Look closely at your footwear and what your doing. If your shoes wear irregularly and/or they don't offer proper support they could be the origin or contribute to the problem. If your abusing your knees on a maladjusted bike or in certain tasks this too could put excessive stress on your knees. In either case you need to correct these problems before worrying about anything else.

All the therapy, aids and nutritional support in the world can't make up for regular abuse of the joints.

A friend who had a bad back and knees had seemingly tried everything. Nothing worked until he visited a orthopedist who was savvy enough to notice that he walked with a very bow-legged stance. His stance wore out the soles of his shoes and the worn shoes made the problem worse. He was always out of alignment.

A few weeks training by a physical therapist, to help align his gait, new supportive shoes and orthotic insoles all worked together to correct his gait. Once it was made more normal his knee and back problems disappeared.

Glucosamine, Chondroiten and MSM may help to speed healing but you have to find and correct the root cause of the problem before the healing can make any long-term progress.

If MSM seems to work by limiting inflammation you might get even better results by using horse liniment, DMSO, Di-methylsulfoxide. Both compounds are related. DMSO is available at many feed stores. The down side is that it is a transfer agent that will carry most organic chemicals through the skin so make sure your hands and skin are clean before using it. It smells like aquarium water and imparts a garlic smell to the breath so it isn't very pleasant stuff. That said I know of nothing better for inflammation.