Nick Gregg

Last December (2022) Nick Gregg from Tenby, South Wales, felt that all too familiar ‘ping’ in his right knee and feared his fast-deteriorating cartilage was taking him one step closer to the inevitable knee replacement surgery – something he was really keen to avoid having already experienced the pain and long recovery associated with arthroscopy surgery which he’d undergone some 10 years earlier following ‘wear and tear’ caused by rugby. 

So, Nick (who’s recently turned 60) hobbled his way through Christmas, trying to keep the pain at bay with a combination of rest, analgesics and ice-packs. However, by February this year his knee had “completely gone” and he knew he had to seek professional advice regarding his treatment options. 

He didn’t expect that initial advice to come from the vet who had recently treated one of the horses kept by his wife, using the well-established, Arthramid® Vet, for equine lameness, first launched in 2009. With horses’ joints sharing a similar make up to those in humans, an equine study¹, led by hydrogel pioneers, Contura International Ltd provided the opportunity to see the effects the hydrogel had on the synovial membrane in knees. And, in 2021, after 10 years of rigorous bench testing, Arthrosamid® was granted European approval for the symptomatic treatment of patients with knee OA – completing the ground-breaking ‘horse to humans’ journey! 

Nick (a former CEO for a number of UK companies) wasted no time in researching a local orthopaedic surgeon who was administering Arthrosamid®, leading him to book an appointment with Mr Andrew Miller at St Joseph’s Hospital in Newport – the first (and currently, only) clinician to be offering the injection to patients in Wales. 

He continues; “I had a local anaesthetic into the knee joint – and after that, I didn’t feel a thing. I watched on a monitor as the hydrogel was inserted via a syringe and the entire procedure was over in around 15 minutes. I stood up and the result was unbelievable. In fact, I assumed it must have been the effects of the anaesthetic but as that wore off over the next few hours, I remained pain free!” 

Mr Miller advised Nick that he could be back on the golf course within a ‘day or two’ – but Nick (who plays several times a week, off an impressive handicap of 9) decided to leave it for seven days, “just to be sure”. But, since returning to the fairway, he hasn’t looked back. 

“Not only had the pain totally disappeared, I was no longer feeling any stiffness in my knee joint. I hadn’t experienced as much movement and flexibility in 25 years”, Nick explains. 

Around 6 weeks later, in early June, Nick’s left knee “went” and he didn’t hesitate in contacting Mr Miller again, booking in to have a second Arthrosamid® injection (this time, at the Pro-Sport clinic in Cardiff). 

“Again, it was a total revelation. I was pain-free and literally felt as though I was walking around with cushion padding in my knees! It really is no exaggeration to say that Arthrosamid® can give you your life back – particularly if a large part of your life revolves around playing golf! Talking to many friends who also enjoy the game as much as I do, golfers of a certain age seem prone to knee issues which can eventually lead to the chronic pain associated with knee osteoarthritis. This is due to our swing, twisting and turning and the huge amount of walking we do on every round we play, often up and down hills and slopes – but none of us ever want to give up our golf, or resort to the buggy.” 

Nick, who is currently Chair of Tenby Golf Club, did have to temporarily stop playing golf earlier this year, which affected his performance for a while. But since having Arthrosamid® inserted into both knees, he’s back on course. 

“I feel very lucky that I found out about Arthrosamid® when I did – which was quite by chance, really – as I was able to have the treatment at an ideal time before the situation got any worse or more complications set in. Now, I’m often recommending that my fellow golfers look into the treatment and I know of a few who have already been in touch with Mr Miller and successfully had an Arthrosamid injection - and are thrilled with the results.  

“Of course, I’ve heard all the gags at the golf club about ‘being able to run the Grand National like a racehorse’ with my repaired knees! But, joking aside,  I’m just so delighted not to have to take painkillers every day and to enjoy my semi-retirement by doing everything I love, from golfing to gardening, without a twinge.  

“From my experience, Arthrosamid® really can make a huge difference to your quality of life.”

Nick’s consultant, Andrew Miller, comments;  

“There is no greater endorsement than a patient returning for the same treatment on the other knee.”