120–240 mg/day orally for skin and joints.
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Hyaluronic acid is a glycosaminoglycan (a polymer of modified sugars) naturally present in high concentrations in skin, joint synovial fluid, the vitreous humor of the eye, and other connective tissues, where it performs essential functions of tissue hydration, joint lubrication, maintenance of skin elasticity, and modulation of the local inflammatory response; its clinical applications are multiple: intra-articular injections in osteoarthritis, cosmetic dermatological fillers, eye drops for dry eye, and, more recently, oral supplements with a modest mechanistic basis but interesting emerging clinical data for skin and joint health.
Intra-articular hyaluronic acid injections are well established in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis with support in rheumatology guidelines; oral supplements are a more convenient alternative with emerging clinical data: several small trials have documented modest improvements in joint pain and function with supplementation at 80-200 mg/day for 8-12 weeks in people with mild to moderate osteoarthritis.
In skin, several trials have documented improvements in skin hydration, elasticity, and wrinkle depth with oral supplementation for 8-12 weeks, a mechanism attributed to intestinal absorption of oligosaccharide fragments that act as signals for the endogenous synthesis of skin hyaluronic acid.
In dry eye, hyaluronic acid eye drops are a standard and highly effective treatment; the data on oral supplementation are more limited but consistent.
The doses studied range from 80 to 200 mg/day orally, in one dose with or without food; typical commercial products contain 100-200 mg per capsule; the effects are progressive and require 8-12 weeks for evaluation.
Generally very well tolerated; adverse effects are rare and mild; people with cancers that depend on tissue proliferation may have a theoretical reason for caution; in pregnancy and breastfeeding the data are limited; intra-articular injections must be performed by rheumatologists or orthopedic surgeons with a specific protocol and are not comparable to the oral supplement.
Information, not medical advice. Scientific evidence reflects the quality of the studies.