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Hephzibah
Ministries
How to future-proof your knees
Our knees are arguably one of our most important joints, but also one of the most poorly
looked after. Science tells us putting in some work now pays dividends later.
You might start to notice it as early as your thirties: the dull knee aches when the weather
changes, the morning stiffness when you get out of bed. You might think twice about
crouching down. They're all unwelcome signs that your knees are not quite the well-oiled
joints they once were.
This will be especially true if you have a physical job or play a lot of sport. But it can be exacerbated by other things too. Weight gain, underlying autoimmune conditions and genetics can all accelerate the onset of knee problems.
But it's also not surprising that our knees take a battering. Research indicates that just by
walking, the force on your knees is already equivalent to one and a half times your body
weight.
After back pain, throbbing aches in the knees are the most commonly cited musculoskeletal ailment in older adults, impacting everything from mobility to quality of life.
"The knee is one of the most complex joints in the entire body," says Anikar Chhabra, an orthopaedic surgeon and chair of sports medicine at Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, US. "It bears the
full load of our body weight with every step we take."
There are assorted reasons for focusing on your knee health that can bring benefits both
David Cox
