Joints are constantly cracking

LegacyUser

I understand this is not a medical forum and this isn’t realy that serious a problem.

I have an issue with my joints making a cracking noise
If I stand up from desk my knees crack which is embarrassing.

And if I stretch and force my joints, I can crack my ankle, shoulder, right arm, fingers and even my jaw.
It’s not painful, in fact it kinda relives tension but I’m worried I’m wearing down cartilage and causing long-term damage.

My Dad suffers from arthritis after working outdoors on a farm all his life. Now while I work in an office, I don’t want to end up with arthritis and being very stiff when I’m older.

I’m pretty fit as I exercise regulary and my diet is ok. I do a bit of long distance running but this wouldn’t be the cause of the problem.
I also take Omega 3 tablets but they didn’t help me with this at all.

Any suggestions?

dudara

Take a supplement designed to help joints. Fish oils and linseed are good for this.

TBH, I'm going to move this to the Fitness forum as those guys will have experience in this area.

star-pants

Hi OP -

It's not that uncommon for joints to crack and there be no particular cause to it.

However as you said your father has arthritis -- are you female by any chance? (it's higher in females than males afaik) I doubt you do seeing as how you've not mentioned any pain / locking joints / swellings. And it tends to skip a generation.
I have had knee/hip/lowerback / elbow/wrist pains for years (progressive) and I've had blood tests and they say I dont have arthritis (my mother has rheumatoid arthritis) but I can still be in a lot of pain. A lot of my joints crack (in general) and when i stand up, hunker down, lean on my wrist.

As a precaution Glucosamine tablets are good for joints, perhaps the ones that contain Chondroitin -- (perhaps check with your GP first though) I get them in the health shop & find they help (joints will still crack). But they help with the joints & the lubrication/fluid around them.
The fact you're fit & exercise is really good because that helps.

I know a guy who does long distance running / training to be in the AirForce (ie very fit & very healthy) and his ankles cracked with every step for no reason.
Also never force your joints to crack - if you stretch and they do then that's ok -- I don't think pushing them is a good idea.

Hope this is of some use.

p.s. seemingly Garlic, Cayenne Pepper & Ginger added to foods helps with any inflammations etc.

How Strange

Take linseeds/linseed oil or Udos oil every day and glucosamine. That should help to ensure there is no damage being done. My joints crack all the time and in pilates I can sometimes hear my vertabrae, hips etc popping into place.

pwd

I have heard that knees cracking without other symptoms usually indicates an excess of synovial fluid in the joint.
My knees, neck and bum crack

Lockstep

pwd wrote: »

My knees, neck and bum crack

Bum Crack

haha

Genius.:D

echosound

pwd wrote: »

My knees, neck and bum crack

Ha!:D

Glucosamine seems to help, I can (well, used to be able to) crack every single joint in my body, neck, fingers, knees, ankles, each joint of each toe, spine, hips, elbows, wrists, fingers, I was like a walking sheet of bubblewrap.

It used to give me relief to crack my neck especially as I suffer from neck and back pain,but any test I had done never showed anything up. One helpful doctor told me that if my neck cracked when I moved it like "this" *demonstrating leaning head slightly to the side* then to stop moving it like that. Nothing worked, til I started taking glucosamine tablets, in combination with a couple of other supplements, but I get the feeling you're male, so these wouldn't really benefit you TBH (wimmin's stuff that helps regulate hormones).

Been told time and time again by docs that cracking joints should not cause any problems for you in the future, but seeing as there's a family history of arthritis, you may find you will get a touch of it anyway (runs in my family too and I@m starting to get a slight touch myself).

ecoli

Future Cripple? wrote: »

I’m pretty fit as I exercise regulary and my diet is ok. I do a bit of long distance running but this wouldn’t be the cause of the problem.
?

to be on the safe side with your runnin i would recommend ur long runs on grass as pressure exerted on ur kness wi every stride is 13 times your body weight and many runners in later life develop arthritis in there knees
as for supplements the two i will swear by as a serious long distance runner is glucostamine and also continue takin the omega three it might not reduce the crackin but it beneficial for the joints

cormie

Hi folks, I know this thread is old, but I guess that's a good thing in this case. So from the suggestions above, has anyone's cracking improved? My elbows have been cracking for years and I've recently started taking flax/linseed in smoothies every day (I've a high speed blender which takes care of them pretty well), only for a few months now but have also increased the amount of exercise I do by a lot so although I haven't noticed much improvement, maybe I would if I didn't exercise so much, or maybe I'd see it getting worse from increased exercise if I didn't take it. Would prefer not to take fish oils. I take about 4 teaspoons of golden linseeds in smoothies about 6/7 days a week.

superfish

Try joint plex I have the same problem from years of weightlifting I use joint plex along with my fish oils and it seems to do the trick give at a couple of month to start working properly and make sure to take ya fish oil daily

cormie

Thanks for the suggestion but I'd personally prefer to stay away from any synthetic products and just stick to natural organic wholefoods like linseed. If it takes a few months to kick in, maybe I'll notice an improvement going as I am in a while anyway Just wondering really if anyone who had been taking the lindseed noticed improvements.

The Guvnor

Cracking is not necessarily a sign of any issue.

Do a google on crepitus.

As for supps lots of items can help.

Green Lipped Mussel apparently can regenerate cartilage - study was done in NZ.

Cissus gets excellent reviews.

Glucosamine and Chondroitin are also worthwhile along with fish oils etc.

cormie

Thanks for the input Just to note also in my case, it's not just a case of cracking, but sometimes it might take a bit of a push or twist to crack, and if I don't do this, I can fully move my arm in a certain direction. I wonder is that normal for crackers? :P

The Guvnor

The odd time my knee will crack and it happens after I stand up and I do get a sense of a twist as it cracks.

So far it's not painful.

Always best to talk to a professional though if in doubt!:)

cormie

Thanks again Would you think a doctor or a physio (or another profession?) would be best to talk to with such a problem

AntiVirus

When I get up in the morning and walk a couple of metres both my feet will make loud cracking or snapping sounds and then that's it. There's no pain at all. My knees always make cracking sounds when I crouch down and so do my shoulders when I lift them up high but they don't crack as loud as my feet.

I've been taking glucosamine and omega three for well over a year now and its made no difference to the sound at all.

It doesn't bother me and should only be of concern if it is causing you some kind of pain or discomfort.

paddythedan

hi, i find nivea hand cream helps my hands loosen up a little,compared to other creams it is very thick, only about €1.50, this might help you to stop cracking your hands, I do it all the time mostly when I am bored, thenit turns to habit and I feel I have to be cracking away....recently I started doing boxing training, which worked my whole body,this really helped my body to relax and I couldnt feel even 1 crack coming on...
After a few days when I just didnt bother going, I was starting to feel uneasy again, sitting in the living room crack crack cracking away, so I think some physical excercize might help, something which works the body hard, to take away all the bodies stresses

trebor28

from my own experience i think it has got to do with tight muscles, or at least some of it has.
i had a problem with one of my knees where it kept clicking without pain but was quite annoying.

i found that some muscles around my knee were quite tight and i had one particular knot which was quite sore.

i worked on this knot for a few days and as well as around the rest of my knee and it seemed to improve.

i think a lot of people go around every day with small injuries that they dont even realise are there!

MGLman

It is really annoying to have a craching joints. My neck, knees, fingers and chest all crack, if i do not i feel so stiff. I am sitting in a office with few others and I am sure it sound pretty annying for them. To be honest, I do not do any exercises apart from cycling 10,10 minues everyday.

Has anyone got any effective method for improveing this issue so far