Stiffening joints. An ache where there wasn’t one before. That disconcerting clicking noise as you sink onto a sofa… We all know that getting older has an impact on our knees. But what does the ageing process actually do to our joints? And, more importantly, is there anything we can do to protect them as we move into our fifties and beyond?
(Small spoiler alert: yes there is.)
Let’s look at the issue in a bit more detail…
What happens to our knees as we age?
It won’t surprise you to learn that the potential for knee problems increases with age. The University of Michigan recently polled some 2,200 people between the ages of 50 and 80 about their joints. They found that 70% of people experienced occasional joint pain, but nearly half said that pain was bad enough to “limit their usual activities”. Clearly, our bodies change as we age – and not always in the way we would like.
Several things happen to our knee joints as we get older:
Muscles – begin to shrink; the number and size of fibres in those muscles also decreases
Ligaments – which connect bones to each other, become less stretchy and elastic than they were before
Cartilage – holds less water than before, and degenerates more easily, meaning less protection within the joints
Synovial fluid – is produced in smaller quantities, providing less lubrication between the knee’s moving parts
Bones – lose some of the mass and density that they used to have
As tissues and bones lose some of their previous strength and density, the knee also becomes more susceptible to damage. Injuries such as ACL tears, tendonitis and meniscus tears are more common. And we also become more vulnerable to osteoarthritis, a chronic wear-and-tear condition that affects around 10 million people in the UK. The statistics tell us that, by age 45, nearly 20% of us will seek treatment for osteoarthritis – but that number rises to nearly 50% by age 75.
Lose excess weight
This can be a hard one to hear, but obesity is often the root cause of so many people’s knee problems. Think of it like this. When you walk on level ground, your knees have to bear the pressure force of about one and a half times your bodyweight. Walk up stairs and that pressure rises to two or three times. Crouch or squat and it increases to around four or five times your total weight. In other words, the more excess weight you’re carrying (the NHS defines a BMI of 25+ as overweight and 30+ as obese), the greater the strain on your joints. Over time, that will really take its toll on the tissues and cartilage in your knees. Losing weight isn’t easy, of course. But if you’re over 45 and starting to experience knee pain (often an underappreciated signal of obesity), it is absolutely worth the effort.
Read on: Tips to help you lose weight (a starter guide from the NHS)
Keep exercising
It’s a bit of a no-brainer, but getting to a healthy weight often involves exercise. But exercise isn’t purely about weight loss. Study after study shows that regular activity can help to stave off pain, injury and osteoarthritis. How? By improving blood flow, strengthening the muscles in and around our joints, maintaining bone strength, raising energy levels, improving mental health and increasing our pain tolerance (and more!). The NHS recommends every adult does at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise (brisk walking, cycling, dancing, hiking etc) each week, or 75mins of vigorous activity (running, swimming, walking up stairs, playing sport). It really does make a big difference to the health and longevity of our knee joints.
Read on: Why is exercise good for arthritis knee pain? (blog)
Keep stretching
By stretching, we mean activities that are specifically designed to improve the strength and flexibility of your muscle groups. Strengthening the muscles immediately surrounding your knees – particularly the hamstrings and quadriceps – helps you to maintain a good range of motion, ward off stiffness and improve your balance (which will also make you less susceptible to falls, perhaps the No 1 cause of joint injury in older people). Muscle strengthening also alleviates pressure on your knee joints – particularly important if you’re struggling with wear-and-tear arthritis. Always check with your doctor or physio before starting a stretching programme, but here are some options to consider (they’re aimed at knee replacement patients, but useful for general strengthening): 3 common exercises for knee replacement patients.
Read on… Exercises for the knees (a guide with instructions from the charity Versus Arthritis)
Listen to your body
There’s a psychological component to ageing too. Most of us can accept we’re getting older (just about!), but acknowledging our bodies aren’t as bulletproof as they once were is often more challenging. One good example is returning to exercise after injury. As we age, it takes longer for the tissues to recover fully. This means it’s doubly important to build up gradually; for instance, by slowly increasing the distance you walk or run each week rather than jumping back to your original mileage. The same applies with new activities. That Breakdancing for Beginners class? Don’t rush it! Finally, if you do have early-stage knee arthritis, it may be time to seriously consider an activity switch. If you’ve played regular football for 40 years, it can be hard to accept that its high-impact nature of a contact sport could accelerate the damage to your knee cartilage. But there are lower-impact alternatives: walking football, swimming, cycling… Could you embrace one of those instead?
Read on… What’s the best sport for someone with knee arthritis?
And a bonus tip…
Think carefully about your footwear. A surprisingly large number of people suffer from malalignment – either varus (your knees turn outwards) or valgus (they turn inwards: so-called “knock knees”). Malalignment can cause an overload of pressure on one part of the knee, rather than an even spread, which can potentially accelerate cartilage damage. If you’re in this position yourself, it would be a good idea to consider shoes that are designed to provide shock-absorbing support or that have specially-made insoles. You can seek advice on this from us, or your GP, or a physiotherapist.
Are you in your 40s or up and starting to notice recurrent pains in your knees? It’s worth getting seen by a doctor or specialist. You can make an appointment with Mr Bailey quickly and easily on our website. Or call the team direct on 01962 826107 to arrange a booking – they’ll be delighted to help.
