London Cartilage Clinic
Explore expert articles on cartilage care, regenerative treatments, and practical recovery advice from our specialist team.
Worn knee cartilage does not reliably grow back to normal hyaline cartilage, while ACL and meniscus injuries can raise the risk of post-traumatic osteoarthritis. Repeated swelling, giving-way, catching or true locking point to ongoing joint stress and a need for specialist assessment.
Joint preservation for focal cartilage defects spans two distinct pathways: the ChondroFiller injection, an ultrasound-guided outpatient procedure for accessible lesions, and the Liquid Cartilage surgical protocol, Professor Lee's keyhole technique combining ChondroFiller, biologics, and optional mesenchymal stem cells for larger or load-bearing defects. This article explains where each sits in the decision pathway for the hip, knee and ankle — and when bigger surgery remains the appropriate next step.
PRP knee injections tend to improve pain and function over 1–6 months rather than days, while ankle MFAT or Lipogems injections have only case-level evidence and suit mainly organised joints without major malalignment, collapse or unstable cartilage defects.
Night-time hip ache after load, an ankle that flares after sprains, and early knee osteoarthritis are usually mechanical problems rather than signs of cancer. Fewer than 20% of early knees worsen over 2–5 years, symptomatic primary ankle osteoarthritis is uncommon, and hip scans need clinical context because labral tears often appear in pain-free people.
Joint injections can reduce pain and improve function, but they do not repair cartilage or cure arthritis. Corticosteroids work fastest for short-term flare control, PRP tends to last longer in knee osteoarthritis, hyaluronic acid gives modest hip symptom relief, and BMAC remains an uncertain option for focal cartilage defects.
Classic ACI and MACI are usually two-stage procedures: a biopsy and knee assessment come first, then cultured chondrocytes are implanted weeks later. In one 46-patient series, only 26.1% went on to transplantation, while single-stage options such as AMIC and other one-step repairs are gaining ground for suitable focal defects.
