As with all phobias, there doesn’t have to be an underlying reason for genuphobia; in fact, according to Healthgrades, most people can’t link their phobia to a specific event. Furthermore, people with phobias often have a relative with the same or similar phobia, which has led experts to consider whether there is a genetic aspect to phobias, making some people more prone to them than others. Of course, another possibility is that people learn, rather than inherit, phobic behavior from a relative, so it’s hard to determine what is nature and what is nurture in this situation. Phobias can be treated via cognitive behavioral therapy, which allows patients to identity and change thoughts, emotions, and behaviors; exposure therapy, in which the patient experiences controlled situations and learns anxiety reduction techniques; and traditional talk therapy.

In 2009, The Mirror interviewed a woman with such severe genuphobia that it had negatively affected her life in a myriad of ways. Starting at the age of 15, Stephanie Cockerill couldn’t even look at a knee without having a violent reaction, reporting, “I can’t look, touch or feel knees as it starts to make me feel sick, I start shaking and sometimes end up having panic attacks. I hate the way knees feel and my worst nightmare would be if someone else’s knee touched mine.” As a result, Cockerill avoided swimming pools, kneeling down, and shaving, noting she was more afraid of her own knees than those of anyone else.