Crackling knees

cedan

Ok, bit of a back story first. I'm 26 years old and I used to be overweight and three years ago I managed to ditch all the weight (best thing ive done with my life!). I never really played much sport or anything when I was young and im now starting to take it up a little and I really enjoy weight training.

My problem is with my knees. I'm not getting any pain in them but whenever I do squats or even climbing stairs i can hear a very loud crackling/crunching sound in my knees. I dislocated one of my patellas years ago and this knee is significantly worse than the other.

My question is what do I do? I don't want to end up with early onset of arthritis but I don't want to give up my weights! I am already holding myself back on leg days incase I cause damage.

Any help/advice is appreciated!

Alf Veedersane

I've had similar with my knees. Mentioned it to physio - well, after it happened when I was asked to squat to check hips - and I was told it usually isn't something to worry about unless it's sore. But if you want peace of mind, go get it checked out.

Fox_In_Socks

I've always had, even when I was a child (30 now). The recommendation that I got was to take a spoon of cod liver oil. It doesn't make a difference in terms of noise, but it's good for the joints anyway, apparantly.

oddsoxrocks

I've had similar issue with my knees and hips in the past. I used to work standing up for hours on end and my joints began to feel like they were made out of cement. It all came to a head when I upped my fitness regime and started kettlebells. I had a great instructor but I was pushing myself to do bigger weights and eventually managed to fatigue my already crackling knees and popped my patella out of place; tearing a load of ligaments in the process.

I went to GP and had pain relief for a while but then got referred to a Physiotherapist. This was excellent, they started of by looking at the way I walk, stand, bend etc and instantly spotted that the problem with my knees was actually as a result of my dodgy hips. Then they gave me rehab exercises and advice, began taping up my knees for extra support and now I'm doing 'pre-hab pilates'.

I wouldn't say that my initial knee injury is sorted yet but the input from the physio has made a massive difference to my everyday quality of life. I'd highly recommend finding a good physio before you do yourself any serious damage.

mickman

I get the popping too. No pain but sounds odd. Have had it for years.

However i did heavy squats for the past few years and i have defo damaged my knees doing them so gave them up

macadam

Try Solgar 7 from Nourish health shops i find it great for the knees
They have a 7 day trial sachet

thegreatiam

any one have experience with joints that won't pop?

my knees ankles wrists pretty much everything has been popping for years with no pain.

Its a small pressure build up while they are immobile, then when i move they pop. always think of it like kneading dough, once you pop the bubbles it gets more supple and mobile.

Last week one "bubble" didnt pop. now I have a sore ankle. still have the pressure and stiffness, but moving it doesnt "pop the bubble" so to speak.

Dr's yesterday who gave me anti inflammatory, been on iburoprofen all week tho and noticed no effect. Heading to chiropractor on thursday.

Have it strapped up and poping the pain medication til then.

Any one who normally pops every experienced suddenly not being able to pop anymore?

My understanding is that it is build up of nitorgen gas in the sinuveal fluid, when the joint moves the bubbles of gas move and break. hence why it feels more supple after.

The DR said it was ligaments snapping. Not too sure what she meant tho, snapping like an elastic band, ie twanging not breaking, or snapping like a twig?

dartstothesea

^One of my knees has difficulty cracking out the joint, the same knee that usually has pain when I squat. It feels uncomfortable not being able to crack it and I'm guessing it's a bad thing.
'Tacking' above the knee by wrapping something sort of tightly around the bottom of my quad and then squatting down seems to give relief and even help it crack.

Teyla Emmagan

I have one very bad knee following an accident a couple of years ago. I have had it operated on a couple of times, but still have a lot of cartilage damage. As well as the noise, when you put your hand on my knee you can feel it grinding away when it's moving. The knee clinic in the Beacon does injections of some sort to address cartilage issues, so that's my next step. I'm the same in that I am afraid of doing it any more damage at the moment, so I swim a lot to keep my weight off it.