I have lived with an arthritic knee for many years, it got worse about
14 months ago, diagnosed with torn medisci, wasnt able to get an arthroscope so suffererd severely for about
10 months when the pain was reduced, i took glucosamine and a shellfish extract ( seatone)and it seems that the medisci have repaired themselves
some docs say this cant happen but some say that since blood flows thru the outer parts and joint fluid thru the inner parts, repair is possible, perhaps aided by the glucosamine, etc
however some pain remained, the typical toothache like pain from using the knee
saw a physio, mainly to try to straighten the leg at the knee, why the leg wouldnt straighten was a mystery, nothing shows on the x ray, the physio thought maybe from my habit of favouring the knee when walking
the leg straightening exercises had no effect but when walking, I no longer favoured the knee and tried instead to straighten it, result was the totally unexpected stopping of almost all pain, had been needing tramadol for 14 months almost every day
this suggests that the arthritus and the pain could be thought of as 2 separate things, with experiments done in exercising and using the joint differently, to see whether the pain is altered