badkneeinfo.com

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Disclaimer

I am not a doctor. This site is about my situation with osteoarthritis and how I have dealt with it. My hope is that the lessons I have learned might be useful to others. However, everyone's situation and possible treatments are different. If you think that you have osteoarthritis, please see a doctor.

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^Oct20²⁰⁰⁸
Richard P.

I'm not sure I have the energy to do MMA to help my knee, but it certainly is a novel approach to dealing with Osteoarthritis. :-)
^Nov18²⁰⁰⁸
Deacon Jones

As a former NFL superstar I had bad osteoarthritis in my knee. But now I want to be an MMA fighter.
^Nov18²⁰⁰⁸
Steve

Osteoarthritis stoped me from pursuing my career in basketball.
^Nov19²⁰⁰⁸
Justin

I tore my ACL 3 years ago and just had it fixed last month, I am already walking without crutches and it feels great
^Nov20²⁰⁰⁸
Samuel B.

I smaked my knee on a tree snowboarding a few years ago. Never really got an MRI and for the most part it doesn't bother me but during hard phycial activity like basketball my knee really starts to hurt. Is it possible I have osteoarthritis as well? Anyway to tell without going to a doctor?
^Nov24²⁰⁰⁸
Mark

Hey Samuel B, You probably don't have osteoarthritis but if you don't get an MRI and go get you knee checked out by a specialist I imagine in a few years you will have osteoarthritis. Mostly likely you probably have a small tear in one or more of your ligimints or the cartilage. If you don't get the tear surgically fixed you will no doubt end up like Dylan. Get it looked at now or you will regreat it later.
^Nov25²⁰⁰⁸
Lindsey

My Boyfriends knee hurts him all the time and he is always trying to pop it or unlock it. Do you think he has Osteoarthritis?
^Dec3²⁰⁰⁸
Dylan

Not sure about other factors, but depeending on age and other stuff, I would say probably not. He prolly has a torn meniscus. He should get an MRI to diagnose.
^Dec8²⁰⁰⁹
Geoff

I have literally had the same diagnosis - it was like Reading about myself ! A top knee surgeon has just scared me silly and I have been told I have to give up the sports I live for including mma ! I really don't want a knee replacement in my early 40's but don't want to give up mma ! Help
^Feb23²⁰¹⁰
Emma Stewart

WOW! This is just what I needed to read. I was diagnosed with hypermobility dysfunction at 16 and knew it would lead eventually to arthritis just not at 27! I am just coming out of the diagnosis ruling life stage and am weaning back onto my bike. All I have heard is what I shouldn't do and trying to find out what I can is so hard. Thanks for this makes the future seem almost normal x

I have Osteoarthritis? What is Osteoarthritis?

Welcome to the site. I created this site to provide information and support to anyone dealing with osteoarthritis of the knee.

My name is Dylan. In May of 2007, I went to an orthopedist to get my knee looked at. It had been swelling whenever I did anything physical (i.e. hiking) and I had no idea what was going on with it. I had had arthroscopy and microfracture surgery on my other knee more than 10 years ago (I am 37, by the way) to heal from a cartilage tear, and I suspected that I was looking at a similar situation in 2007.

Anyway, I went on down to the orthopedist, got a prescription for an MRI and an X-Ray, went and had them done, and then brought them to my specialist. What transpired then is as follows (Orthopedist = "O", Dylan = "D"):

O: Basically, you have the worst case of osteoarthritis I've ever seen for someone your age.
D: What does that mean?
O: It means that you no longer have any cartilage between the bones in your knee in the lateral compartment, which is causing everything in your knee to become irritated and swollen and is limiting mobility and strength.
D: Uh. Wow. What does that mean? What is a "lateral compartment?"
O: "Lateral Compartment" refers to the outer half of your knee. Practically, what It basically means you can't play basketball, play football, go water skiing, or any of the other things you might like to do.

After further conversations with the doctor, it appeared to me that I was totally, totally screwed. It's true that I had transformed into a bit of a desk jockey - I started a company and, with three kids, didn't really have a lot of time to keep myself in shape. However, I had always held out hope that I would be able to get into physical stuff when my small-child parenting days were over. Now, it seemed, I wouldn't be able to do that. It seemed that I was being told that I had to commence being old much sooner than I was ready to ("You can play golf and swim!" exclaimed the orthopedist).

My osteoarthritis diagnosis ruled my life for about three months. I didn't do anything really physical. I stopped wrestling around with my kids. I stopped practicing music three nights a week. At the end of this three month period, I was really bummed out. I decided that I didn't care if I had to get knee replacement surgery when I was 45 - I was going to have fun and try my hardest to do the things that I loved. So I set out to learn more about controlling my condition.

Next chapter =>

Wacky Stuff that I have Been Paying Attention To today

- - -
Update: I had a call in to the guys over at ISTO Technologies (the guys doing DeNovo ET, see below) and I had a VP call me back and leave a voicemail on my cellphone. So, I will have a conversation with him and let everyone know what he says.
- - -

When I was diagnosed with Osteoarthritis, I spent weeks scouring the Web looking for medical solutions. I found some really interesting stuff about cartilage that is engineered by culturing human cartilage cells (called "chondrocytes") using stem cells and applying them to a framework. This is part of a branch of the medical sciences called "Tissue Engineering." Here is a scientific study document on the subject:

Cool article from ScienceDirect

I know of a couple biotech companies that are attempting this. One, ISTO Technologies, signed a deal with Zimmer Holdings for distibution and is in clinical trials. The product is called "DeNovo ET." This is really cool stuff. In theory, once this is commonplace and tested out, you'd be able to graft strips of brand new cartilage, cultured from one's own cells, onto the areas of the knee where cartilage has degraded. Imagine having 16-year-old knees! It's really exciting, but prolly won't be in the mainstream for a few years. No biggie - I can hold out. I'll be doing gymnastics when I'm 50, ha ha.

More links:

ISTO/ZIMMER press release

ISTO Web Site

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