{"id":2425,"date":"2020-04-01T12:58:45","date_gmt":"2020-04-01T11:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movementandwellbeingclinic.co.uk\/?p=2425"},"modified":"2021-10-06T12:29:46","modified_gmt":"2021-10-06T11:29:46","slug":"joint-popping-clicking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movementandwellbeingclinic.co.uk\/joint-popping-clicking\/","title":{"rendered":"Joint popping and clicking – should I be worried?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

So, your knees are creaking, cracking and clicking when you up and down the stairs. Sometimes this has been brought to your attention by others. As I sometimes joke, \u2018at least your family knows you\u2019re back home when you come in trying to sneak up the stairs!\u2019. This is designed to insinuate that I\u2019m not worried from the start and put the patient at ease. But what you probably really want to know is: \u2018Should<\/em> I be concerned about joint popping and clicking?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve had patients come to me solely for joint popping and clicking, such as having a knee without any pain being greatly concern for their \u2018creaky knees\u2019. I\u2019ve also noticed patients sometimes have more concern regarding the noises their joints make than actual pain and discomfort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I shall attempt to explain what makes the knees click and whether you should be worried about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why are people concerned about their clicking joints?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As an osteopath, we provide a lot of joint-related care, which often leads me to hear the question \u2018my joints crack \u2013 should I be worried?\u2019 This typically comes from runners<\/a> who are looking to avoid injury and drummers who can make lots of interesting noises while rotating their wrists, but it occurs in sedentary and sporty people alike. This strange symptom seems to make people fixate on the noises their joints make. Most people are quite rightly concerned, they want to know if the noises will lead to arthritis<\/a> in the future. Another question is whether it will ever go away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is one sentence that answers all of your concerns:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is highly unlikely the noises from your joints are indicative of joint damage<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A study done by McCoy et al (1987)<\/a> stated that 99% of subjects with joint crepitus experienced no pain. If you believed that joint popping and clicking was due to arthritis, we know that arthritic joints are less<\/em> likely to pop and grind (1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What causes the clicking?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Next, we\u2019ll look more closely at the knee, a joint that often clicks. However, the three variations of joint cracking are applicable to all joints, not just the knee. The picture shows all three knee bones, the noises come from the joint cavity at the front. When explaining the three varieties, this is the joint that we shall be referring to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"joint<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cavitation\u2019s<\/em><\/strong>\u2013 commonly occur when an osteopath manipulates your joints or felt in the back and neck when stretching backwards after being sedentary aiming for joint tension relief. This \u2018self-manipulation\u2019 occurs due to displacement of the two surfaces of the joint. This leads to the collapse of gas bubbles<\/a> in the lubricating fluid (2). With this type of cracking, it is important to note that the symptoms could be due to poor posture<\/a>. This leads to excessive tension in the joint. In this case, a course of osteopathy, physiotherapy or sports therapy can help to resolve it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loud isolated single clicks and pops<\/em><\/strong>\u2013 otherwise known in the knee as the stick-slip phenomenon<\/a>, <\/strong>a type of manipulation that occurs when your kneecap \u2018clunks\u2019 once. 
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Fine grating<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 a perfectly normal occurrence. The joint fluid, which is there to help to lubricate the joint, flows past a rough edge on the inside of the kneecap.
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Extra-articular<\/em><\/strong>\u2013 more of a \u2019snapping\u2019 sound, typically felt when you stand up from a sitting position, from a soft tissue structure (in the knee\u2019s case an extension of a ligament over the kneecap) (1)<\/a>.
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What are the problems associated with joint popping and clicking?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Now that we\u2019re aware of what the joint popping and clicking is, hopefully, your anxiety caused by cracking joints has been reduced. The belief that the cracking could be causing damage is actually more harmful than the actual source of the complaint. In my experience, patients\u2019 concerns and reactions come in various forms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n