To ask if my knees and back will ever "get better"?

[OnceMoreWithoutFeeling]

My knees are agony. No idea why, never been injured or anything. Just increasingly frequent and unpleasant episodes of pain in one or both kneecaps, to the point I now have to lope down the stairs saying "fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck" like a foul-mouthed hunchback of Notre Dame.

My lower back is not much better. Just so painful. So much of the time.

I'm 37 with two young kids (5 and 1). So obvs have done a lot of carrying heavy weights, crawling about on knees, bending over cots in the last 5 years. Plus no sleep do just generally quite run down.

Will these aches and pains ever get better when i don't have to put so much physical pressure on my joints? Or is it all downhill from here?? 😬

If you can, sign up for some weight training with a PT. I felt exactly the same as you at the beginning of the year and I now feel so much stronger.

Don't try and start running - buggered my knees doing that. Doh.

Have you tried physio? No one does a full joint assessment quite like a physiotherapist. If they've any concerns they can send you back to your GP for onward referral to orthopaedics or rheumatology.
Your poor body is probably just exhausted looking after everyone. Hopefully you can get back on track soon.
I had similar issues from my job and thankfully intense physio had me up and going again. Am still tired but less broken 😀

Get some Solgar high dose vitamin D. It has to be the Solgar brand, this is the only one I've found to be effective at relieving the joint and bone pain.

Every time I've had knee pain, it's been a back issue. Get thee to a physio, woman! Also, if you work at a desk, get an ergonomic assessment on your seating arrangements.

I fixed my sore knees by strengthening my leg muscles at the gym. Sore knees actually likely to be caused by sitting down too much rather than wearing out unless there are other factors involved.
Lower back pain can also be helped by strengthening your core and butt muscles.

it'd probably your glutes/hamstrings/IT band. see a physio, take up yoga and weight training and invest in a foam roller.

Don’t just tolerate it! Investigate!

Another on the yoga/weight training band wagon here. Everything starts to hurt once I haven't been to the gym for maybe a week.

Might be worth visiting a physio first to rule out anything else but with a 1 and a 5 year old my (unqualified) eDiagnosis is lack of structured weight bearing exercise.

Try some yoga with Adriene - no special equipment required.

Yoga for chronic pain:

Yoga for lower back:

I had very painful knees, started doing regular exercise, combo of cardio/glutes and core over 3 sessions a week. Pain disappeared, I lost weight, I felt strong.

Then I started eating all the cake and stopped exercising and now I have very painful knees.

I know what I need to do, now I just need to find the energy and willpower to do it 🤣

Yep, physio, strength training, Pilates.

See what's wrong, then do the exercises.

I was buggered in my 30s.

Now 50+& back & knees fine but hips buggered, thyroid wonky & menopausal so get on this now, as other stuff comes along.

I could have written this post and had no idea about weights / yoga etc. Some really useful responses, thank you on behalf of another tired and achey mum of young kids!

See a physio. Better than a gp at this sort of stuff.
Be careful taking exercise advice before seeing someone. I had terrible back pain like my spine was on fire at times. GP had no idea and referred me to physio. Turns out I have a hypermobile spine and the pain was due to twice a week yoga class.

Physio massage swimming pilates. Need to exercise to get better. Don't just live with it.

Thank you all! I had a PT during maternity leave once a week - she was amazing - and did a lot of strength training which was great for my back but not my knees - I was actually quite restricted in my leg exercises due to the knee pain ( could skip fine though, go figure).

Since going back to work have had to give her up and never exercise (no time!) - maybe this has a bearing on how bad the knees are becoming! I do also sometimes experience really bad calf muscle pain - to the point it's agony to walk even on the flat - but assumed that was due to walking funny because of the knees!

Sounds like a physio would be a good first port of call. Thanks all!

I found, after having kids, I had one joint injury after another (knees and shoulders - none of them escaped) until the kids were too old to require carrying or pushing around. Then things slowly got better, though I’m nowhere near as robust as as I was before kids.

They need looking at. A PT should have got you to see someone qualified to advise.

If you can afford it, Pilates on a reformer is amazing for helping you understand your body and correct sources of pain.

Basically, knees are meant to be quite stable, they get sore when they have to make up for issues with ankles & hips. Both hips & ankles need to be mobile & often they're not. This does need proper assessment.

I am the queen of all joint and soft tissue troubles. As well as all the excellent suggestions above I will add in getting your gait looked at. I now wear ( not cheap but also not custom made) inserts in my shoes which push my knees into a far better alignment. You can buy online and need to build up gradually.

I swim, walk and do Pilates. Learning how to do squats properly is an investment worth making. I’ve had bone on bone arthritis in my knees for 15 years but with management they mostly don’t give me much trouble.

best wishes.

Along with all the advice to do yoga/physio etc. I’d also recommend looking at diet. You sound like you have general inflammation and many people resolve joint pain by taking out inflammatory food from their diet

I know it sounds like it always has to be a mechanical issue but the fact you’ve never been injured specifically rings out the alarm that food may be playing a role

health.clevelandclinic.org/the-best-food-to-help-relieve-your-joint-pain/amp/

Exercise really is what will help. Often if you've have no injuries, it's extra weight that has caused it, doesn't even have to be a lot if your joints weren't strong to begin with. I know it's what doesn't help mine, although I did break my knee too. It's now hurting again because I've gained weight yet again, but in my defence I am recovering from more broken bones. 😂The pain has stopped almost completely before this because I had been losing weight. Back to square one again.

Weight training, yoga, pilates etc if you can go swimming that would be great too. As someone else said avoid running, but walking would be OK. Physio will help too, getting one may be a problem, although I find for my back pain right now a hot water bottle is the only thing helping.

Mine is postural, I have mild spinal curvature, cervical instability (top of my back and neck) and as a result I end up hyperextending my knees all the time. It also makes me grind my teeth at night. It took me a long time to work out what the pain in my molars had to do with my sore knees 😂

Dh had terrible knee pains had an mri and turns out it was his hips. Sometimes pain can show up in different parts of the body so don’t assume it is your knees. I think you need to see gp and get referral to an orthopaedic surgeon and get checked out before starting a weights program fgs. You have a 5 and 1 year old you do enough weights.

Definitely see the physio again.

Returning to work after having children often means you are the bottom priority. Your health and wellbeing are important and I imagine you are the one keeping the family running.

Think of exercise as a non negotiable- it has to be done to keep you healthy and pain free. Easier said than done unless you have family support.

Also I'd recommend vitamin D ( particularly if you are breastfeeding)