Google rooster juice injection. It's made from the comb of a rooster and is injected. Its a synovial fluid.
I have no cartilage in my left knee, so I know what you are going through. There are lots of good tips here. They all contribute to helping you sail longer with less problems. The ones that really helped me were:
- loose weight
- Synovis injection in the knee (exspensive but really works)
- Sail with my knees bent - like shock absorbers
- Glucosamine tablets daily
- Sail in flat water
- No other high impact activities
- Stop lifting weights higher than 10kgs
Go see your doctor and discuss your options
Select to expand quotegrumplestiltskin said..
Unfortunately, for me, its more than just softer riding boards, or flatter water (thanks Keef thats real helpful 
).
My knees give my grief even if I walk too far or try jogging etc.
I know there is an underlying problem, I'm just trying to reduce the effects.
Wearing a standard elastic kneebrace afterwards helps, but if I can reduce it in the first place that has to be better.
I gave up jogging years ago because both my knees have had bits taken out and even power walking can aggravate them.
I use knee friendly boards and race sails with skinny mast. A softer sails really helps to smooth things out.
Every now and again I tweak my knees so I do have a brace, it's a heavy neoprene sleeve with stainless hinges that strap below and above the knee. Do a search on the web, you will find a variety of braces for water use.
To be honest I'm not sure how well they work but they do provide a level of confidence when I sail with an injury, but I am very careful.
Select to expand quoteBrien said..
Wing wetsuits in Sydney do a good knee brace for wake boarders which is nice thick neoprene with stiffeners down each side which helps keep everything stable. I have been using one for a year and a bit after a torn miniscus and it is great for support.
My surgeon told me to never do squats or lunges as they certainly make your muscles stronger but they also wear the cartilage out. He explained it to me as if you want to play football for ten years then go ahead but if you want to stay active into older age then definitely don't it.
Cycling is a good way to strengthen the supporting muscles without overloading the joints. Also a good lesson in humility with all the lycra clad shaven legged young things zipping by in 343rd gear while laughing and chatting and swigging their gatorade.
Jogging is definitely a disaster area for joints. Buggered if I know why it's even allowed.
I've found Guy Cribbs stance is great in chop. He says use longer lines and sail in a sitting type position with straight legs and bent arms- pushing out with your bum , very low to the water.. As you are hanging out off the boom rather than standing on the board it creates good mast base pressure and soaks up any bumps so that should ease the strain on your knees.
Interesting article about the glucosamine. But for me, just 1 instead of 3 tablets a day already makes a big difference, and will hopefully have fewer negative effects.
I took lessons with Matt Pritchard on Maui to get more comfortable in the chop and 30+ knot winds there. His two big pieces of advice:
- bend your knees!
- trust your harness!
Made all the difference in the world. He'd also would have suggested longer harness lines, except that mine already were 32 inches. Overall, his advice is quite similar to what Guy Cribb says, according to sboardcrazy.
I feel a huge difference between bent-knee, 100% harness days and straight-leg, grab-on-to-go-fast days. There's a lot less pain after bent knee days. Really concentrating on very light hands just another part of the equation.
Crazy as it may sound - try doing some longer sessions, focusing only on comfort & listening to your body (you may want to get a Tabou or similar first). You can muscle it for a short time, but not for 3+ hours. You'll gain a technique that leads to less pain.
The same site publishes positive findings 5 years after that study :
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22216067
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22293240
Personally, I think the studies will match the need or pharamceutical companies.
Either way, Glucosmaine helps me, and if I get the secondary diabetes, It would be more likely caused by the crap I eat otherwise.
Back on the fish oil and even within three days can start to feel the difference.
Out to the shops this evening to get some glucosamine 
