Ordered Viscosupplementation Skin Gel
[ Thursday January 8th 2026 at 6:40 pm ]
In October 2017 the medication Cingal was injected into both of my knee joints. This medication is the same idea as to what motor oil does for a vehicle. The idea is that this prevents friction in an arthritic knee joint. Without friction there isn't friction there is not pain. For the initial 20 hours it was like a miracle. I was able to use my knees like when I was a child. I really benefited from it. But it didn't work for me. I started feeling bursts of pain during hour 20. By hour 24 it wore off. I was back to the same limited ability to walk as before the medication was injected.
Before I had my January 8th 2026 appointment with my surgeon I searched online to see if any recent research and development had taken place with hyaluronic acid. This is the active medical ingredient in Cingal. I discovered a gel version of this is now available. It is applied around the knee joint. The idea is that the skin is continually releasing it into the knee joint. Instead of one time injection that lasts between 3 and 6 months this medication is the same idea as the patches that helps a person stop smoking. The patient applies the gel to the knee each day. In turn this continually releases a lower volume of the medication into the knee joint. The idea is that the skin becomes saturated with the medicine.
In part the medication costs $15. This is a reasonable price to pay for trying something with an unknown result. The approach of using a gel to deliver the medication through the skin makes sense to me. Besides the patches that help someone stop smoking there are medications for pain that are a patch, anti inflammatory medication and some supplements that aid in pain management for targeting a specific joint or area of the body.
.I have ordered this medication. My surgeon has asked me not to get my hopes up that this will work. He doesn't want me to become disappointed if it doesn't lead to a good result. But when you are in the situation that I am in the pros outweigh the cons to try. I am trying to show initiative. Regardless of the outcome I am trying to do what I have control over to help myself.