The squeaking knee doesn’t get the oil

THE noise was driving me mad.

It was only a little squeak, but it was happening every time someone opened the door to my room in the surgery, and it had been going on for days.

As I vowed to track down some WD40, the next patient came in – accompanied by the familiar high-pitched noise as he closed the door behind him.

“There’s a funny noise,” he told me, “but it’s not coming from your door. It’s my knee.”

It was a case of knee osteoarthritis, a relatively common condition which tends to affect older people, especially women.

Inside the knee is cartilage, which works a bit like a shock absorber you’d find in a car suspension system.

Wear and tear leaves this cartilage thin and rough, which prompts the bone underneath it to grow thicker.

The tissue inside the knee reacts by becoming more active and trying to repair the damage which, frankly, it can’t do.

This results in the knee being stiff, painful and swollen and it can even give way completely at times.

Symptoms can flare up in low pressure weather. Not great if you live in the UK where rain is almost guaranteed.

Osteoarthritis also results in something called crepitus – where the knee grates and grinds on movement.

While it might not wake the neighbours, it is audible.

Knee osteoarthritis doesn’t have a cure, but there are options.

It may seem counterintuitive for a wear-and-tear condition, but exercise is recommended.

This helps improves the tone of the muscles round the knee, helping to protect and stabilise it.

High-impact sports, like running or football, probably isn’t the best idea. On the other hand, swimming is ideal.

Exercise may also help with weight loss, which is also good for the joint, while a walking stick helps take the pressure off the knee.

Painkillers can help and severe cases can be treated surgically, with a knee replacement.

Sadly, unlike my irritating door joint, you can’t just squirt a bit of WD40 onto the knee.