Supplements and nutrition to aid in recovery from knee/hip surgery?

[QZZ92001]

Hi,

A few years ago I broke my femur and had a titanium rod and screws implanted inside of it to help it heal. In a few weeks I will be having all of this hardware removed. There will be a minimal amount of bone that needs to heal further, and the skin and muscle that will be cut along the outside of my thigh down to the bone to extract the rod will be damaged as well.

I currently do not have a very good diet and I take no supplements, not even a multivitamin. I am looking at my approximately 2 month recovery period as a time to start getting more healthy, starting with my nutrition and supplement intake to help me heal while I am laid up in bed.

For the first few weeks I will not be able to bear any kind of weight on the leg. After that, I will be able to start doing stretches and other rehab type excercises (which I will be posting about in the future) as well as low impact cardio.

During my time laid up in bed and also when I start working out I would like to know what supplements I should be taking to aid in the healing process. There are SO many supplements out there that it's easy to get lost, and I don't have the luxury of being in good health and just trying different things to see what works. I am also not made of money, so cost is a factor. I've heard people tell me to take a multi, glucosamine and chondroitin, BCAA's, protein shakes, creatine, glutamine, testosterone supplements, HGH, winstrol, all kinds of things.

I am looking for some good information here. What can I take to aid in bone and muscle healing and regrowth as well as joint support with the minimal amount of excercise that I will be able to do for awhile? Anyone have any suggestions?

[paul0616]

skip the (expensive) supplements, and get a good diet, esp. mineral rich vegetables. You can buy big bags of frozen green veggies, such as collards, spinach, mustard greens, broccoli, etc.

[QZZ92001]

Thanks for the nutrition advice. I am definitely looking into beginning a good diet to promote a healing environment in my body. I know that green veggies have nothing but good stuff for you, so I am definitely going to be eating a ton of them.

I forgot to mention in my original post that my career, and my future, pretty much depends on me having my original pain free leg strength back. Needless to say, I'm willing to explore all options within my range to make this happen. Since I can only afford to spend 3 months on disability before my savings are depleted and my bills take over, that 3 months has to be a a seriously intense recovery period. This is why I am also interested in supplements to enhance bone, muscle, tendon, ligament, and skin growth.

Does anyone have any suggestions for supplements? I know for sure I will be going for a mega dose of the Glucosamine and Chondroitin and a good multivitamin on the advice of my doctor, but don't know what brands I should be looking at. I am open to the use of other supplements too, and very interested to know what will do me the most amount of good for the least amount of money. I know nothing in this field is neccesarily cheap, but I also know that there are some outrageously overpriced items out there. Being that I have a limited time to prepare and I'm working 10 hour days currently, I am the kind of person I know expensive product producing companies rely on to get suckered in. Can anyone steer me in the right direction?

[QZZ92001]

Anyone have any more to add? I'm kind of running short on time here.

[paul0616]

it doesn't sound like you have knee or hip joint issues. So with just bone and muscle, that should heal up fine. Start now with a good diet. Veggies & whole grain are a good addition to whatever you normally eat From what I read, large amounts of protein can leach calcium, so you might google that as well. Your doctor might prescribe some sort of cal/mag supplement if they think that would help.

[QZZ92001]

I do in fact have knee and hip joint issues. The trauma from the accident that broke the femur in the first place has sparked issues with both the knee and the hip, mainly chronic patellar tendonitis. The muscles in the entire leg have atrophied from not being able to use them as much because of the pain. Also, because of the mechanism of the removal process, there will be some trauma to the knee and the hip joints. I need to find a way to build all these muscles back up after the removal in the quickest most efficient way since my time is limited before I have to go back to work, which is mostly manual labor and heavy lifting for long periods of time. This is why I want to build up all of these leg muscles as quickly as possible, so I am looking into the supplements.

[Humorris]

I know for sure I will be going for a mega dose of the Glucosamine and Chondroitin and a good multivitamin on the advice of my doctor, but don't know what brands I should be looking at.

There is no point in heavy dosing as the body will only absorb so much and the rest will be pissed out. I would try orange triad(multivitamin/joint compound) and definatley Glocosamine(take small doses throughout the day) and a good diet high in protein will get you going faster. Also a anabolic/catabolic compound would be good so you keep the muscle you gain, nano vapor, superpump 250, etc. they will also help with your energy during workout.

If you talk to the doc and describe your situation they just might also prescribe steroids to help you recover quicker.

[Dr Clay]

Here's what I would take: glucosamine, chondroitin, msm, vitamin c, zinc, an omega 3 product, a green's product, and a good multivitamin/mineral. Labrada's Elasti-Joint has the first 4 ingredients in it.