Do not (let your knees) go gentle into that good night

I've been meaning to write about Scooter's knees. You mustn't presume that you're stuck with painful knees for the duration. You might be; but they might be fixable. See your doctor; get him/her to send you to a physical therapist who may be able to help.

I've been through this. Doctor No. 1 told me about 10 years ago that my knee pain was from aging, that I should give up running and tennis and take anti-inflammatories. I gladly grabbed the excuse to give up running, but kept playing tennis. My knees got progressively worse and I just thought it was the cost I had to pay to play tennis, against doctor's orders. But tennis for me is a reason to live so I wasn't going to give it up.

Then, about three years ago, I hurt my elbow playing tennis and went to Doctor No. 2. He asked offhand how my knees were and told me to ask the physical therapist (who would be rehabbing my elbow) to check out my knees. The physical therapist diagnosed that my inner quads were weaker than my outer quads, causing my kneecaps to track not quite right. She gave me exercises to strengthen my inner quads! Weeks later I noticed that my knees seemed to be getting better, and after a few months I had pain-free knees that have been fine ever since.