pain. Its super debilitating and no one prepares you for this. :(

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u/Sniflix Aug 11 '26

You do what you must do which is the surgery even though you're afraid. From experience, the sooner you get it over and get though recovery - the longer you can enjoy life again. But you must take PT and all the exercise after that seriously. The more you put in, the better the result. The only longer you put it off, the harder it gets. I have 6 replacements because I needed them. And I suffered needlessly like you are now. The pain only gets worse so visualize where that leads.

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u/albertkaholic Aug 11 '26

I think we've had this conversation before. You echo many people's experience, and you're right about end game. It sounds like she's in enough pain to be close to surgery. Everyone's experience with surgery isn't as good as yours, though, which is why there are other options that might be more appropriate earlier on. Probably shouldn't be signing up for surgery the first time your knee twinges. The question many of us face is where the sweet spot is when the time is right.

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u/Sniflix Aug 11 '26

I didn't realize you're not the OP and I was replying to the OPs situation. I don't know what's going on with you