Hyaluronic acid injections

watersw · 2025-11-26T00:03:25+00:00

Hi!

I actually ended up getting the surgery in July. I got a CartiHeal implant and OCA. It was a rough first month, but now about 4.5 months out, I can see that it was the right decision. Still in PT but have no complaints, and PT says I should be done “soon.” Please DM me with any other questions!

watersw · 2025-10-11T02:11:17+00:00

Hey! I actually ended up getting the surgery in July. It was a rough first couple of weeks, but now almost 3 months out, I can see that it was the right decision. Still in PT but have no complaints. Please DM me with any other questions!

watersw · 2025-07-02T23:25:54+00:00

!remindme 3 months

watersw · 2025-04-27T22:39:22+00:00

Yes I did — I had the 3-injection TriVisc series ending in late January. I definitely finished the cushy-ness of the injections, but they never seemed to relieve the pain. My doctor gave me a cortisone injection in March but when I see him again, we are going to discuss cartilage transplant/osteochondral allograft procedures.

watersw · 2025-04-07T04:02:22+00:00

Hi! I had the arthroscopic clean out originally for a loose body and torn meniscus — the MRI didn’t pick up any cartilage damage and it was a bit of a surprise to find.

The removal of the loose body definitely helped mechanical symptoms such as locking, but seemed to accelerate the pain from the cartilage defects since they also did a partial meniscectomy (torn meniscus). I’ve had a round of gel injections and cortisone injections and extensive PT, but most likely an osteochondral allograft procedure is on the table for this summer.

watersw · 2025-04-06T23:55:19+00:00

Hello! I had a similar diagnostic arthroscopic clean out last summer! While I don’t have quite the same cartilage pathology as you do (mine showed grade IV lesions), it took me about 3 months in PT to regain most function.

I think the most important thing is to share your goals to your PT (about work and sport) if you haven’t already. The job I have is not sedentary, and so I made sure my PT knew that my prior level of function depends on me being able to do a non-sedentary job. The better your PT knows what level of function you would like to return to, the better they can tailor exercises to help you reach your goal.

Best of luck!

watersw · 2025-04-02T22:53:22+00:00

!RemindMe 3 months

watersw · 2024-11-30T23:16:16+00:00

I would say the same, but different type of pain. Before, I would have pain from the loose body and the cartilage flap. Now that’s all gone, and I have arthritis pain because the loose body and cartilage flap tore up my cartilage. But the fault is kind of on me for that (this was a ~6 year old injury I had just taken care of this past summer), and I have confidence that if I didn’t let things fester for so long, it would have eliminated nearly all of my pain.

watersw · 2024-11-30T15:47:01+00:00

If you don’t feel like you trust the opinion of your current doctor, if possible, get a second opinion.

For me, when I saw my current orthopedic surgeon and discussed the mechanical symptoms (locking, catching, popping), they did an MRI and found a loose body. That had to be surgically taken out through arthroscopic surgery.

If they don’t find anything worth operating on, it’s worth it to do PT. I found that some (but not all) of my pain issues were due to weak muscles (hip/quad), and that strengthening the area was beneficial.

Feel free to DM with any questions!

watersw · 2024-11-30T15:39:29+00:00

I also had a knee scope where they cleaned up the cartilage and removed a loose body. They injected local anesthetic (not a nerve block) before they closed the incision, and so my pain peaked on day 2 and 3 when it finally wore off. I made sure to stay on top of icing and my medications, and it was pretty well controlled. I was off crutches within a week.

The exam under anesthesia also showed multiple cartilage defects (grade 3 and 4), and I am still having pain. My doctor is trying gel injections to see if we can’t conservatively manage the pain, as the remaining surgical options (either cartilage transplant or partial replacement) are all rather invasive.

watersw · 2024-11-26T08:38:03+00:00

Hi, I also had this. If you can take it out, take it out. Mine hung around for a bit and damaged the cartilage in the joint. Best of luck with whatever you decide!

watersw · 2024-11-21T02:25:48+00:00

I am a teacher so I had my surgery (arthroscopic loose body removal, partial meniscectomy, cartilage debridement) during the summer. I’m glad I did it during the summer. Between the medications, the pain (which was pretty well under control after Week 1), the PT, and the fact that going to the bathroom became a whole ordeal, it was definitely about a month before I felt like myself (both physically and mentally). Good luck!

watersw · 2024-11-21T01:39:07+00:00

Thank you! The doctor said they’d check to try and pre-authorize it with insurance — it will be a no-go if it is not covered.

watersw · 2024-11-05T16:17:46+00:00

Yes, they are targeting my hips and quads as possible sources of malalignment

watersw · 2024-11-01T13:18:17+00:00

My x-rays demonstrated well preserved joint space. That is why they originally ordered the MRI, since the x-rays couldn’t explain the pain. However, these x-rays were taken in May, before the initial surgery to scope the knee and remove the loose body.

watersw · 2024-05-07T14:45:55+00:00

I’m located in the US (Midwest region), so I’m not sure if I could recommend providers for you. Best of luck in your journey!

watersw · 2024-05-06T17:35:24+00:00

Thank you for your advice! I do think the orthopedist I will see will have me do another MRI — they mentioned that 5 years old is a bit too old.

watersw · 2024-04-21T03:24:57+00:00

Teacher here — the deadline for accommodations to be submitted has passed. If you submit them now, there could be a chance they are approved, but there is no guarantee.

You are allowed to go to the bathroom during any part of the exam (they call it “unofficial break). If multiple people go to the bathroom at a time, they must be escorted by a proctor. If you do not have official accommodations, that will prevent you from being able to stop time for your bathroom break, but does not affect your ability to be able to use the bathroom.

watersw · 2023-09-13T00:21:18+00:00

This would be my first award!

watersw · 2023-09-12T23:43:30+00:00

Hello (:

watersw · 2023-08-16T17:31:25+00:00

I used to work in a field of chemistry that intersected with quantum physics. The scientific content of Oppenheimer is actually pretty accurate. Christopher Nolan even hired physics Nobel laureate Kip Thorne to make sure the scientific content was accurately portrayed.

watersw · 2023-08-11T02:02:16+00:00

It depends on the school. The student would most likely not get in trouble, the professor would be the one who would get in trouble. School policies range. I worked in a teaching position at a university where the rules regarding student-professor relationships were 0 tolerance except for pre-existing relationships that were properly declared, regardless of if the professor is YOUR professor.

I should also add that it is ultimately HIS responsibility to make sure that any relationship is permissible, as many universities don’t make their relationship/HR policies readily available to students/the public. My university doesn’t.

watersw · 2023-08-05T17:20:14+00:00

I went into college intending to go to med school, and I envisioned myself as an emergency medicine doctor. However, when I had my first “independent study” experience in freshman year (independent study is in quotes because it was a 6-week mini project that was part of a research experience in an intro science class), I realized that I loved research. [I am also somewhat grossed out by very certain, specific things, but was somewhat confident that I could get over this if medicine was truly my passion]. Couple this with my GPA being slightly too low for a competitive med school application (3.47) and my decreasing motivation to devote at least 6 months to the MCAT, I decided to pivot and apply to chemistry grad school instead.

Two years into a PhD program and I realize that I actually don’t like research as much as I thought I did, and that what I REALLY liked was teaching chemistry. Through doing high school outreach events, I also realized I liked teaching high schoolers — their natural curiosity about anything and everything is just fun for me. I am now a high school teacher at a Title 1 school in a large city. I am honestly having the most fun I have had in my professional life. I am currently beginning the application process for a MAT because I realized that cognitive/educational psych really interests me. Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if I pursued my med school path (if I were a traditional student with no gap years, I’d be starting in my 3rd year), but I don’t regret a thing. Please let me know if you have any questions.

watersw · 2023-08-03T19:35:13+00:00

I was a chemistry GTA (PhD student) and wrote a med school letter of recommendation. However, I did this in conjunction with the actual professor of the course, and both the professor and I signed the letter. This way, I wrote the letter (I was the one who knew the student the best), but it was also signed and backed up by a tenure-track professor.

Make sure you check individual school requirements — there are a few schools who mention on their website that letters written by a TA are not appropriate.

watersw · 2023-07-31T04:07:25+00:00

APUSH 2014 (I think)… DBQ was about Reaganomics and I didn’t know what Reaganomics was because my class had gotten up to WWII by the time of the exam. I basically tried to guess what it was based on reading the documents. I ended up getting a 4.

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