#Cartilage

Cartilage is the modest noise-maker hiding between bones, promising to reduce friction but cracking and screaming with age. Hailed as the unsung underdog of joint stability, it is the invisible laborer we promptly forget. The moment pain registers, it cries out first, yet remains an uncaptured phantom on X-rays. Even when idle, it wears away until we only notice its absence after the damage is done.