Nikki Chandler, 49, from Hertfordshire, looked young for her age – but there were two things bringing her down
Staring at myself in the changing room mirror, I admired the figure-hugging cocktail dress I’d just picked out. Thanks to hours of daily cycling and a fit and healthy lifestyle, I was proud of my toned legs and slim ankles, and fast approaching 50, I was feeling far younger than my years. But when I looked down to my sagging knees, my heart sank.
‘I can’t wear this,’ I thought sadly, unzipping the back and preparing to search for something longer. For years, I’d been self-conscious about my knees, which were sagging and wrinkly, and while some female friends confessed they felt their neck or face gave their age away, for me, it was clear my knees were letting me down. ‘It’s such a silly thing to worry about,’ my husband Erol then 53, told me as I tugged at my knee-length skirts whenever we went out for a meal. ‘I know it seems vain, but it really bothers me,’ I told him.
HIDING MYSELF AWAY
After years of running, in 2014 I’d taken up cycling, competing in races all across the country alongside men and women in their 20s and 30s. I’d shudder when I put on my cycling shorts, and would quickly hide behind other riders the minute someone got out a camera to take a group picture. I’d even sit and stand on my bike in a certain way to keep my legs as bent as possible, to try to hide the sagging.
As much as I’d love to have worn a short dress, or shorts in the summer, my wardrobe was full of over-the-knee dresses and trousers. And working as a front-of-house receptionist for a private medical clinic, I’d wear tights with my smart dresses and skirts, even in summer when I’d feel hot and uncomfortable.
Cycling for up to three hours a day did nothing for my saggy, ageing knees and I wondered if the fact that I was so active had made them worse. I did my best to not let it bother me, I knew that it was a small thing that shouldn’t have such an impact on the way I felt about myself, but one day in July 2020, I was kneeling down in a summer dress doing a bit of gardening when I looked down at my knees and wanted to cry. The skin above them had stretched so much over the years it was now hanging down. I realised that it wasn’t just a case of letting something insignificant affect me when it shouldn’t, but it was something that was really having a negative impact on my life. So that week at work, I spoke to some of my colleagues, who put me in touch with t
