Glucosamine & Chondroitin Supplements ?

[Tiger1962]

These are supplements which are taken to supposedly help your joints.

Does anyone here take them and if so, have you noticed a difference?

If you DO NOT take these two in particular, but DO take something else, what is it ?

Thanks!

[joesteph]

I used to take both of them, Tiger, when I was weight-training, because of my knees. I feel they were a big help. Now that I no longer weight-train but do karate, I don't have the knee concerns as much as before, so I've stopped taking them. I've found my knees are okay.

Everybody's different, of course, so I needed them when working out with weights. Your case is likely different and yet related. Give them a try, at least for a month, in order to see what they do for you.

[Tiger1962]

I do both karate and very light weight training. While information out there says to take vitamin D and/or calcium for strengthening bones, I'm curious what supplements active people take for strengthening their joints and tendons.

[white owl]

Tiger, I take Glucosamine and chondroitin with msm. I take it for my lower back it seems to help me. I even got my parents on it for there bad joints an they say it helps them. I also so take flaxseed oil with mixture of fish oil, they say that helps too.

[tallgeese]

Here's the thing...medical science can't say that it works yet. There's no proof that it works, yet it seems to help alot of people.

The most common advice i've heard from orthos is that you should try it if your interested. Give it a month to work, if you're not feeling any different, stop taking it.

Personally, I tried both a while back and they did nothing for me. Everyone's body chemistry is a bit different so to each their own.

[joesteph]

While information out there says to take vitamin D and/or calcium for strengthening bones . . .

Tiger, if you take calcium (with D or with a multi that has D), you need magnesium as well. It's magnesium that gives the "hardness" to the calcium, that strengthens it.

[bushido_man96]

The thing about tendons and ligaments is that I don't think that they are trainable tissues. I don't think you can make them stronger, with training or supplements. I could be wrong, but that was the impression that I was under.

I took those supplements for a time, but I am not sure that they helped. I don't take them now, and feel ok.

[Tiger1962]

So, what do professional athletes do when they tear a tendon or a ligament to get back into their game? Not that I'm a professional athlete, but there's gotta be something one can do to improve that area after an injury.

It's good to hear no one mentioning any side effects from those supplements.

[tallgeese]

They rehab. Usually at a very high level of complexity and monitoring.

And bushdo man is corrcect, ligiments and tendons will get better with training. They just do do so in the same way as muscles will. Activity will keep them limber and stretching will do just that, stretch them. This will allow the collagin fibers (the building blocks of connective tissue) to align properly and result in less scar tissue formation. This will, in turn, lead to a quicker recovery process.

[Tiger1962]

This is helpful and good for me to know.

Thanks !!!