Rooster Goo | Arthritis Information

 

About a year ago my knees were horribly stiff. I have several forms of autoimmune arthritis but never considered that I had run-of-the-mill osteoarthritis. For me the main symptoms presented themselves going up and down the steps and getting out of a chair. Suddenly any chair without arm rests were off limits. I needed those arm rests to boost myself off the chair. Going up and down stairs - awful - I literally had to use the handrails and pull myself up or steady myself if I was going down. I'm a pretty active person but at that time I would sit in a chair for minutes on end, debating if there was good enough reason for me to get out of the chair....and I would mentally list all the things I would do while I was standing so I wouldn't have to sit down and get up again.

 

I had had multiple surgeries - menisectomies and synovectomies over the years in my knees. I had had PRP treatments......and after all that my cartilage kept shredding, thanks ot my psoriatic arthritis. Without the natural hyaline membrane, I was getting bone on bone.....osteoarthritis.

 

My orth surgeon [for the knees] declared OA had struck war on me. I had packed on a few pounds over the years, so that didn't help matters any.  I was sure he was going to recommend total knee replacement in both knees. Instead he handed me a brochure on Synvisc - hyaluronic acid [which comes from the combs of roosters, although there is a synthetic version, too].

 

Last year the protocol was 3 shots, a week apart, in each knee. It's useless to get one shot this month, another shot a month later.....3 shots, 7 days apart. I have excellent insurance and they gave a "precertification" which meant they would pick up 90% of the cost. Financially this was very attractive. If I had walked in off the street without insurance it would have been 0 for each of 6 shots.......which could put some people off. [Particularly since the rooster goo doesn't last forever in the vast majority of cases.]

 

The shots lasted 7 months in both knees for me. I really should have gone back for the next series last fall when they wore off, but I was out of state on business travel for too long and couldn't afford 6 weeks at home.

 

But now it turns out they will do both knees on one day.......so that cuts it down to 3 weeks. Also, Synvisc, just one of several manufacturers, but probably the better known, has come up with "Synvisc One," a one shot per knee deal [or 3-in-1]. Not sure if it's any better but my orth surg is not using Synvisc One.

 

I mentioned in another thread that because I had some inflammation in the knees, my doctor first gave me thge Synvisc, front loaded with Lidocaine, followed by another syringe of 40 mg of Kenalog in each knee. I felt better in the parking lot but felt a zillion times better the following morning. [Guess the Kenalog kicked in then, too.]  It's a godsend and I highly recommend it.

 

The Synvisc is totally natural and unless you are allergic to chicken, it's not likely that you will have any allergic reactions.

 

But you need to do your own research if you have OA and see if it's right for you. 

 

 

 

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A word in closing:  when you have multiple joints screaming in pain, sometimes fixing a few of them is enough to make the rest tolerable. And that's what happens in my case. Also, you'll hear some complain about the pain of the injection. Good orth surg's use lidocaine to dull the pain, but you might still have about 10 seconds max of pain that will make you want to sound off like a longshoreman. Then it's done. Think about it.....10 seconds for months of relief.