That arthritis in your knees!

Looking at me with a cry for help on her face and her right hand cupped over and rubbing her right knee, Mrs T lamented, "Doc, I really don't know what it is but I have this pain and cricking in my knees!"

Pain in your knees will certainly take you limping into the doctor's office. You find you can't get up from the chair, climb in and out of your car and climb up steps as you used to. Chances are, you may have osteoarthritis of the knees. In this condition, your body is reacting to injury within the joint. This reaction, which brings most of the pain and sometimes swelling, is as a result of wear and tear within the joint. You can easily call it 'wear-and-tear' arthritis.

Wearing down of the knees

My mechanic is checking my car for a clunking sound that comes from my right front wheel on turning a corner. He says the CV joint is worn from all of the years and miles of road use. I had to change them. I felt the pain in my pockets!

By age 50 and beyond, you have done a lot of mileage on your knees. Even if you don't do the Sigma Run, don't underestimate what your knees have done for you. The walking, running down the bus, climbing up the steps, getting up and down from the bed or the chair, moving in and out of the car … and your story goes on and on.

Your mechanic … oops … sorry, your doctor will most likely find some signs of wearing of your knee joints. You may not be feeling much pain as yet but you may feel or even hear some clunking or clicking.

So do you have knee osteoarthritis?

If you have any pain or discomfort in your knees it is important to have it checked early. Your doctor will do an examination in office and may go on to order X-rays and sometimes a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for a more detailed look, as well as blood tests.

Although osteoarthritis is common, there are other important causes of knee pain that need to be considered in your assessment. I tend to see more of this wear-and-tear arthritis in women over 50, compared to men. It is also more common if there has been some earlier injury to the knee or the limb, which affected weight bearing over the years.

Oh, how could I forget weight!

Yes, if you are overweight, your chances of developing knee osteoarthritis is four times higher than if you had your ideal body weight. The force pressing within your knees during daily activities is about four times that of your actual body weight. If you are 200 pounds and are climbing down a flight of stairs, then the inside of your knees can experience a force equal to 1,200 pounds! Now you know why it hurts so much!

Take care of your knees

Now, if it gets really bad, there is an option to replace that knee joint. Unlike your car's CV joint, however, even if it comes from Japan, it's never as good as your original. So go get checked early and, now that you know, keep a focus on maintaining a healthy weight and a healthy knee!

Dr Tomlin Paul is a family physician at Health Plus Associates in Kingston; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com