From Men's Health · Marty Munson · · 50s
Why Your Knees Hurt and What to Do
Doctors explain common knee pain causes and fixes.
In brief
Doctors explain common knee pain causes and fixes. Knee pain often signals meniscus tears, ligament damage, or osteoarthritis; physical therapy and gradual exercise help avoid long-term harm. Originally reported by Men's Health.
What Makes Your Knees Hurt
Twists, turns, and pivots cause meniscus tears and ACL injuries.
“CrossFit and Pickleball have probably brought us the most patients with meniscus tears out of anything in the past 10 years”
Weekend Warrior Risks
Sudden high volume training causes patellar tendon pain and swelling.
“Going from the couch to running 10K in five days, or trying to crush nightly pickup basketball games when you haven’t touched a ball in years, basically, suddenly overdoing volume, can cause swelling and pain in the patellar tendon at the front of your knee”
Age and Osteoarthritis
Cartilage wear from age, obesity, or injury leads to osteoarthritis that doesn’t heal.
“Once it’s damaged, it can’t heal. Even with all the NIH money and everything we have now, we still haven’t figured out a way to make it heal back to normal”
3 Signs of Serious Pain
Pain with swelling, collapsing, or locking signals internal damage.
“…is painful and so swollen you can’t see the dimples around the kneecap on either side. That’s usually a sign of internal damage, like a meniscus or ligament tear.”
Lift Right Strategy
Maintain knee stability with controlled weights to avoid injury.
“Maintaining knee stability and neutral knee alignment, keeping knees in line with toes, becomes difficult with increasing weights”
Drop Extra Weight
Less body weight reduces stress on knee joints.
“Less body weight means less stress on the joints”
Be Consistent
Regular exercise prevents knee damage better than intense workouts.
“Our knees do best when they’re consistently loaded and challenged to stay strong and stable”
The headline
Knee pain often signals meniscus tears, ligament damage, or osteoarthritis; physical therapy and gradual exercise help avoid long-term harm.
