Running and Knee Arthritis – Busting the Myth

We’ve All Heard It

Running is bad for your knees. The pounding will cause arthritis. Avoid it if you have any knee trouble.

It’s a commonly held belief – and many people who would love to run avoid it because of it. So is it true?

No. And we’ve known this for a long time.

What the Research Actually Shows

Around 30 years ago, a study compared elderly runners and non-runners and found no increase in arthritis in the runners. That evidence existed decades ago.

The risk of osteoarthritis with running and aging: a 5-year longitudinal study.

More recent research – looking at people running at elite levels – found the same thing:

Running does not increase symptoms or structural progression in people with knee osteoarthritis: data from the osteoarthritis initiative.

It Gets Better

For people new to running, training for and completing a marathon actually improved pre-existing bone and cartilage health – and the benefits lasted at least six months afterwards.

Is the immediate effect of marathon running on novice runners’ knee joints sustained within 6 months after the run? A follow-up 3.0 T MRI study.

Not only is running not bad for your knees – the evidence suggests it is actually good for them.

If you have knee pain and are unsure about running, come and talk to us. We can assess what is going on and give you sensible, evidence-based guidance. You can also read about the conditions we treat and our treatment approaches.