It can take cartilage between 3 and 6 months to grow back. For severe cartilage damage, the cartilage may never fully grow back. Using specific supplements like chondroitin and MSM can help cartilage grow back faster.
How long does it take cartilage to grow back completely?
If you’ve found that you’re experiencing aches and pains from your joints, or you’ve recently suffered a serious injury which damaged your cartilage, then you are probably wondering how long it is going to take for the cartilage to grow back.
This is something that we get asked all the time. People looking for the best joint supplement are often actually looking for a cartilage regrowth supplement; they don’t care so much about promoting long-term joint health and flexibility as they do about fixing worn-down cartilage! We know this because people typically only start to worry about their joints when it is almost too late, once all the damage has been done!
Is it possible to actually regrow cartilage?
What supplements can you use to regrow cartilage?
How long does it take for cartilage to start to grow back?
Let’s dig deeper into this topic and try to answer these questions together.
What is cartilage?
Cartilage is a smooth, elastic tissue similar to rubber in texture. It acts as a protective covering for the ends of your bones where they meet at your joints.
Basically, cartilage exists to stop your bones rubbing against one another as you move around.
Because of its rigidity – but also its ability to flex – cartilage is used to make up your ribs, ear, nose, intervertebral discus, bronchial tubes, and other tissues which require rigidity and flexion.
Can you regrow cartilage?
Sadly, in many cases it is not possible to regrow or regenerate cartilage once it has gone.
Different tissues in different parts of the body have different regenerative capabilities. Cartilage is not a tissue very adept at regrowing. Partly due to its matrix-like structure, and partly due to the paucity of the raw materials needed to make it, your body struggles ot produce large amounts of cartilage. There does not seem to be much in the way of a growth signal for the connective tissue in the body at all.
However, there is hope! It is possible to promote cartilage repair and regeneration if there is still some tissue remaining.
Your body does seek to regenerate cartilage tissue if it is damaged or depleted, but it is a slow process, and there must be some cartilage cells left to rebuild from!
Can you repair cartilage?
For a long time, people assumed that it was impossible for cartilage to grow back. However, this assumption turned out to be completely wrong; or at least half-wrong.
There are some ways that you can stimulate cartilage repair and regeneration. So despite what many have assumed over the last few decades, cartilage can grow back. It is just that even when actively helping cartilage to grow back, it still takes a long time for cartilage tissue to grow. In some cases, the process is so slow that practically speaking the cartilage can be said to be not growing back or regenrating at all.
Just ignoring a cartilage injury is not the correct approach; left to its own devices, cartilage tissue is extremely slow to regenerate. It is a complex tissue which uses relatively sparse components. Just as it takes longer for bones to heal than it does for your skin, it takes longer for cartilage to regenerate than it does for bone tissue to grow – it’s just the way it is!
But there are some things you can do to greatly accelerate cartilage production and maintenance. The most effective and reliable method is to use natural supplements known to promote cartilage regeneration.
Some supplements are able to stimulate the growth of cartilage cells. A prime example is glucosamine; an amino sugar which is used as a building block for your connective tissues, including cartilage. Supplementing with glucosamine has been shown to increase cartilage production.
How long does it take for cartilage to start growing back?
Unfortunately, cartilage takes a long time to grow back, even when you’re using high quality joint supplements.
If you’ve had a significant cartilage injury, then you may require surgery to repair your cartilage to a point where it is useful again. The average person takes between 6 months and a year to recover from cartilage surgery, and almost 18 months before their joint is functioning properly again.
If you’re feeling the effects of years of cartilage abuse, then it can still take many months to start to repair the damage. On average, it takes 4-6 months for people to start feeling the benefits of cartilage-regrowing supplements.
However, if your goal is simply cartilage protection and preservation, then benefits manifest much faster; most people feel more flexible and less susceptible to joint pain within 2 months of using a good quality joint supplement.
Can you make cartilage grow back faster?
Yes, you can make your cartilage grow back faster. However, you need to realise that even an accelerated recover still takes a long tie when severe cartilage damage is involved; cartilage is an extremely slow-growing tissue at the best of times.
Specific supplements, such as glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM, can significantly increase the rate of cartilage growth and repair. More than one clinical trial has shown that glucosamine helps rebuild cartilage, and combining glucosamine with other substances speeds this process up even further.
If you want to speed up your recovery time, then it is worth supporting healthy cartilage consumption by taking a full spectrum joint supplement designed to both restore and protect your cartilage, ligaments, bones, and other connective tissues.
Looking after the whole joint while promoting cartilage generation is the best way to speed up cartilage growth.