Does Collagen Supplementation Assist With Knee Arthritis?

Just a few months in the past I heard health guru Mark Sisson point out throughout an interview that he was taking a collagen complement for a painful hip situation which may want surgical procedure, which he’s making an attempt to keep away from. On the time, I had by no means heard of collagen supplementation. I used the google machine to search out out it was certainly “a factor.” The favored development might have been began after endorsement by a feminine movie star (Jennifer Anniston?).

I’ve osteoarthritis (aka degenerative joint illness or DJD) in my knees, primarily manifested by very transient aching and stiffness if I sit for too lengthy, and impaired vary of movement. I can’t do a deep squat. I obtained my first inkling of arthritis consciousness thirty years in the past after I thought I’d begin skipping rope as a result of it’s such an incredible cardio exercise. After just some jumps, my knees satisfied me that was a nasty thought.

Six months in the past I developed an odd consciousness of my left knee; it simply didn’t really feel prefer it was fairly mine, like how I think about it feels prefer to have a prosthetic knee joint. Plus some minimal aching whereas in mattress, relieved by merely altering place. I stroll round with none discomfort.

Does genetics play a task? My mom had knee alternative surgical procedure for DJD at age 83. By that point her gait had turn into fairly impaired.

I did just a little Web analysis and decided I had little to lose if I attempted collagen, aside from $. A member of the family was going to Costco so I requested them to get me some. I didn’t analysis numerous manufacturers. Pictured is what they introduced house. ~$40 for a month’s price. I deliberate a two-month trial though WebMD prompt that 3-5 months could also be wanted for arthritis. (This isn’t a proper endorsement of the model, nor am I being paid to characteristic it right here.)

My two month trial of 20 grams every day ended yesterday. Did it work? I feel possibly it did. The knee feels prefer it’s mine once more, and sleep-time aching is much less frequent. Might these be placebo impact? Sure. Was this a good trial? Not totally. In a completely legit experiment, it is best to solely change one variable. That means: take this complement however hold all the things else precisely the identical. In my experiment, I inadvertently added probiotics along with collagen (my shopper picked the product). I additionally considerably upped my train with extra strolling and weight coaching. Possibly my subjective enchancment was on account of these non-collagen elements. Heck, even the season of the yr might have been a problem. A authentic trial would contain a whole lot of examine topics, a placebo group, earlier than and after vary of movement testing, a validated knee operate questionaire, and so on.

I used to be going to cease supplementation at this level however my spouse already obtained me one other cannister that lasts a month.

Click on for my different posts on knee arthritis.

Steve Parker, M.D.