Collagen supplementation for soft tissue growth

Edit Post

has been widely used in cosmetic surgery, bone grafts, tissue regeneration, bone grafts, and reconstructive surgery. It's also used [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collagen#As_a_supplement]as a supplement.

Sounds like collagen could be really useful to help stretch those tendons post-LL. However, I've only seen two posts on the entire forum dealing with collagen:

• Successful Regeneration of Ligament & Achilles Tendon Using Cell Technology
• One from by Dr. Birkholtz stating that collagen becomes less supple with age

I don't see how taking collagen supplementation can hurt, so I'm wondering why it's been so under-explored. Do note that just because doctors didn't mention something, it doesn't mean that something can't help. Doctors are busy, forgetful, and they're not perfect. See for example my post about Dr. Paley's team glossing over diet with me and Puru, vs. his advice to another patient corroborating other sources that recommend 2000 extra calories per bone break.

Edit Post

Well, I can't say for sure, but it appears that collagen supplementation hasn't done much for me. Of course, study of one etc.

I've been taking this supplement containing Undenatured Type II Collagen since the beginning of my journey (tibias surgery, Mar 15), one capsule a day. My flexibility was nothing out of the ordinary, and got worse over time, such that I had to stop lengthening my tibias at 3.5cm, and am tight in the hamstrings and IT bands at only +3cm in the femurs (and despite IT band release).

I've never missed a PT session at the Paley Institute, but of course I could have done more PT at home. Anyway, this amount of collagen supplementation was no magic pill.

Edit Post

Quote from: lemonade311 on May 17, 2018, 07:40:51 PMCompletely disagree with what you said.

With what exactly?

Quote from: lemonade311 on May 17, 2018, 07:40:51 PMI'm sure Dr Paley who has been doing this for 20+ years would have looked into this and would have recommended it if it was proven to help.

It doesn't work that way. No matter how good the doctor, you still need to take matter into your own hands.

For example, I wrote in another thread that nobody from the Paley team recommended to me any specific supplements until I asked explicitly about diet. Only then did Dr. Robbins (not Dr. Paley, and I had emailed them both) recommend Bone Health Now. Same thing about the increased caloric intake.

Quote from: lemonade311 on May 17, 2018, 07:40:51 PMI wouldn't take any supplements that the doctor doesn't recommend because I am not the expert, I'm paying for the best doctor in the world so I would follow his advice and only his advice to the letter.

You might want to check Unicorn888's diary to see what happens when you blindly trust your doctor to the letter.

Anyway, you don't have to wait for the doctor to recommend a supplement. Doctors are humans and they forget. Or they might not deem a supplement useful for the typical patient, but if it worked for you in the past, they maybe happy to say go for it.

Ask the doctor; don't wait for them to recommend. I asked about collagen, CBD and kratom, and the PAs were fine with me taking them. Would they have recommended them unprompted, on their own? Most likely not.

Quote from: lemonade311 on May 17, 2018, 07:40:51 PMHow do you know the stuff you are taking isn't detrimental to your health somehow?

Because there are studies out there. Take cannabis, for example. THC is a powerful analgesic that can cut pain from level 7 to level 4. Very few studies have shown that it does interact with bone formation, but if you look into the details, you'll see that the quantity that did affect the rats was so large that half the rats died during the experiment. However, doctors will tell you to stay away from THC out of extreme caution. Whether you want to heed that advice and endure the pain, is your choice.