If you’re sitting or laying down, your knees (and ankles to some degree) aren’t weight baring; generally it won’t be noticeable if there is an imbalance or some damage in the muscles that produce the movement around these joints. It’s when we translate weight through the legs during standing, walking, that the problems may present.
When you walk, are you aware how you walk? Do you notice which parts of your feet hit the ground?
Does your shoe always wear out evenly? As opposed to more on one edge more than another.
Are you pain free from ankle, knee or hip pain when walking/running/exercising?
If answering no to any of the above questions my curiosity as a movement professional would have me watching your feet in static but more particularly in dynamic standing. It can be a question of the chicken or the egg? Which came first, the joint pain or having an irregular gait (i.e. the way you walk)? I watch thousands of pairs of feet, regularly (either in my clients or just people who walk the streets of London in front of me in my day. For me clients, by also hearing or seeing what issues are present for the body, it no longer surprises me to hear what pains a person has after seeing them move on their feet. The more I watch, the more I remember how many problems I had before educating myself about the biomechanics of walking.
So, if you have unexplained pain in your hip, knee or ankle (or even in your shoulders and back but that’s too complicated for this simple blog post), try paying a bit more attention to your feet..