Hi Dylan,
I have been watching your video for a while, you doing a great job.
I am undergoing rigorous training session regularly. My intention is to join the Elite team of Special Forces.
I have a lingering knee injury that just wld not go away. I had some meniscus removed a while back. My new MRI showed an early stage of minor Osteochondritis.
I have a year of full training to attempt the selection. Will myostatin gdf8 of anything else fix that injury.
Hey there. Before Dylan joins in on this discussion and gives his recommendation, there are a few things you may need to bear in mind.
Your post leads me to believe your orthopaedic doctor wasn't explaining things to you properly, or more likely - you didn't like what he had to say.
Osteochondritis has many stages and grades, but what needs to be kept in mind is that not only is it a joint disorder involving the articular cartilage (Smooth cartilage that covers bones where they meet other bones), there is also a disorder involving the underlying bone
(1)(3).
Cartilage, as well as miniscal cartilage (which is not the same as the classic articulating cartilage) is a tissue with finite regenerative capabilities post development - and it would not grow back, or repair. Right out the bat know that whatever damages you have in your cartilage, be it the miniscus or the articulating cartilage - those will never resolve without surgery, albeit the symptoms may be handled to come extent. Even with surgery you would not be able to restore the same articular composition.
Next, osteochondritis is a complex disorder. Usually it features an underlying discontinuation in bone matrix beneath the articular cartilage causing a slight degeneration in their meeting point. It is not a simple "wear and tear"/usage related disorder
(1)(2)(3). Depending on your grade (if it's
A or
B) your cartilage may still be intact, but misshapen, which means that the delivery of tension along the axis of the joint is compromised. The symptoms can be tended to with some degree of success with respect to non surgical, conservative means.
As far as surgical, more radical measures, there is a debate in the medical community as for the efficacy of those treatments
(4), and the manner of which they should be indicated, if at all. I could expand on that, but that would be beyond the scope of this post.
I'm not sure what your experience is with special forces type units, but in my experience (which was only 3 years in an SF team) osteochondrosis isn't conducive to combat training, specifically for long term/special forces military applications.
Down to it -
No supplement/compound exists that would fix osteochondritis. Even surgical measures are debatable with their ability to do that. Even if you take "wonder compounds" like hGH that can regenerate bone and cartilage - it cannot recompose the previously existing construct matrix of complex joints, the knee being the most complex joint in the human body.
I'm sure that in the end you would end up making your own mind and asses as you see fit. Know that if you select an endeavour which would exacerbate your condition (mind you - you will carry this for the rest of your life) as you age, it would get progressively worse, or stay the same at best; Depending on how you treat your joint.
Bear in mind that
this post does not constitute medical advice.
Hope this helps.
References
(1)Pappas AM (1981). "Osteochondrosis dissecans". Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research (158): 59–69. doi:10.1097/00003086-198107000-00009. PMID 7273527
(2)Woodward AH, Bianco AJ (1975). "Osteochondritis dissecans of the elbow". Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research. 110 (110): 35–41. doi:10.1097/00003086-197507000-00007. PMID 1157398
(3)Pettrone, FA (1986). American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Symposium on Upper Extremity Injuries in Athletes. St. Louis, Missouri: CV Mosby. pp. 193–232. ISBN 978-0-8016-0026-5.
(4) Nobuta S, Ogawa K, Sato K, Nakagawa T, Hatori M, Itoi E (2008). "Clinical outcome of fragment fixation for osteochondritis dissecans of the elbow" (PDF). Upsala Journal of Medical Sciences. 113 (2): 201–8. doi:10.3109/2000-1967-232. PMID 18509814
