Glucosamine & Chondroitin Supplements ?

[bushido_man96]

Thanks for the clarification, tallgeese. I wasn't for sure if tendons and ligaments were really trainable or not.

As for what pro athletes do, aside from rehab, they may have to have surgery to repair them. Baseball players, and more pro QBs nowadays, are having Tommy John surgery on their elbows. They tend to come back stronger afterwards.

[Tiger1962]

Yikes, surgery is something that is an ultimate last resort to me. But I guess when you are a professional athlete like a baseball player - it's your life / mainstay, so it's mandatory.

[Tiger1962]

So, if I understand this correctly, there are no real supplements out there that you can take to strengthen tendons the same way you would take calcium to strengthen bones ??

[tallgeese]

None currently that have scientific validity to them. No.

[joesteph]

None currently that have scientific validity to them. No. (emphasis added)

A good point, Tallgeese. I took glucosamine and chondroitin for years for my knees to deal with the bone-to-bone concern of the upper and lower legs meeting at the knees. (The kneecap itself is surprising small.) The cushion effect of cartilage, and its necessary rejuvenation, was what I was focusing on, and the supplements served me well for years. Tendons and ligaments are not candidates for rejuvenation by these two, and it's frequently the actions of the person that will cause flare-ups of these tissues.

I went through seeing a specialist and using anti-inflammatories, as well as altering my workout exercises to accommodate connective tissue along with the joints themselves. I eventually no longer needed the anti-inflammatories, and the glucosamine and chondroitin supplements did their job for my knee joints.

[tallgeese]

This is true. Some people it seems to work for. Others not. There's just nothing to day to give us a good "why" answer.

[Tiger1962]

None currently that have scientific validity to them. No.

Thanks tallgeese. Alrighty then, I guess some good old fashioned P.T. is what's called for then.

[Tiger1962]

Meanwhile I bought this juice over the weekend called "Joint Juice" - funny name, but supposedly if you drink it every day, it's supposed to help your joints and it contains a bunch of glucosamine in it. I got it because I hate swallowing horse-size pills or vitamins so if I can get the supplement in liquid form, all the more convenient. We shall see.

The taste is ehhh !

[white owl]

Ya, I heard it was not very good. But I have heard that your body absorbs it faster in the liquid form. How true I do not know. Could you mix it with something to help with the taste maybe ?

[JohnC]

I've used CosaminDS ® off and on for years to help cartilage deterioation problems in my knees and it's worked great for me. This product uses top of the line ingredients and has been independently tested. I have tried cheaper brands and they didn't work. Info I've read attribute that to the cheaper brands using substandard ingredients or, in some cases, leaving the expensive stuff out entirely. Just my experience.