Why Does My Knee Keep Popping

Grinding Aching Or Popping What Your Knee Pain Means

by The ViscoGen Team | Oct 20, 2020 | knee |

Knee pain is a condition that affects people of all ages. The pain can be caused by injuries, mechanical problems, overuse, infection, and medical conditions like arthritis. Generally, knee pain can be treated at home, but there are instances where you will need to seek medical attention. It is important to be familiar with the common symptoms of knee pain and what each of them means to make it easy for you to manage the pain and visit a doctor at the right time.

Here is what to know:

Side Steps With Resistance Band

The outer quad muscle tends to be weaker than the muscle that runs along the top of your thigh, which leads to the kind of imbalance that causes your kneecap to pull out of line. The solution? Strengthen that outer muscle, says Butts.

How to do it:

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Why Do My Knees Pop

It happens to us all: You stand up after sitting for a while and you hear a loud “pop.” Why do knees do that? Is it bad?

Here are the short answers: 1) crepitus and 2) probably not, but possibly yes. Read on to find out why this happens, and when it’s worth worrying about.

Popping knees can be alarming, but are usually not a cause for concern.Crepitus in the Knee

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Possible Causes Of A Knee Pop

Some associate a knee pop with solely one condition, when actually this can point to a number of knee conditions. Below is a list of possible causes and a few knee conditions in which the afflicted might hear or feel a knee pop:

• Crepitus: Crepitus describes the popping, grating, or creaking sensations and sounds within the joint. A buildup of gas bubbles in the surrounding areas of the joint and the sudden release of the gas may cause these noises. While crepitus is typically painless and of no concern, any accompanying symptoms such as swelling or discomfort indicate the affected person should take precautionary measures and see a specialist.

• Meniscal tear: The combined symptoms of a pop in the knee and swelling are associated with a meniscal tear. Some patients, however, may not experience these symptoms after a certain amount of time of inactivity but still have a tear.

• Knee arthritis: Several types of arthritis can form in the knee, such as osteoarthritis or inflammatory arthritis. Because general symptoms of these conditions include stiffness, swelling, and instability of the knee joint, the knee may pop as a result.

• Ligament injuries: The four ligaments that stabilize the knee are the anterior cruciate posterior cruciate medial collateral and the lateral collateral An impact injury or abrupt tear in any of these ligaments may cause the knee to pop, depending on the circumstances of the injury.

What To Do When Knee Pops Out Of Place When Bent

Knees have important functions in our body. The largest joint in our body, it connects the lower leg and upper leg.

However, pain in the knees could prove difficult for anyone. Sometimes, knee pain could cause so much inconvenience to the one feeling the pain. It could hamper the movement of the person suffering, which could result in the limited mobility of the joint. Sometimes, extreme pain could even leave a person barely mobile for a day. This is especially true for the elderly.

Extreme care must be given to knees. There is another sensation felt on the knees that could cause a person to feel uncomfortable: knee pops out of place when bent. This condition is often felt by many people. And those who had experienced feeling that their knee pops out of place when bent often end up worrying if there is something wrong with their knee or body.

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Who Is Most Often Affected By Knee Instability Symptoms

The following individuals are more likely to experience knee instability.

• Young athletes: Fit, active athletes in their teens and twenties are the ones who most often suffer sports injuries.
• Dancers
• Anyone doing hard physical labor
• Anyone who is overweight or obese
• Women: Women may be more prone to knee problems, due to naturally having a wider pelvis. Therefore, women have a predisposition to misalignment between the top of the kneecap and the bottom of the thighbone.
• Older people: May experience gradual wearing away of the cartilage of the knee
• If you have a prior injury: This can predispose you to another one.

Symptoms Of Cracking Knees

The main symptoms that cause concern are a cracking or popping when the knee hits its full range of motion.

For most people, this is completely harmless: it happens as a natural result of aging. As the cartilage on the joint starts to wear, it becomes uneven in certain places.

What you hear could be the rough spots moving over one another, or the tissue that connects bones together tightening, or even just air bubbles popping from a change in joint pressure. All in all, nothing to worry about.

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Why Do My Knees Pop And Crack At The Gym

Knee pain and “noisy” knees are two common reasons that patients often go see a physical therapist. Popping or cracking, and in some cases pain while or after performing knee-dominant movements like split squats, leave them wondering if they should be concerned. The answer, as with so many other things in life, is that it depends.

The technical term for popping is crepitus, and there are a number of reasons that the knees may pop.

Sometimes the popping and cracking is not cause for concern. The knees often pop when bending and straightening, especially during weight bearing activities such as stairs or squats. The popping is usually not painful, and is caused by bursting nitrogen bubbles in the synovial fluid when force is applied to the joint. The technical term for this is cavitation, and it is what happens when you pop your knuckles.

In other instances, the popping noise can come from the joint. The cartilage on the ends of the femur, the tibia, and/or the patella can wear down, and this degeneration of the cartilage causes rough spots which may pop or crack with movement. Many times this isnt painful but, sometimes it is. With advanced osteoarthritis, many patients complain of pain, as they have lost the cushioning of cartilage and often feel bone rubbing on bone.

In some people it is very loud but not painful, and in others it only makes a little bit of noise, but is painful. Pain may not occur every day.

Rare And Unusual Knee Instability Causes

Causes of knee instability that occur even less frequently include the following.

• Partial dislocation: If you do something strenuous enough to damage the ligaments, it is likely that you will have damage to the cartilage around the knee bone as well. The patella, or kneecap, can become partially or completely dislocated. A partial dislocation is called a subluxation. Dislocation can occur if the ligaments are damaged and are not holding the kneecap firmly in place as usual.
• Cartilage tears: The cartilage at the ends of the upper and lower leg bones, which meet under the kneecap, can become torn. This often happens along with a ligament sprain.
• Cartilage wear: Cartilage can gradually wear away over time, causing pain and difficulty moving since there is no longer enough cushioning material between the bones.
• Birth deformity: You may have been born with knee structure that makes the joint vulnerable to slipping out of place.

This list does not constitute medical advice and may not accurately represent what you have.

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A Hit From The Side Can Injure Both The Medial Collateral Ligament And The Anterior Cruciate Ligament

So most patients will say, I got hit from the side. I felt a pop and then my knee became unstable, so that would be an injury here to the medial collateral ligament on the inside, which is a stretching injury. And then a tearing injury on the anterior cruciate ligament, which is in the middle of the knee, that creates stability for rotation deformity so those are two things to consider if you do feel a pop, particularly after a high impact. Thats something to consider.

You should go see an orthopedic surgeon immediately. Ice the knee, keep it elevated. Try not to do any cutting, twisting and pivoting activities, but just go ahead and get evaluated by a physician just to confirm whether or not the ligament is injured.

Reasons Not To Worry About Your Clicking Knees:

Many of our physiotherapists are dual trained as musculoskeletal sonographers. This means they use diagnostic ultrasound as part of their clinical assessment to look inside the body to assess the joint and surrounding soft tissue structures such as ligaments and tendons.

Diagnostic ultrasound is a dynamic imaging technique. Unlike static imaging techniques such as an X-ray or MRI, ultrasound can assess the structures whilst the patient can carry out a specific movement that reproduces the click. This makes it the perfect assessment to accurately identify the structures that are causing the clicking and the specific reason for your pain.

If you are worried about your clicking knees and would like to book an appointment or for more information please email or call 0207 482 3875.

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Are Knee Instability Symptoms Serious

The severity of your knee instability is ultimately dependent on the cause and the impact it has on your activity levels or quality of life.

• Not serious: A mild strain or sprain is a common sports injury and can be healed with rest and physical therapy.
• Moderately serious: Damage to the cartilage can lead to arthritis. The pain and instability of an acute injury may become chronic if not treated right away.
• Serious: A more severe injury, if neglected, can suddenly worsen if you overdo it. For example, a partial tear may become a complete tear.

How To Keep Healthy Knees

Do regular exercise to strengthen your leg muscles theyll protect your knees from wear and tear.

Try to do strength training at least twice a week, take the stairs often, and prioritize walking instead of taking your car or public transport.

Also, keep your BMI at 25 or lower. Being overweight or obese increases the risk of developing knee osteoarthritis.

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Causes Of Inner Knee Pain

The inside or medial part of the knee contains a wide variety of bones, ligaments, and soft tissue structures, all contained within a relatively small area. Because of this, pain in this area of the joint can be tough to diagnose.

Several of the most common conditions that cause medial knee symptoms are listed below.

Types Of Knee Popping

Knee clicking and popping noises in the knee usually fall into one of three categories:

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Knee Braces And Other Supports

If your noisy knee is the result of osteoarthritis, your doctor might suggest using a knee brace or knee sleeve to support your knee joint, as research from 2014 suggests that it might help.

Orthotic inserts in your shoes might help too. It might not eliminate the noise, but a cane might help you get around a little easier, too.

No Worries: Painless Clicks & Pops

Sometimes the noise is due to tiny air bubbles inside the joint fluid, which build up with changes in joint pressure. The bubbles make a noise when they burst. This is called cavitation. Another cause for painless popping in the knee is when the ligaments and tendons catch as they go over a bony lump within the knee or over scar tissueand pop when they snap back into place. Most of the time these noises are natural and do not mean that you will develop arthritis or be prone to injury. Knee clicking and popping are extremely common during the first year after any knee surgery. These are usually due to soft tissue swelling or early scar formation. Soft tissue massage is the trick to resolving the naturally healing tissues excess thickness.

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What Causes Kneecap Clicking

There are 2 main reasons for getting kneecap noises – its either from bubbles of gas popping or the kneecap not tracking in the knee joint groove properly.

Gas Bubbles: Sometimes tiny air bubbles build up within the fluid inside your joints. These bubbles make a noise when they burst during joint movement. The gas gets pushed through a very narrow joint space making a noise By the way its a Myth youll get arthritis from clicking your knuckles!!!

Kneecap tracking: anatomy wise – Your kneecap is held in place on top of the knee joint by muscles, tendons and ligaments. If these soft tissues get tighter on 1 side of the knee more than the other, the kneecap can get pulled out of alignment slightly as you move, creating a noise.

Both of these 2 causes are fairly normal and occur in everybody every single day.

Kneecap clicking is not often painful and people are used to living with it for years. Hearing unusual noises from the knee can worry people, as you fear the worst when you cant see whats going on inside. Dont panic! Noise doesnt always mean damage.

We do know that Kneecap clicking/crepitus is more common in women than men. This is possibly due to the biomechanics of women having a wider pelvis , and theres also hormonal differences in women that can increase soft tissue laxity Some people are also born with shallow grooves under their kneecaps too which mean the kneecap hasn’t got a deep groove to sit in either?

Why Do Your Knees Click And Should You Worry

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At Complete we see thousands of knee complaints every year, from an 80 year old gentleman with osteoarthritis to a 23 year old professional footballer following ACL reconstruction.

One of the most common questions we get in clinics is why does my knee click? So, if you have clicky knees you are certainly not alone!

Often the question is phrased slightly differently and patients relate it to certain activities, such as.

Why do my knees click when I walk?Why do my knees click when I squat?Why do my knees click when I go upstairs?Why do my knees click when I go downstairs?

Next our clinicians would enquire is the clicking painful? If the answer is no then the simple answer is no it does not matter.

Joints make a variety of noises, patients describe

popping, snapping, cracking, catching, grinding, grating and clunking!

The medical term we use for clicking is crepitus, from the Latin meaning to rattle. It is not just old people that experience it, can affect people of all ages!

The video below is Helen OLeary our clinical director of Complete Pilates. She is a fit and active 34 year old with very clicky and clunky knees .

She has never injured her knees it does not stop her running or playing sport and she has never had any knee pain. Is she worried now or about the future of her knees?? No not at all!

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Causes Of Pseudo Locked Knee

Pseudo knee locking is always accompanied by pain. If knee pain is severe enough, then the bodys protective mechanisms kick in, limiting the movement as the body tries to prevent any damage being done. It usually does this by causing the muscles to spasm, holding the leg in position.

The difference with true locking is that there is nothing actually stuck inside the joint, and whilst the knee may at first appear to be stuck, it usually unlocks quickly. It is often more of a catching sensation which inhibits movement but quickly disappears.

Pseudo locking can limit both flexion and extension, bending and straightening the knee, whereas true locking is usually a block to extension only.

The most common causes of pseudo locking at the knee include:

• Swelling: Excess fluid in the joint capsule can limit the movement due to increased tension, preventing full flexion and extension.

Lets Go Over Proper Squat Form

Start by straightening your spine and perfecting your posture: chin up, shoulders down, chest raised and a slight arch in your lower back. Make sure your knees and toes are out putting them out of alignment will hurt your knees. Start your squat from your hips and sit back, keeping your heels on the floor the entire time. When coming out of the squat, engage your glutes for a little extra push.

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