oh my joints

I started Taekwondo when I was 16. Moved on to karate when I was in my 20s. I'm 40 this year. That's an accumulated 1248 hours of training (with the assumption of 1 hour per week for 24 years).

 On top of that, a devastating life changing ACL tear which put me off active training for almost 2 years. 2 knee surgeries after, I took my 4th dan in Kyokushin karate last April and it was hell on my knees. Never fully recovered from it. Was plagued by ever increasing knee pain. I felt it the most when I took the stairs. And I learnt to hate the stairs.

No amount of solutions helped. I couldn't take glucosamine due to seafood allergies. Expensive knee guards did not work (my meniscus injury happened while I was wearing one). I stubbornly refused resting on my laurels as the answer.

This led me to Solgar no. 7 supplement. It was by sheer luck. I initially had another joint supplement in my shopping cart but I cancelled that order due to the amount of pills I had to swallow per day. Solgar no. 7 was actually my 2nd choice. It contains all herbs :

• turmeric root (Natural Anti-Inflammatory Compound) 
• willow bark (pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory) 
• boswellia serrata (natural pain killer) 
• uc-11 standardized cartilage (chicken sternum cartilage) - 
• ginger root (pain reliever) 
• cayenne pepper (May Help Relieve Pain)

I felt the effects on the 2nd pill. Now I'm wary of most supplements, monitoring my body for side effects and solgar is best taken once every 2-3 days. This is not a cure, but it made my daily life easier and I can train as normal now.

Most significant changes I felt:

• - climbing up and down stairs pain-free (only knee pain sufferers will understand this) 
• - able to do full squat

Knee pain affected my flexibility hence my ability for high kicks. I have regained this ability.

You owe it to yourself to give Solgar a try.