At least my knees are still functional

OK I chuckled but real talk: knee trouble in your 30s isn’t normal and shouldn’t be treated as normal
- 37, Mechanic, lot of squatting and bending. No knee issues.
  Moral: Use it, or lose it
- OP probably played football in high school or something.
  
  Perhaps, but all that’s mentioned is age.
  I’ve heard knees-crap-out-after-30-amirite jokes since my early 20s. It’s a form of denial coalition-building favored by folks obviously avoiding important lifestyle changes, and it’s rarely harmless to affirm that kind of denial.
  In addition, unexplained joint pain is a symptom of a number of chronic illnesses that have better outcomes with early diagnosis and treatment, such as rheumatoid arthritis. If someone thinks it’s normal, they might not even ask about it until the pain and damage is life-altering.
  That’s why I say it shouldn’t be treated as normal.
  
  Could be seriously overweight. I know two 30-yo people who joke about old age hitting them hard but almost all of their issues is due to lifelong serious obesity. Not that they're willing to accept that
- Yeah, if your knees are fucked up at 30, you're probably an athlete and injured your knees multiple times, or obese and overloaded them with too much weight.
  
  Also it’s hard to really fuck up your knees irrecoverably. They can bounce back from a lot.
  
  ETA: TLDR
- I wonder if squatting while lifting weights (gym) is also a speedrun to bad knees, or whether that actually does improvements
  
  Squats should strengthen your knees. Proper form will prevent excessive sheering force and risk of injury should be low with gradual weight increase.
  
  ETA: TLDR
  
  Nope, it’s great if you do it with proper form.
  
  It 100% improves your knees. Even half squats or bad form will still strengthen your knees, it will just fuck up your back if you do it wrong.
- Isn't normal? Maybe if you never injured them doing things. Knee problems are extremely common, human knees are poorly evolved and prone to injury just by being used.
  Backpacking, skiing, horse riding wrecked mine long ago. Now I just try to keep the surrounding muscles fit to hold all the loose shit together.
  
  Isn’t normal? Maybe if you never injured them doing things.
  Thanks for confirming that it isn't normal. Most people who are 30 have not injured their knees to the point of issues.
  
  The knees are remarkably hard-wearing joints, capable of a lifetime of sustained use. It’s a common myth that they have some finite mileage that can be used up.
  
  Hmu if you want a training buddy. ETA: TLDR
  
  If your knees are screwed up from "just turning 30", then that indicates an expectation that you don't need injuries to have bad knees.
  Repetitive impact injury can screw things up, but the vast majority of people bemoaning their old age joints especially in their 30s are not exercising enough and/or are obese.
  Whatever the case, bring it up to your doctor, didn't assume changes like this are just normal/expected.

I'm 30 and my body feels better than when I was 20. Looking after myself alot better now.
- Looking after myself alot better now.
- I'm in the same boat. I started to turn things around in my late 20s with regular exercise, and my knees (and back) feel better at 31 than they did at 25.

46 here, knees are fine, digestive system on the other hand....

Yall some sedentary motherfuckers if your knees already hurt at 30
- Not always, some of us had knee injuries.
  
  Nah, I'm a sedentary motherfucker.

I’m pushing 40 and my knees are just fine. My esophageal sphincter on the other hand is very angryface. Omeprazole helps but it’s very much thrown in the towel.
Ugh, kill me.
- Same for me, sucks knowing that I have to take PPIs for pretty much the rest of my life or deal with constant heartburn and an increased cancer risk...
- You should probably switch from omeprazole to famotidine. I used to be on omeprazole until my doc noted that there are indications of it be a carcinogen when used long term. Switching was a non-issue for me.
  Of course, I'm just some rando on the internet. You may want to seek some reliable info on the topic. Look for PPI vs H2 receptor antagonist.
  
  That doesn’t work for me. We tried using it first and switched to Omeprazole.

just a reminder that most people bodies do not degrade. they just stop using them as much as they did when they were younger. the human body is surprisingly resilient to breaking down with regular upkeep. Motion is lotion

More like 40th but still painfully (literally) accurate.
- Meh. I'm over 50 and my knees are fine.

You can do some sport. That helps. At least at 30.
- Until you sport too much and get an injury, and then it's just a chain reaction of things breaking down because you can't exercise them like you used to.
  
  Yeah it's a terrible feeling giving up a sport bc it's too hard on ya. Like I really love Judo but I just can't throw myself at the floor repeatedly any more. But I might be able to do Aikido or low-contact Karate (or just strength training which is what I chose). The trick is knowing when to move on, and it's a tough decision.
- I'd say workout, yoga, lift heavy thing.
  Sports only if you actually enjoy them. Most people I know heavily into sports get injured and some of injuries do not heal back to 100% ever.
  
  This here! You want "low impact" activity that keeps the supporting muscles strong
  
  +1 for yoga. Stretching is just as important, but so many people completely neglect it

Oh hey, it’s actually my 30th birthday today. I feel this.
- Happy B-day!
- Happy birthday 🎂
- It's coming for me in a couple months. I was out dancing Friday night, and then did some disc golf wand walking all over town yesterday and my legs are absolutely killing me today
  
  I got a little heavier with beer and tried running again and my knee hates it. Gotta start doing other things that’s not cardio to get my knee back up to shape so I can get back in shape!

37 here, my knees are great. Sprained my ankle back for the very first time back in November in my kickboxing class and I'm starting to fear I've done permanent damage.
- It gets worse. Take care of your body
  
  If they're in a kickboxing class it sounds like they are.

Working my way gradually down to deep squats has been great for my knees. It doesn't take much to get there and maintain. I just found times to hold a squat for a bit while watching TV or gardening. Also, the knees over toes guy has some good advice for keeping your joints healthy.

I’m 38 and my knees bend fine, they just make more noises now than they used to.
- Same. It satisfies my craving for popping bubble plast. More environmentally friendly too. Win/win.

I lost my knees at the ripe ol' age of 14. Was playing racquetball at the Y, pivoted and it just hurt like a son of a bitch. Turned out I have a cartilage deficiency specifically in my knees as well as ton of damage from falling on them while rollerblading without protection, so kneeling on or doing anything that involves rigorous bending of my knees is out of the question.
- "And that's why I have to decline your full Catholic mass wedding, sorry."

Posted by someone who has not hit 30 yet.
- Nah bro, I'm past the big 3-0. My knees are still good (though I've got plenty of other aches and pains to make me feel ancient), but I've got friends already complaining. We're all getting old and decrepit. Big RIP to youth 😔
  
  I stood up from the toilet once and my knee popped and kind of hurt, now every once in a while my knee hurts if I stand up too straight

You should go to the doctor if you have knee problems that early
- I think the issue is that if you had injuries at younger age, those injuries become inflamed again as you become older. There are athletes who said their injuries become inflamed again when they hit 30's. There are also soldiers who passed away after their old wounds became a problem again at old age. The body just can't keep up repairing itself anymore.
  However, old injuries isn't just the only explanation. If one have hardly been sporty or did labour intensive jobs at younger age and feeling pain on the knees, it could be genetics. If not, then it is something entirely within the person's control: overweight. I have friends who gained weight tremendously over the years even though we are only in our early 30's. One of my friends could hardly walk for long at a pretty short distance. I reckon it is because they work from home and don't do any exercise (some of them became too jaded and insecure over the years to go to gym), while I and my other friend work on-site so we have more physically demanding jobs and we still do exercise.
  
  I'm a remote worker and it's true you need to make time for physical activity every day or you'll start to feel badly quite quickly.
  The good news is you've hypotheticaly got more time in the day to do that. Like I can can can lift some weights and go jogging in the time I used to spend coming and going to work.
  
  I think bones also scale up if you are overweight at a young age. My knee bone is almost twice the size of my buddy's despite being close to the same height. I bet if he'd weigh the same as me those knees would be in trouble. Mine are doing fine tho.
- Or use them every now and then.

Do you guys like, not walk? I'm not exactly skinny and mine are fine close to 40.
- Mine feel better with 40 then 10 years ago. They weren't bad per se, but skateboarding isn't exactly great for the knees. But apparently still bettr than stitting around and complaining

I'm 50. If a terrorist put a gun to my head and ordered me to get on my knees, my head would end up blown off.

Start running, it will strengthen the muscles around your knees and protect them. It also brings a million other health benefits.
- There's a sweet spot. Go too easy and they get screwed up and go too hard and they screw up.
  But it's true that being reasonably active helps a ton. Someone I know who complained of joint pain as they retired claims it went away as his leisure time caused him to walk all over the place, and now he's 70 with no joint pain. Closest he got was when we spent two hours in a crawlspace working on some frozen pipes and complained that his back hurt a bit and wondered if it was because he was old. No, even the 20 year old hurt after waddling around hunched over in freezing temperatures for a couple of hours.
  
  Great to hear that being active still strengthens your body when being older. That’s one of my biggest motivations: To be physically healthy and strong when I’m old.
- Just don't do it wrong though, because then you will ruin everything.
  
  Yes, it’s recommended to start slow and get fitting running shoes
- Running is about the worst thing you can do to your knees.
  
  If done correctly, it will not have a negative impact on the joints. Dampened running shoes and starting really slow are important. Movement will keep your knees healthy. The strengthened muscles will help when you lift heavy weights. Running is also one of the best ways to loose weight, which will reduce pressure on the knees in return.
  Of course there are exceptions when running isn't a great idea, like high obesity, chronic pain or injuries.
  If running isn't your thing, biking or swimming could be nice alternatives.
  
  Doesn't seem to be strictly true, but I do think it's complicated. Running is awful for your knees if they're injured or you have some sort of congenital skeletal issue. If you're just sedentary, it's awful for your knees if you do too much too soon.
  Otherwise it seems to strengthen them. I will grant that it's pretty hard to truly run easy enough and build up slowly enough. Takes patience and some trial and error in my experience. I skateboarded through my teens and 20s and had all sorts of nagging pains that have gone away completely after a couple years of consistent running, as an anecdote.
  https://longevity.stanford.edu/lifestyle/2023/08/29/is-running-bad-for-your-knees-research-says-no/

Currently in a waiting room because my knees stopped kneeing. And I’m younger than 35.

Mine hurt at 25 thanks to the Army.

Far better for your knees to go than your back. One can be replaced, the other you just get to live with.

Knees are somehow better than they were in my 20s. My back however is killing me.

Turned thirty, and all my childhood injuries came back. My ankle keeps me up at night. Getting old sucks.

My knees and I have a love/hate relationship. They loved me for about 20 years and I hated on them so much that they no longer work

I hit my knees so many times. 29, still functional.

Lol 30 and you're faking knee problems. Perhaps consider standing up like once day.