A lot of people come to us after having a scan on their knee and being told they have wear and tear in the joint and that nothing can be done. The first thing to understand is that when we scan knees from teenagers right through to people in their eighties, almost all of them show some level of wear and tear, and that is a completely normal finding. What is really important to understand is that wear and tear seen on a scan is very rarely the only thing driving knee pain. Sometimes it is a factor, but very often it is not the main reason someone is sore. The key mistake is treating the scan rather than the person in front of you. Wear and tear within a joint cannot be reversed, but that does not mean pain cannot be improved or resolved. Pain is often influenced by the strength of the muscles around the knee, the condition of the soft tissues, how the joint is loading, and how someone moves day to day. We regularly see people who have been told they have wear and tear and that nothing can be done, yet when we assess them properly, treat the surrounding tissues, improve strength, and optimise biomechanics, their pain goes and function improves significantly. A scan is just one piece of information. The real progress comes from understanding what is actually driving the symptoms and treating the whole person, not just the image on the report. The Sharp Physio Team