[whoiskevin]

Bull. I've had cartilage worn out in my knee for years. I remain active and take it very seriously. You don't get "regrowth" and recover. And frankly I don't believe MRIs have shown regrowth...this is a constant rumor I hear all the time and yet no one shows any consistent formula for this regrowth which means it is either false or just rare and not reproducible.

[tjpaudio]

My personal experience has been it's a grueling exercise in trial and error to find what works. To have the opinion that its all bull is certainly justified, we for sure don't know the formula, but I propose that it's there, beckoning to be figured out. Just to stretch and keep active is not detailed enough. It's identifying problem areas, working on them every day, but also working them especially hard and taking time off when you have flare ups. Staying active, but not blindly... Finding the right amount of movement that causes no issue, and increasing ever so slowly, and backpedaling when you mess up, and reducing the number of times you backpedal because every time you have to it works against you. Doing this every day, being patient, being at terms with some things take years. 4 years ago my back dr told me I should stop doing all physical things - the pain would never go away. I said screw that. Its been 7 years now. I rock climb, I lift weights, I hike, I surf... No pain. It's possible.

[thelittleone]

Your description of self treatment is very similar to what I did for a herniated disc. I found that if I got myself into some silence and worked with breathing I could hear my body intuitively telling me what to do.