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Knees. Those knobbly bits half way up your legs. You have them, I have them... and they're
an important part of getting us from A to B and back again. Walking, running, cycling,
playing sport, dancing or just those stairs. Our knees take a real beating day in day out.So
it's no surprise to find out that the knee is the most commonly injured joint in the
body.One of the popular misconceptions is that knee pain will inevitably lead to a visit
to the surgeons table. I know as Bupa's director of Musculoskeletal services that quite often
simple lifestyle changes may be enough to sort out the problem. England's former cricket
captain Michael Vaughan is no stranger to knee problems. Michael, er, was it as bad
as it seemed? Yeah it was, I mean it was one of the major reasons why I had to finish playing
cricket in 2009. It wasn't just going out and performing , you know, as a professional
it was just everyday life. Walking around the house, walking up and down stairs, getting
in and out of cars, playing with the kids in the garden... Which for me, at the age
I was, was one of the most important things. So yeah I'd say it was the major reason why
I finished playing cricket. And since you've retired you've kept pretty active. How did
it stand the Strictly Come Dancing? *laughter* Well in actual fact that was my major concern,
and when you sign the contract for Strictly you're kind of not sure what it involves.
And then you find out you're training 9 hours a day, um, and for the first part it was pretty
tough.The more I did it the better the knee felt, the more secure, the legs got stronger
for it, um, you know, no one gave me a cat in hell's chance. Particularly a lot of my
ex team mates said 'you're knee will collapse within the first couple of weeks, well I survived
nine so the knee did a pretty good job. I think that's an important point that, er,
you don't necessarily have to stop exercise when you have a knee problem. A lot of the
time exercise's will make it better. Activity is so important. You know, walking to work
rather than getting the bus if you can, walking to the shops. Anything you can put the knee
through 'cause I think the common message that you hear is that 'oh you've got a knee
problem, rest don't do anything on it' I'd go and do the complete opposite. Try and do
as much for it as you can. Yes I think there are a lot of cases where you shouldn't give
up exercise, er, and do you feel you had all the information you needed to make the decisions
along the road? Yeah, look I was fortunate because I had a team around me, but I'm the
kind of person that just asks questions, you know, I wanted to know what would happen,
if they could possibly give me the answer. You've got to realise that everybody's needs
are different, you know, everybody's body shape's different, you know, so you've got
to find out what's gonna work for you. I think it's very important that patients understand
their condition and have the information available, they understand what the choices are and that's
the point of the Bupa online knee clinic.It gives them that information so that they can
make better decisions and, hopefully, make better recovery. The knee clinic also gives
a lot of information about how to maintain a healthy knee. What exercise's to do and
things like that. There's also an online forum so patients can go on there and exchange views
about what their treatments involve, but also their successes. Well Michael thank you very
much indeed for sharing your experiences. Thank you.