By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano Outdated Thinking About Cartilage Repair After 50 They told you cartilage can’t grow back after 50? Not exactly true. Many active adults over 50 have been told that once cartilage wears down, it’s gone forever as if aging shuts off the body’s repair switch. That’s outdated thinking. While cartilage turnover slows with age, modern studies reveal the joint environment can be reprogrammed toward protection and repair throu