Published on: 9th April 2025
A new article in The Times (paywall) features RNOH consultant surgeon Prof Alister Hart, answering key questions on knee joint health such as: which exercises you should do, the supplements that might help and whether or not to have an MRI scan.
“Perhaps 99 per cent of us will have some knee pain at some point in our lives… It’s rarely serious, often passes and mostly doesn’t need treatment,” said Professor Hart on the frequency of joint pain. "As an orthopaedic surgeon I have replaced thousands of worn-out knees during my career,” he says. “But I do know that there is a lot of misinformation about knees and much we can do to actually help preserve the joints.”
Regular exercise will help maintain healthy knees and joints and squats are the single best exercise for this. According to Prof Hart, it's best to "vary them with single-leg, heel-raised and weighted varieties for progression. Begin with shallow squats and no weights and only on the advice of a physio if you have been injured. No squats should cause pain”
To help improve stability, it is important that the quadriceps muscles in the front of the thighs stay strong. “But strengthening just one muscle group is not the best approach,” Prof Hart says. “You also need to strengthen calves, glutes, hip adductors and hamstrings to keep the knees robust.
"Lengthening the supporting muscles with eccentric exercises is the quickest way to better knee support. Descending stairs slowly will strengthen the quads and dropping heels slowly after performing a calf raise will work the calf muscles.”
What about taking supplements help to keep knees in good shape? According to Prof Hart, “the only supplements I recommend for healthy knees are vitamin D taken with vitamin K. The rest are probably not worth buying.”
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is often used to explore the cuases of knee pain because it delivers detailed images of bone and soft tissue. However, an MRI is not always necessary for joint aches and pains, a more straight forward X-ray can be sufficient.
“You do not need an MRI unless there are red flags for serious injury such as those that occur with a fall from a great height or a high-speed car crash,” Prof Hart says. “An MRI might also be recommended if, after one week of rehab, you still can’t straighten the knee or if it gives way when you try to bear weight, but the majority of people with knee pain do not need a scan.”