Orthovisc Injections

[fitdeb]

Just wondering if any of you have had hyaluronic acid injections in your knees.

I have been dealing with a torn meniscus in my right knee that cortisone no longer seems to help. I have very mild osteoarthritis, nothing advanced enough to worry about something like knee replacement, and the meniscal tear cannot be repaired by surgery.

My main issue is "tightness" caused by both a Baker's cyst behind the knee and a lateral meniscal cyst.

I am scheduled for a series of 3 injections (each one week apart).

Any experiences you could share abot this procedure would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Deb

 

[psusoccer17]

I work in an orthopedic office, and have had the hyaluronic acid injections. They usually work quite well for meniscal tears. Please do not let them give you any more cortisone injections, the studies prove that cortisone can cause the rate of arthritis to accelerate. Here is one link regarding steroid injections. There are quite a few articles regarding this if you look. https://dailybulletin.rsna.org/db22/index.cfm?pg=22tue16
If the Orthovisc does not help there is a biologic option that works well called PRP. It requires a venipuncture, the blood is spun down and put into a centrifuge, and the PRP protein is then injected into the knee. It helps to ease the pain by providing healing. The only downside is that insurance will not pay for it. I have done this along with A2M injections and it has helped my arthritis pain.

 

[fitdeb]

I work in an orthopedic office, and have had the hyaluronic acid injections. They usually work quite well for meniscal tears. Please do not let them give you any more cortisone injections, the studies prove that cortisone can cause the rate of arthritis to accelerate. Here is one link regarding steroid injections. There are quite a few articles regarding this if you look. https://dailybulletin.rsna.org/db22/index.cfm?pg=22tue16
If the Orthovisc does not help there is a biologic option that works well called PRP. It requires a venipuncture, the blood is spun down and put into a centrifuge, and the PRP protein is then injected into the knee. It helps to ease the pain by providing healing. The only downside is that insurance will not pay for it. I have done this along with A2M injections and it has helped my arthritis pain.

Thanks for your comments...My new orthopedist specializes in sports medicine. She said the same thing about the cortisone injections. The orthovisc seems to be a good next step and we did talk about the possibility of PRP.

Would you tell me more about your experiences? Were you able to get back to your desired level of "work" in your exercise program?

I am having my first (of 3) injections today. I know that I need to "rest" for 48 hours, but after ...?

Thanks again,
Debi

 

[psusoccer17]

My arthritis is called patellofemoral (under the kneecap) with mild arthritis in the rest of the joint. I did not have Orthovisc, I had Euflexxa (same thing different companies). This did not help my knee pain, but we did not think it would help. I have tried multiple PRP injections from different companies, none of them helped. What did help was an A2M injection. A2M is specific for osteoarthritis. PRP is what we recommend for meniscal tears. I have never stopped exercising for the pain, but I do modify, no high impact!
What we do in our office after injections is show our patients quadricep strengthening and hamstring stretching exercises. Cathe's barre and floorwork is perfect for this, I do her turbo barre and/or fit tower legs and glutes weekly. Yoga and mobility have also helped a lot. The most important thing is to start exercising slowly and keep it low impact.

 

[Debinmi]

I am having my first (of 3) injections today. I know that I need to "rest" for 48 hours, but after ...?

So fitdeb, if you don't mind sharing...how have the injections gone? Any improvements yet? Any side effects? I'm considering this option also for a torn meniscus. I've decline the cortisone injection but understand this is another option. (Insurance might not cover it since i declined the cortisone). The other option is arthroscopic surgery to "clean up" the torn meniscus.

I'd appreciate if anyone else has had any of these treatments & would share their experiences too. Thanks!

 

[fitdeb]

So fitdeb, if you don't mind sharing...how have the injections gone? Any improvements yet? Any side effects? I'm considering this option also for a torn meniscus. I've decline the cortisone injection but understand this is another option. (Insurance might not cover it since i declined the cortisone). The other option is arthroscopic surgery to "clean up" the torn meniscus.

I'd appreciate if anyone else has had any of these treatments & would share their experiences too. Thanks!

I am 2 1/2 weeks past my 3rd injection. The process itself was mostly painless. After the first injection, there was no difference in the way my knee felt. After the second and third injection my knee felt "full" and sort of squishy. I really behaved and rested (so hard to do).

I have to say the jury is still out on how well it has worked. My Dr. said it could take up to 6 weeks after the last injection to feel the total benefit, so I am impatiently waiting. I started doing lite cardio (the lite series, kickbox with no impact) endurance weight upper and and body-weight legs about a week ago. I find that trying to do heavy upper body work while standing (50# barbell curls) really annoyed my knees.

My lateral meniscal cyst is definitely smaller and less uncomfortable and my Baker's cyst is almost gone.

I never really had pain mostly a sense of tightness, like I was wearing jeans that were so tight that squatting was uncomfortable.

Happy to keep you updated and my progress (hopefully) continues.

Deb

 

[Debinmi]

I am 2 1/2 weeks past my 3rd injection. The process itself was mostly painless. After the first injection, there was no difference in the way my knee felt. After the second and third injection my knee felt "full" and sort of squishy. I really behaved and rested (so hard to do).

I have to say the jury is still out on how well it has worked. My Dr. said it could take up to 6 weeks after the last injection to feel the total benefit, so I am impatiently waiting. I started doing lite cardio (the lite series, kickbox with no impact) endurance weight upper and and body-weight legs about a week ago. I find that trying to do heavy upper body work while standing (50# barbell curls) really annoyed my knees.

My lateral meniscal cyst is definitely smaller and less uncomfortable and my Baker's cyst is almost gone.

I never really had pain mostly a sense of tightness, like I was wearing jeans that were so tight that squatting was uncomfortable.

Happy to keep you updated and my progress (hopefully) continues.

Deb

Thanks for sharing. This is such a slow process. I'm in a "hold and see" pattern - waiting to see how well it will heal on it's own. No real cardio and no LB workouts except the rehab exercises I do at home. I can spin with no resistance but it doesn't get my heart rate up to call it cardio but it helps keep my knee flexible. In another week or so I hope to be able to increase the resistance some - right now I'm working on improving cadence.

I understand the injections can take weeks to months to notice improvements, and it can't be ruled out that the body healed itself. I am taking oral Hyaluronic Acid but the evidence is mixed on it's effectiveness too.

Good luck with your healing process, and please keep us posted as to your progress.