Any Niall Horan fan knows the singer has had serious trouble with his knees. From surgeries to on-stage injuries, the “Slow Hands” crooner has been nothing but open and honest about his health struggles with fans over the years and speaking to Australian radio host Smallzy, Nialler explained exactly how this knee struggle began. Basically, it’s something he was destined to deal with. We know, NOT POOR NIALL but it’s true.
“I just think there’s something in our family where all of our joints, my hips, my knees, my ankles, my shoulders, apparently there’s a thing on my dad’s side of the family where we all just have bad joints. I had reconstruction on this left knee and this knee is overcompensating for that one so now my right one is now acting up. So basically if I run around for an hour, having played football or whatever, I come off and I literally feel like a 45-year-old man,” Niall explained.
OK, now this is just so sad to know a lot of people in the Horan family are struggling this way. Niall just recently took to Twitter to let everyone know his knee was acting up again and it just bums him out that he feels like he can’t do things any other 20-something adult would be able to, since he ends up in constant pain.
I want the knees of a 23 year old , it's not even funny anymore. Playing football for an hour should have no repercussions for a 23yr old
— Niall Horan (@NiallOfficial) September 8, 2017
Ice packs and all!
Niall’s knee woes go all the back to the early One Direction days and in October of 2011, he let everyone know on Twitter about his knee problems he’s had already been dealing with for a while.
did my knee in today!! happens way to much! #dodgyknee
— Niall Horan (@NiallOfficial) October 31, 2011
Since that initial tweet, he has time and time again updated fans on how difficult it has been living with his knee struggles. There have even been instances on stage when he nearly buckled over in pain, like in 2013 when bandmate [Liam Payne] was joking around with he and accidentally ended up hurting Niall’s knee.
But it was in January of 2014 when the “This Town” singer underwent surgery to help his knee issue. He took to Twitter to share a series of messages to fans about his condition writing, “Hey guys, I know most of you have seen those pics today! Yes I’ve had major knee surgery, a much larger surgery than first anticipated, but I would like to tell you it was a complete success considering the scale of it,” Niall tweeted. “So all I ask of you guys is that you would respect my privacy as I try to recover and get [ready] for the Where We Are tour!”
He then showed up to the Brit Awards along with the 1D guys on crutches, nearly a month post operation.
He soon ditched the crutches though and was bad to performing on tour without any issues, and Louis Tomlinson even decided to get a little creative and draw a design on Niall’s scar.
Haha @louis_tomlinson decided he was gona colour in my scar ! Looks mad pic.twitter.com/RSj3FzwiIi
— Niall Horan (@NiallOfficial) April 27, 2014
So Niall was at the point that he could even crak jokes about his injury! But during a show in June of 2014, someone threw their phone on stage that ended up hitting Niall right in the knee. Jump to the 4:13 mark to see it all go down.
Niall doubled over in pain but he continues on, like the professional he is. He then shared a message on Twitter asking fans to be a bit more careful since he wasn’t fully healed yet.
Also guys! Can you limit what gets thrown on stage please! Coz somethin thrown at me tonight! Hit my knee! A lot of pain from it!
— Niall Horan (@NiallOfficial) June 25, 2014
Never wana sound like I'm complaining! But only having my operation 5 months ago, I still get a bit of pain and I'm very scared about it
— Niall Horan (@NiallOfficial) June 25, 2014
Yikes, that for sure must’ve been a rough night for Niall. But he worked hard with his trainers to get his knee back n tip-top shape and in 2015, he let everyone know he had reached a major mielstone: he could touch the bottom of his foot to his butt. “First time I’ve been able to touch my [butt] with my heel since I got the operation. Sounds so dumb, but it’s a big day in my head haahah!” he wrote.
Little victories! And while it’s clear Niall’s knees might always give him trouble, it’s nice to see he is staying determined to get better.
Watch a hisotry of Niall’s knee problems:
Love J-14? Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for fun, exclusive videos with your favorite stars.