A Word on Cartilage

Cartilage has minimal regenerative capacity which diminishes with age.  The cartilage you are born with is the cartilage you have for life and needs to be looked after as much as possible.  All joint preservation surgery is geared towards this goal.  Sometimes we are born with bony shapes that predispose to accelerated cartilage damage.  It is essential to pick up on these anomalies which can often be managed appropriately if caught at a younger age.

There are many supplements on the market which claim to save and/or regenerate cartilage.  This is erroneous.  These supplements have been demonstrated to assist with pain relief, however there is no evidence of cartilage preservation.  If this was the case, I would not be doing joint replacement surgery any more. If anything the number of joint replacements being done is increasing, even in the younger patients. One of my lectures is titled “Evolution has not yet caught up with Sport”. This is because excessive sport causes cartilage injury.

There is no reliable evidence that the injection of platelet-derived growth factors and/or stem cells from any source produce viable, mechanically sound, normal cartilage within a joint.  Sometimes these injections after surgery can aid the healing of ligamentous structures within and around the joint. All these forms of treatment for cartilage injury are still considered experimental and they are often fairly expensive with no guarantees. Stem cell therapy, due to desperate patient demand however, has become a “cash cow” in many orthopaedic centres in the USA despite no FDA approval.

If you are a normal person, be sensible when taking part in sport. This equates to moderate activity and good eating habits

If you are a professional, do not ignore injury and pain. Modern orthopaedics will keep you going while needing to earn a living but be prepared to have a joint replacement in your later years if you partake in impact or enduro sports.