Knees - bless them

Have you ever wondered about your knees? What a fantastic bit of engineering they are - when you consider what they are expected to do over a life time. Is there anything man made that can compare.

I am deeply grateful to my knees - they have become old friends - have their own personalities - I know them well. Left knee is solid and reliable - ungrumbling - the quiet one. Right knee is a bit of an extrovert - likes to feature - can be a bit sulky but can be brilliant (all those crunching tackles and goals slotted home from distance - ha!) Bless the knees I have been given - they are so important and they have never let me down (mega mega touchwood!!).

Are you asking is there any point to this particular blog - yes I am coming to it now!

Aged 60 and still active (touchwood again!). I have played various sports all my life and continue to do so. My knees have never really given me any problems (touchwood) in a way that they have to many others. This could well be down to just good luck but have my own theories (not based on any medical knowledge whatsoever). Here they are.

First of all I understand my knee is a bone joint supported by cartilage and held together by elastic bands. The elastic bands are the crucial bit. If they are not strong and really elastic you get excessive joint wear or the elastic bands (ligaments - or is it tendons?) can fray or snap.

So you must keep your elastic bands in the best order. My methods -
1) I have always rubbed my knees before sports activity. Warming them up means they are more elastic - I am sure of that. It means they are less prone to over stretching and breaking.
2) There is no easy solution to this - using your knees strengthens them up. Periods of inactivity increases your chances of injury once you get going again.
3) Following on from 2) above what happens if you get an injury? Of course there might be a time when you your only sensible option is to stop. However my experience is if I play through aches and pains they have always got better. Certainly some people stop too soon - too often - the least little tweak. The effect of this is weaken your knee ligaments through inactivity and problems will surely come in the future.
4) I have always bought good quality shock absorber inserts for my sports shoes - particularly for the heel. I have no doubt pounding your knees on hard surfaces can be detrimental - so care with long distance running.
5) Different types of activity demands different things of your knees - think about that. I have found some cycling and breast stroke swimming exercise my knees in different ways and keeps the old ligaments more elastic than they might otherwise be. I do some regular bending - particularly on my haunches - at the end of exercise (ie when my knees are warm). I think skiing is the ultimate test of knees - and the reason so many people get knee injuries skiing is because the knees have not been given a chance to prepare and build up elastic resistance to all the unusual and exaggerated challenges they have to face.
6) My final observation - if my knees get a bit stiff in the mornings it means I have not been using them enough rather than I have been using them too much.

Ps I also think your knees like a bit of sun now and again!