For anyone involved in sports activities, injuries are a way of life. It doesn't matter if you engage in these activities professionally or for recreation, you are at risk all the time.

When you discuss "injuries," most of you are thinking about the common broken bone and sprained ankle. However, there is a more insidious kind of injury that can leave you with debilitating pain for the rest of your life.

When arthritis develops as a result of injuries, it is generally referred to as "secondary" osteoarthritis. That means the deterioration of the cartilage was caused by a traumatic injury to begin with. As a general rule, it takes years after the injury to develop.

There are 147 joints in the human body and each one of them has cartilage that protects the bones from coming into contact with one another. It is the degradation of this cartilage that leads people into a lifetime of debilitating pain from arthritis.

What can you do to help your joints?

There is, however, something you can do now that will protect your joints and cartilage plus ease any pain you may currently be experiencing. Using liquid glucosamine and chondroitin will ease pain immediately. With the recently released clinical studies indicating the power of these ingredients, the market is literally flooded with competing products. So how do you select a glucosamine product that is right for you?

As a general rule, the lower the grade of the product, the less pain relief you will get. Using medium grade products, it will take 5-6 months for you to see relief. The same is true for the process of rehabilitating cartilage. On the other hand, a high-quality product will usually ease your pain in 10-25 days, depending on the extent of your disease. The healing and rehabilitation process begins nearly immediately. When choosing among glucosamine products, a high quality liquid formula will bring the maximum relief and protection. In addition, a high quality liquid glucosamine formula will do wonders for those recovering from orthopedic surgery.

Given the availability of glucosamine without prescription, the smart athlete is already taking a formula to build joint cartilage. With its low cost, it's a smart move both for the short term and the long one. After all, there is no sense in paying the physical price for doing the things we enjoy doing.

For all athletes and anyone suffering from secondary arthritis, I would highly suggest learning more about Syn-flex, a pharmaceutical quality liquid glucosamine and chondroitin formula.