I’m a 21 year old who is suffering from knee pain and cracking/grinding joints. I am overweight and have always put the knee grinding down to my weight but recently in the past 6 months my knee has started to hurt and I can no longer squat and it hurts to climb stairs.
The Dr told me I was too young for arthritis and my weight isn’t so bad to cause such problems so it’s a winter thing. He advised me to take Vit D and come back if I have the same problem in the summer. I know that there is no cure for arthritis but my bones crack and snap every time I move and it’s so worrying. My knees grind and hurt constantly it’s so embarrassing at this age not being able to run around and do things like my friends.
Any advice on how I can reduce pain other than painkillers and stay active without causing further damage?
Thank you.
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sparkle557
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First off, avoid the painkillers as much as you can. NSAIDS interfere with cartilage remewal and will not help you in the long run. You already know that a weight control plan may be a good idea. However another thing you can do is strengthen the muscles which support your knee. Get hold of a book called "Treat Your Own Knees" by Jim Johnson. It's available as an ebook, or a paperback. The exercises are very similar to some my physiotherapist gave me, plus he has a program all worked out which is really easy to follow. It would help you even if you don't have arthritis yet. If you can have a session or two with a physiotherapist who can evaluate your muscle strength, mobility, etc, that would be good and help you develop new habits to avoid future problems. But the book should be helpful even if you can't see a physiotherapist.
It's really great that you want to be proactive and do what you can to improve your health. Do let us know how you get on. And if you still have pain when you have your follow-up appointment in a few months you should be sent for an x-ray which will show whether or not you have any degenerative changes to the bones. As you are so young it's unlikely, but best to make sure.
Thank you so much for your reply and kind words. Yes, I understand weight is a big factor I hope I can fix. It’s been difficult as I have IBS and PCOS so weight loss itself is hard and slow. But helpfully I can try make my diet even healthier than it is and keep hydrated and like you said try some exercises.
I usually end up walking around 8-10k steps a day due to university travelling etc but by the time I’ve come home and I’m in bed my legs ache and I can’t sleep at all. For now I’m managing thr pain with paracetamol I can’t take NSAIDs due to stomach sensitivity which is probably a good thing.
I don’t think I can afford physiotherapist at the moment and NHS ones are hard to get a hold of but maybe in the future. I will try bring it up to the dr again but there is so much going on I have an on going dry eyes issue which the Drs are trying to get to the bottom of and I may be referred to a specialist for that. And this is another thing really bothering me and I just feel like the Dr will dismiss this because I’m young and will think I’m a complainer.
That's why I suggest the book . A physio is a great helper, but the book is really excellent. It was written by a physiotherapist. And as the others have said, there are some kinds of arthritis which affect even children, so your doctor is being somewhat too dismissive, even negligent. If you can find your way to doing the exercises in the book they may actually help you with your necessary walking. Start small and work up slowly. Good luck!
I used to be a trustee of an arthritis charity in U.K. and we had all ages with arthritis. There are a lot of varieties. Would your doctor consider doing an X-ray to check your joints?
I hope so. But they really overlook younger people and don’t listen at all. Last year I told the dr I had leg pains and he dismissed it and said I was too young and just to be active and walk around. A couple months later I ended up in hospital due to low iron and B12. They really don’t listen until sometimes it’s too late unfortunately.
Hi sparkle557 , sorry to hear that your knees are hurting at the moment.
It could well be that the pain in your knees is related to arthritis - arthritis is the most common cause of disability in the UK and affects over 10 million people of all ages, not just older people. I'd recommend taking a look at the Arthritis Action charity website for more information on arthritis itself, so you have an idea of the condition and how it may affect you: arthritisaction.org.uk/livi...
We also have a hub dedicated to young and working age people living with arthritis, including advice and resources that may be of interest to you:
If you're still worried about your condition, it is worth speaking to your healthcare professional again about your worries and they will be able to advise further based on your healthcare history and records.
Finally, Arthritis Action also has an upcoming online meeting on Zoom for under 35's who may live with arthritis. The group is a safe and friendly environment for people affected by arthritis to speak with each other, learn from one another and share their stories, questions and tips. It may be worth you attending once to see if anyone can offer you any advice? More info including timings of the group can be found here:
Hi there Really good advice on this thread for you
I am a retired childrens nurse and children and young adults can and DO get arthritis unfortunately ... if you are struggling with your knees, could you maybe try to see another doctor?
Yes this thread has actually been so helpful it’s nice to see everyone giving useful advice.
That’s the thing I’m a third year pharmacy student and I’ve just studied the musculoskeletal system and we learnt about arthritis. Although it’s most prone in adults it can happen at any age like you said. It’s just so difficult with overloaded gps and no appointments available due to covid.
Also I don’t want the Gps to think I’m a complainer as I’ve been so frequently with other issues. It’s just as though one issue is being sorted another arises.
Hopefully he’ll listen the next time I bring it up. Thank you for your reply it means a lot.
Aw you're very welcome I know what you mean about overloaded GPs and covid and everything, I feel the same and keep putting off making an appointment
(About my knees funnily enough :))
We really shouldn't feel reluctant though as everyone has a valid right to see their doctor
See how you get on, I am going to ask about a physio appt to start with, could be an idea for you, some doctors surgeries have physios attached to them. Physios are sometimes better as they can assess your range of movement etc and tell your doctor if they think you need an x-ray or anything else
You’re right, they’re there for a reason even though some don’t reason with us.
Aww bless you I hope you are able to get it sorted and hopefully the physio will be able to help you. That is a good start I could ask to do that maybe. In the meantime I’ll YouTube some arthritis exercises there’s a bunch of physios on there.
I know it’s so hard for younger people to get Drs to take them seriously. It’s not like we enjoy going to Drs again and again and complaining. And with this whole covid thing all consultations are via telephone and they don’t call you in until they really feel the need and my Gp surgery is just rubbish with very few drs that actually listen.
My GP is actually one of the few who does listen and every time I’ve had a concern he has addressed it and ran further tests. But I feel like the past 2 years my visits have become so frequent it’s like a new complaint every time I go which I don’t enjoy but I only bring things up when they’re consistent and not going away or getting better.
I’ll try to ease my pain with all the useful information you and everyone has given and hopefully try to make another appointment in the up coming months.
I wonder if you shouldn't get a second opinion. My son was 20 when he had two knee ops and was told he had the knees of a 90 year old, very little cartledge..he had injuries when young teenager playing chase games and rugby which he then ignored!What I'm saying really is don't just ignore it, doctors aren't knee specialists and some are just a bit too glib!
I’m so sorry to hear that. I hope he is doing well now. It is honestly terrible they don’t realise until the problem has gotten worse. I’ll definitely try to bring myself to raise the issue about my knees at the next app.
I'm fairly young and when I went to the GP with knee pain I got an x-ray and a referral to the podiatrists for an assessment. Sound's like a crap GP who can't see past his own prejudices - go see a different GP.
I agree with lots of the advice you have been given, I must stress that you get your gut symptoms addressed. Get your vitamin B12 serum tested along with Folic acid levels, get a celiac test too, though can easily get a false negative, as you can with a test for Pernicious anaemia. Doctors are really thick when it comes to joint pain, and reach for painkillers without finding the reason for the pain. I hope you get sorted and don't have to wait 40 years before finding out the real reason for your joint pain like I did.
I’m so sorry to hear that it took this long for them to find what was wrong. It sucks feeling so helpless when no one is listening to us. I’m sure if we were able to afford private healthcare we wouldn’t be turned away like this and we could avoid a lot of problems as a result of late diagnosis.
But unfortunately this just isn’t the case for us
I appreciate the advise and I’ll try bring up some of these points to my Gp without sounding too pushy.
That sounds very sensible and useful. I might have to look into that too. I do find that wearing more comfier cushioned trainers to be easier for walking- for eg running trainers are so comfy it’s like walking on clouds.
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? What arthritis 
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Rheamatoid arthritis 
Is this arthritis? 
Is 52 too young for new knee
