Ed Voss, specialist physiotherapist at Ed Voss Physio, on why “wear and tear” is a worse phrase than it is a diagnosis.
If you’re of a certain age, chances are someone in a white coat has told you that you’ve got “a bit of wear and tear,” or that an aching knee or hip is “just your age.” It’s one of the most common things I hear in the clinic, and one of the least helpful.
The phrase paints a grim picture: a joint quietly wearing out like a break pad, with nothing to be done but wait. The trouble is, that picture is years out of date.
Here’s what we actually know. Our joints change as we get older – all of them, in all of us. It’s as normal as grey hair and a few more lines on our faces. If we scanned everyone reading this, nearly all of you would show some of these changes, and a great many of you would feel absolutely fine. What shows up on a scan and what a joint feels like often don’t match up at all.
So, when a report says “degenerative change,” or a doctor says “wear and tear,” what’s usually being described is not a joint falling apart. It’s a well-used joint that has carried you faithfully for decades.
And unlike a brake pad, a joint is living tissue. It responds to what you ask of it. That one fact changes everything, because it means you are not simply a passenger here.
Pain, too, is not the simple damage gauge we assume. It’s shaped by sleep, stress, diet and everything else going on in life, which is why a joint can flare one week and settle the next for no obvious reason. Hurting, in this case, rarely means harming.
The old advice was to rest and take it easy. We now know that’s often the worst thing for a sore joint. Movement and, above all, strength are among the best. Strong muscles act like shock absorbers, taking load off the joint and letting it move well. Get someone stronger, and their joint very often feels better – without a single thing changing on the scan.
There’s a bonus, too. The same work that looks after your joints looks after your bones, which matters enormously as we age, when a simple trip can become a broken wrist or hip. And it keeps you independent: rising from a chair, climbing the stairs, getting up off the floor, carrying a grandchild.
Before you picture a gym full of lycra, you don’t need one. “Strength work” can be as simple as standing up from a kitchen chair and sitting back down done at the right dosage habitually. It’s never too late to start; muscles get stronger at any age, well into our eighties and beyond. Give it a few weeks, keep it up, and the benefits come.
So, if you’ve been told you’re wearing out, I’d gently push back. You’re not fragile. You’re not past it. And a few stand-ups from your kitchen chair today is a genuinely good place to begin.
*Ed Voss is a specialist physiotherapist at Ed Voss Physio, Stroud – helping active adults stay strong, capable and independent for life.*
For further information, visit Ed’s website by clicking HERE or Email: edvossphysio@gmail.com Call: 07542 940478
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