Quick question: Are any irritating noises coming out of your knees? If not, give it time;
clicking, clunking, and cracking are common, audible sounds that come as an inevitable consequence of growing older. It becomes more noticeable somewhere in the 40-50 age bracket.
Chances are that if you’re 50 or over, clicks and clunks might even be the first sound that you hear when you get out of bed in the morning. What’s just as common is a grating noise which occurs when the surfaces of your knee joints rub together each time you bend your legs (or move between positions).
I could go on and on describing the different noises that come from aging knee joints – the question “Why does my knee click and crack?” is one of the most frequently asked questions at Sure Cure Physical Therapy & Wellness.
It is also one of the easiest to explain. Your knee’s job is to cushion and absorb the shock it
receives from the pounding, twisting and impact of hard surfaces every time your foot lands when you walk. Your knee takes all the impact from the hard surfaces you walk on, as well as the pounding your knees take as a direct result of activities like: playing football after work in a sports hall, running along the seafront, bowling, golf, or just taking a long walk around the park with friends on a weekend.
The result of all this is that, over time, this cartilage wears thin (or disappears completely),
exposing nerves and causing pain but also leaving uneven surfaces that can collide – and
because these bones in your knee joint are very tough and hard (as you might well expect), they cause a distinct noise when they rub against each other as you move.
And that’s it: the phenomenon of knee joint noises explained!
Noise from your knees can often be the first sign of trouble. The noises don’t always mean you’ll get knee pain – not at first anyway, but it’s often the first sign that pain, stiffness, and swelling is on the way. It can be a warning sign to act fast and do something before things turn for the worse.
As physical therapists, we believe prevention is better than a cure. Not sure what to do? Come talk to one of our highly trained therapists at Sure Cure Physical Therapy & Wellness for a free consultation. We’ll give you a home-based program to keep your knees healthy for the long haul. In many cases, physical therapy is not needed if a home-based program is started early and done regularly.