Just had one of these injections in my knee yesterday. I've got a pretty good case of osteoarthritis, no cartilage in the inside knee joint and a torn meniscus.
Anyone had this injection before, did it work, how long, and when did you start feeling relief after injection, if any?
If this don't work, then I guess the only other option is knee replacement, which kinda scares the heck out of me.

Fingers crossed.

Don't be scared of the knee replacement. If my MIL has had both knees done - you can do it too.

I don't know of anyone that had much benefit from the rooster comb shot.

I haven’t heard of that treatment, but I’ve got the exact same diagnosis on my left knee. Was prescribed a fancy knee brace, doc said I was too young for knee replacement. Wore the brace every day for 8 hours a day, for several months. It really helped out. Only wear it know when I’m gonna walk a lot, or be on my feet all day.
Good luck with the injection.

Good luck with the injection.

It's more about not being able to work for a couple months that I really worry about. Have short and long term disability, but that only pays 60% I do believe.

My Grandmother has had both knees replaced, well, her right knee 100% and her left knee was a Half knee replacement.

I have the same left knee problem. Cortisone shot 6 months or so ago helped greatly. Just last week started going south again. Probably try one more shot and then get the knee replacement after deer season when I retire.

I had knee issues since 1989 when I had my first couple of surgeries. Up until about 2005 I just dealt with arthritic pain by taking a couple of Aleve's every now and then. When those quit working, I started cortisone and SynVisc (Hyaluronic acid) injections as well. Doc would only give these to me a max to twice a year, but if not necessary I'd obviously wait as long as I could. Wound up having a total of 5 knee surgeries through 2010. Injections worked pretty well up until 3 years ago when nothing seemed to work. I had double knee replacements back in Summer of 2017, 3 months apart, and it changed my life. In both cases I was off the walker in 8 days, used a cane for another week, then just slowly (very slowly) walked around as much as possible. 6 weeks of PT per knee was tough, lots of pain the first couple of weeks, but then it got easier and easier. I do have a very high pain tolerance, and was off the pain meds a week after surgery. When it gets to the point that no injections/treatments are working, get the TKR......it will change your life to, BUT you have to be 110% committed to PT as it is not optional, and worth every minute of pain. Good luck to you.

How often was your PT? Dang Tricare went up to $30 per visit!

Cortisone is the absolute worst thing for your knee, it pretty much guarantees a replacement. It literally kills cartilage.

How it can even be used as a treatment is mind blowing

I have not had the HA shot but I hear success varies, just like with the cortisone.
My orthopedist is not in favor of the scope surgery either, to "clean up" the meniscus. He says that's just double dipping because eventually, knee replacement is all that will work.

I've had decent success with the cortisone but mine isn't bone on bone. I get a shot about once a year.
If it gets to bone on bone then it's time to replace.

Had the cortisone injection back in December, was good for almost 3 months. Had another in March, helped for about a week, then back in pain. From what I read online, it takes a few weeks for this HA injection to really start working. Guess I'll wait and see.
Couldn't have knee replacement surgery done now anyway due to the damn covid.

Jimbo, PT was 3 days per week for 6 weeks. First two weeks were rough, then it got better pretty quickly. You also need to do as much PT at home as you can as well. Keep an ice bag handy........

Bobo, I thought cortisone was OK as long as it wasn't more than a couple times per year but what do I know. I took them for several years and when they worked, they were absolutely wonderful.

your body it’s self can’t take more then three a year, it still kills cartilage each time it’s delivered. It’s should only be approved as a end of life treatment. If a doctor starts pressing it, I’d find another doctor.

I’d consulate with a doctor that specializes in hematopoietic stem and or Exosomes Proteins before I’d go replacement or even cortisone. Stem vs metal or cartilage killing shot, I’d go stem first. Least invasive.

Same problem with me but on both knees - bone on bone and zero meniscus- have had multiple cortisone shots and drainages to help with inflammation and pain. Then doc prescribed what is called an offloading brace from Ossur. Was developed originally for the Olympic Ski Team. Basically it separates your upper and lower leg bones so you can walk without pain. I would recommend these braces but only use them when you have to, otherwise you will get atrophy in your calves which will affect your balance over time. I also supplement with a copper infused sleeve that fits tightly over your knee when not wearing the brace. It really works with inflammation and pain. I was scheduled to have a knee replacement anyway in March so I could recover before my granddaughter was born and of course hunting season. Surgery was canceled due to Covid and kind of thankful I didn't get it done just yet. Sometimes I use a friggin cane if I know I am hiking up or down a hill. Otherwise just fine. I would recommend some PT to build up muscles whether or not you elect for surgery. If you do have surgery - go on a hyper high protein diet at least 2 weeks prior. Your doc or lead nurse will tell you the best way but I did a bunch of poultry and beef supplemented with protein shakes - around 200 gram/day. Good luck and PM me if you want more info.

And to add to another post above - stem cell injections are still in their infancy, not approved by insurance companies and considered experimental by the FDA. Short term success rates (less than 5 years depending on how much cartilage you have remaining) are less than 20%.

Thanks for the info. That would be around $600 for me. If you don't mind me asking...when could you drive again?

Work friend checked into the stem cell treatment and they wanted $5k...up front!

Some insurances pay for it now. Go watch a knee replacement video. Then ask yourself if 3k-5k is worth possibly not going through that? Good friend died from a infection that started in his tooth and went to his fake knee.

As anything, you have to do your research.

Oh no, I've seen those kind of videos. Brutal. My mom had her knee replaced and 15 years later fell and tore it up. Ended up in the hospital with MRSA and sepsis. Dr said it came out of her knee. Then had all the stuff removed but it was too late. She died a couple months later.

I have a sister-in-law that did the stem cell treatment from the team Dr. for the Spurs. It didn’t help her, he told her to quit running.

Nothing at this point replaces cartilage, been fighting against a partial replacement for over 9 years now. So far best relief I’ve gotten is hematopoietic stem. I’ve had cortisone and HA shots.

I’ve been so impressed I’m going to do IV treatment later this year.

Good deal. I did enquire about stem cell, but my insurance wouldn't cover it and it's very expensive.

Well........I was actually supposed to wait 6 weeks until released from PT, but I started cheating after a month.

I realize anything is possible, and stuff happens. Problems nowadays are rare if you have a good Doc and follow directions. I know after the years of pain/surgery/various medicine/injections I'd do it again in a heartbeat. As I said before it literally changed my life and was worth every bit of short term pain, $$$, PT and everything associated. It is becoming less invasive all the time as well.

Make sure your Dr does several TKR's a week, not a couple every month. My actual TKR surgery took about an hour each.

Glad it’s working for you.