[Warning] Pain Reliever is Ruining Your Joints!

By Natalie Moore Posted May 22, 2017

Dear Living Well Daily Reader,

If you suffer from chronic knee pain, you probably do what lots of folks do.

Like clockwork, you go every 3 month to get a corticosteroid injection in hopes of just a little relief.

But the truth is, corticosteroids shots could be doing more harm than good when it comes to your joints.

In fact, they could be destroying your cartilage and putting you on the fast track to a total knee replacement.

Yep, that’s right.

Your go-to knee pain fix could be causing you all sorts of problems.

Past research shows that corticosteroids come with all kinds of health-damaging side effects like high blood sugar, thinning bones and weight gain.

However, this most recent study focuses on how these drugs affect the cartilage in your knee joints.

Cartilage is the sponge-like substance that helps shield your joints from impact. Low cartilage density can cause friction between bones, which can result in increased pain and inflammation.

For the experiment, scientists split a group of folks suffering from knee pain in half. Every three months for two years, one group got cortisone shots in their achy knees and the other took placebo shots.

Additionally, the researchers recorded cartilage density and pain level for all participants.

At the end the trial, the researchers found some shocking results…

Folks getting corticosteroid shots had significantly lower cartilage density than those getting the placebo. It’s as if their cartilage was being slowly eaten away.

Even worse, both groups reported the same level of pain.

This means regular corticosteroid shots deplete your cartilage and offer ZERO pain relief.

Sounds like a lose-lose situation to me.

If you’re taking corticosteroid shots for knee pain, talk to your doc about stopping them.

Another way to help keep your knees pain-free is by taking a collagen supplement. Collagen is loaded with special peptides that can help reduce your pain and restore the cartilage in your joints.

You can find collagen supplements through natural health stores or online retailers.

Live well,

Natalie Moore
Managing editor, Living Well Daily

Ed. Note: Please send your feedback: feedback@livingwelldaily.com – and click here to like us on Facebook.

Sources

^[1] Effect of Intra-articular Triamcinolone vs Saline on Knee Cartilage Volume and Pain in Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis

^[2] Findings do not support steroid injections for knee osteoarthritis

^[3] Prednisone and other corticosteroids

^[4] Change in knee osteoarthritis cartilage detected by delayed gadolinium enhanced magnetic resonance imaging following treatment with collagen hydrolysate: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

^[5] A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised, clinical study on the effectiveness of collagen peptide on osteoarthritis

Written By Natalie Moore

Natalie Moore is a dedicated health researcher with a passion for finding healthy, natural, and science-based solutions. After a decade of direct healthcare experience in western and natural medicine, she was involved in public health research before joining Living Well Daily.

View More By Natalie Moore