Why Do Young People Experience Chronic Joint Pain?

Joint pain is often associated with aging and conditions like arthritis or injuries sustained over the years. However, many younger people—those in their 20s and 30s—experience joint pain without any obvious underlying health issues. While it can be puzzling and frustrating to deal with joint discomfort at a young age, there are several factors that could explain why some individuals suffer from persistent pain even without a clear diagnosis.

In this post, we’ll explore some of the most common reasons why younger people experience chronic joint pain, even when they don’t have a formal medical condition, injury, or preceding event. Spoiler: A common takeaway will be that grounding yourself in the AlloVitae trinity of Strength, Mobility, and Coordination will tremendously help in dealing with most of these reasons.

1. Overuse and Repetitive Microtrauma

One of the most common causes of joint pain in younger people is overuse—especially when certain joints are subjected to repetitive motion or stress. This is particularly true for individuals who engage in high-intensity exercise, sports, or jobs that require repetitive movements (e.g., typing, lifting, or manual labor). 

Over time, the constant strain on joints and tissues can lead to inflammation and discomfort. While the body has natural mechanisms to repair itself, the repeated, specific strain on the same tissues will simply outpace the healing process, which leads to chronic pain (and can lead to degeneration and movement inhibition). 

A common onset of overuse is a sharp increase in frequency or amount of activity, or starting a new activity with little to no ‘ramp up’ period (i.e., starting a running program and doing too much too fast).

Keep in mind that your body is very resilient, and ‘overuse’ can take weeks, months, or even years, depending on the type of activity, so it’s important not to overreact or discontinue activities that you enjoy, particularly if you aren’t having pain currently. However, just because you don’t have pain yet, it doesn’t mean you won’t benefit from the management strategies below!

How to Manage:

• Take a break from the specific activity causing pain if you can (but keep moving in other ways!)

• Incorporate strength and mobility exercises to improve tolerance and offset structural wear for tasks that you can’t stop performing (i.e. work/profession)

• Self-massage, trigger point, and soft-tissue treatment to relieve stiff and imbalanced tissue

• Rest and recovery - grab sleep and naps where you can and drink plenty of water

  
  

2. Poor Posture and Body Mechanics

Bad posture or improper movement mechanics (kinematics) can place increased stress on joints, especially the spine, hips, knees, and shoulders. Most younger people spend extended hours sitting at desks, using smartphones, or hunched over screens, which can cause malalignment of the body’s infrastructure and place excessive strain on joints. 

When the body is out of alignment, stress and load is enhanced across the system in ways that it hasn’t evolved to tolerate - joints, muscles, and connective tissues must compensate for the lack of proper movement or support, creating problems for those tissues. For example, slouching at a desk can put stress on the lower back and hips, while poor posture when using a phone can lead to neck pain and tension headaches (commonly referred to as "tech neck").

Also, keep in mind that a one-hour session at the gym every day, or even that 3x/week yoga class isn’t enough to ‘undo’ 12-16 hours of bad posture! Posture is a daily, hourly habit. And while none of us are perfect, it’s important to be aware of and address your posture regularly.

How to Manage:

• Practice good posture throughout the day - go from sitting to standing often

• Move as often as you can - even 30 seconds of movement will help to reset tissue lengths and activate support musculature

• Use ergonomic furniture and tools (adjustable chairs, elevate your monitor, use the speaker function instead of holding or cradling your phone where you can)

• Do regular mobility, strength, and coordinative exercises to improve resilience

  
  

3. Muscle (movement) Imbalances or Weakness

Muscle imbalances—when some muscles are weaker or tighter than they should be—can lead to joint pain. This often occurs when one muscle group becomes overdeveloped through overuse or movement dysfunction, while its opposing/balancing muscle groups are weak, overtight, underused, or all of the above. This syndrome has a high commonality across different types of profiles, including people who limit the variability of their movements, those who focus training on only certain body segments or areas without using complementary exercises, people who perform repetitive or cyclical activities without cross training, as well as those who don’t move and are generally sedentary.

For example, an individual who focuses primarily on bench pressing without balancing those activities with pulling exercises, thoracic spine mobility, or rotator cuff strengthening exercises may develop joint pain in their shoulder(s), neck, or elbows. Likewise, a runner who runs often without regularly maintaining mobility of their hip or lifting weights through proper ranges of motion will likely lack gluteal strength which could lead to imbalances and irritation in their knees. 

It’s important to understand that weak or poorly coordinated muscles will fail to provide adequate support to the joints, but paradoxically because of this, they will become stiffer and tighter as the body senses the lack of stability, and asks for more support from the surrounding muscle tissue. All of this compounded dysfunction will likely increase the discomfort and imbalance across the joint, leading to irritation and joint pain.

How to Manage:

• Incorporate our strength, mobility, and coordination training to ensure balance throughout your body

• Perform a variety of different activities, even at low intensity levels, to expose your muscles and joints to new, varying positions and ranges

• Reciprocity is a good rule of thumb for balance; if you stretch, you should also strengthen; if you push, you should also pull; if you work the front, you should work the back

• Understand that tight/stiff can also mean weak! Imbalances are more often caused by too little strength relative to the balance of the joint mechanics than being too strong

4. Previous (Significant) Injury

A key contributor to current joint pain is a past history of pain or injury. This can be a former injury in the same location as your current pain, but prior injury to a joint can also cause issues above and below.

Injuries will change the way a joint and the surrounding tissue functions, both short and long term, which can create problems later on, as well as lead to degeneration of the joint surface tissues and the onset of arthritis at an earlier age. Movement mechanics often become altered long after the injury has healed, with a new ‘movement normal’ being established that is less than ideal.

5. Inadequate Recovery 

In today’s culture, there is often a focus on pushing limits and working and training hard every day. However, doing too much, for too long, without ‘punctuated rest’ (a fundamental training principle) can lead to problems (in this case joint pain) even in young people. 

Whether from exercise or other physical activities, when the body doesn’t have enough time to rest and recover, the stress placed on the system can become overwhelming. This leads to a disruption in ‘allostasis’, or the body’s ability to maintain its relatively balanced status and heal the regular damage to the tissues. This can lead to inflammation, irritation, and, ultimately, manifest as pain.

Inadequate sleep, poor nutrition, and not allowing enough time between workouts will all contribute to overuse injuries. Likewise, emotional and psychological stress can compound this issue, as our body is one unified system that is affected by a confluence of stressors. Joint pain may begin as merely a mild discomfort but can evolve into chronic pain and even degeneration if proper recovery is ignored.

How to Manage:

• Allow sufficient recovery time between intense workouts (24-48 hours)

• Get enough sleep for optimal muscle and joint repair (more than 7 hours)

• Balance intense training with low-impact activities (e.g., yoga, swimming)

• Try specialized recovery tools such as compression, hydrotherapy, and massage

• Eat the right foods to both refuel and promote healing (see the last point)

  
  

6. Stress and Mental Health

Believe it or not, general life stress can also contribute to chronic joint pain, especially in younger individuals. When we’re stressed, our bodies release hormones like cortisol, which can increase inflammation in the body as a defense mechanism against danger and to fuel action under duress. In the modern world of often unyielding levels of, and even dependence on functioning through fatigue, pressure, and social stress, this is likely a highly overlooked contributor to joint pain.

Chronic stress can exacerbate existing pain, contribute to muscle tension, and even lead to heightened pain sensitivity. This phenomenon is often seen in people who experience chronic conditions like fibromyalgia, where stress and anxiety can trigger or worsen joint pain, even in the absence of an underlying joint disorder.

Additionally, stress can lead to poor sleep, which in turn impairs the body’s natural healing and recovery processes, making it more difficult to alleviate chronic pain and allow your normal hormone cycling to be regulated.

How to Manage:

• Practice stress management techniques that work for you - meditation and yoga might be it, but also maybe reading fiction or playing video games help your mind settle

• Ensure adequate sleep and relaxation - mid-day naps are an amazing tool for good and poor sleepers alike

• Seek professional help if stress or anxiety is becoming overwhelming

• Make sure not to forget about movement - motion is fundamentally important for your human system; not only to help with pain, but lowering stress levels, improving digestion, and your cognitive processes

  
  

7. Diet and Lifestyle

While it may not always be obvious, diet and lifestyle choices play a significant role in joint health. New evidence is suggesting that foods high in refined sugars, trans fats, and processed carbohydrates can create inflammatory events in the body that lead to inflammation across multiple systems. A poor diet can also contribute to weight gain, which places added stress on joints like the knees, hips, and lower back. 

Additionally, poor sleep habits can hinder joint repair and increase susceptibility to chronic pain as our primary healing processes occur while sleeping, particularly achieving deep-sleep.

How to Manage:

• Eat what your body needs - a balanced, anti-inflammatory diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins

• Do your best to limit foods that trigger inflammation (e.g., excessive sugar, processed meats, alcohol)

• Limit sugary beverages (soda and juice) and chase them with water

• Sleep, nap, and rest

  
  

Conclusion: Chronic Joint Pain Doesn’t Have to Define You

While chronic joint pain at a young age can be frustrating and confusing, it’s important to remember that the causes are usually not rooted in a serious underlying medical condition. Factors like overuse, postural issues, imbalances, and stress can contribute to joint pain in otherwise healthy individuals. By understanding these common causes, younger people can take proactive steps to manage their pain and improve their quality of life.

If you’re dealing with chronic joint pain, it’s always a good idea to consult with a healthcare professional who can help determine the underlying cause and recommend appropriate treatments. With the right approach, joint pain doesn’t have to be something that holds you back from living an active and fulfilling life.