Rooster Injections: Something to Crow About?

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (KFSN) -- Knee and joint pain affects one hundred million Americans. Now patients can choose from many different treatment options. Here are details on how fluid from a rooster can get the joints moving again.

Bob Justiana is in full swing now, but just a few months ago he could barely putt along.

"I would hear bone to bone contact, clicks in my knees and tremendous strain," Justiana told Ivanhoe.

So Justiana tried ultrasound-guided injections of hyaluronic acid, a substance that comes from an unlikely source, a rooster.

Justiana said, "I took the chance and went for it."

Nurse practitioner Evelyn Kikta from the Tarpon Spine and Medical Center said humans also make the hyaluronic acid.

"By putting this hyaluronic acid from the comb of the chicken, of the rooster, it stimulates the production of your own," Kikta told Ivanhoe.

The FDA-approved knee injections are given once a week for 5 weeks. Most patients gradually feel a difference, although some have immediate pain relief.

"I have patients right now who are almost in their third year without having it again," Kikta detailed.

Mike Marcell specializes in chiropractic care. He's glad that patients have additional options.

"There's a nice intermediary form of care that's evolved in many areas with joint pain," Marcell told Ivanhoe.

And for Bob, "At my age, for the years I have left. I want to be comfortable."

After a few shots in the knee, he's back in the swing of things.

Most insurance companies typically pay for this procedure after patients have exhausted other efforts like massage, anti-inflammatory drugs and physical therapy.