Expert: Mary E Scott, RPh, CGP - 7/1/2009

Question
Hi there,
I looked through your past answers and would be very happy if you could help me with my question. Quick background: I suffered a activity/sports related ankle injury awhile back. I've had arthroscopic surgery and physio with some benefit, but the pain has returned. The damage is to the cartilage between the ankle and the leg. The specialist told me I could try gluocosamine to help. However at the pharmacy I found:
glucosamine, glucosamine sulphate, glucosamine sulphate chondrotin, and glucosamine sulphate condhrotin and MSM (please excuse spelling).
Could you tell me what the difference between these medicines are in terms of their use and application? Do you know which one is used in the type of case I'm referring to?


Answer
Hi,Rochelle,
Glucosamine/glucosamine sulfate either of these are what he recommended. The combination of glucosamine and chondrotin has not been proven to have any additional benefit for pain. And you need to take the glucosamine for a few months to see if it will help; it helps to regenerate cartilage and is not a regular pain pill that works immediately. Hope this helps, Mary