Do You Wonder Why Your Knees Pop or Click?

When you bend down to pick up a pen, paper, or something else, do you hear a popping, clicking, or cracking sound coming from your knee? Doctors can refer to this sound as crepitus or joint noise. When carbon dioxide mixes up with synovial fluid in your joints, you face this condition. It emits gas-like bubbles that explode as your joints adjust. You can identify this process with knuckle cracking. Some believe this is a warning signal for arthritis. But it doesn’t have any supporting evidence as yet. Popping or clicking joints may not be that bad unless other symptoms accompany them, such as swollen knees or stiff joints. 

Nevertheless, let’s figure out the reasons for these sounds from your knees, so you don’t panic and seek proper medical attention. Learning about the condition will also help you decide whether you can go with alternative pain treatments offered by trusted clinics like QC Kinetix (Fort Mill) near York County or other local places.

Causes of popping and clicking of knees

Cartilage wear and tear

The cartilage can become soft and erode when there is friction between the front part of your thigh bone and the area under your kneecap. It is more likely to happen when someone ages. When it gets affected, the cartilage can interfere with your joint and irritate the adjacent areas, leading to pain when you move, squat, climb stairs, sit, etc.

Tendon and ligament movement

Because ligaments, tendons, and muscles remain connected, they may often pull and become strained. While different factors can affect connective tissues around the knee, some sudden movement sometimes can cause your ligaments or tendons to crackle – a sound very similar to cracking your knuckles. Luckily there’s a way to overcome all this tension without going through surgery – Stretch it out! However, if the pain persists, you want to get it checked to prevent any later complications.

Meniscus injury

The meniscus is like a pad of tissue between your kneecap and shinbone that acts as a buffer. When the knee moves oddly while the foot is still, the tissue may get affected due to an unintended twist in joints. These risks increase as someone grows older and can hurt the meniscus even during routine activities.

Formation of air bubbles

Jointed knee bones that glide smoothly over one another have the cushion of this fluid called synovial fluid. However, when the fluid experiences the occurrence of an air bubble and pushes its way back out, you hear a popping or clicking sound. Itching sensations, burning pain, or faint swelling are sometimes a direct result of escaping air bubbles.

Treatments for popping and clicking knees

Doctors generally recommend rest and exercises to patients if there hasn’t been any significant worrying development in their knee health. In case of minor swelling, you can do compression to allow it to subside or disappear. Knee braces can also be recommendable. But you get plenty of options. So, one has to discuss the choice with an expert for their type of condition or issue. Sometimes, physical therapy can also prove helpful. And if things don’t work out, you may have to go for surgery. Since it is not what you may desire or be comfortable with, you can take the route of regenerative medicine.

The intervention of regenerative medicine as a treatment option

The knees are generally one of the most critical joints in the body, considering they are what keep you upright and able to move freely. As people age, though, this vital joint undergoes a lot of stress and can cause it to wear down – sometimes causing crepitus – a cracking or popping sound. It can sometimes subside over time and doesn’t hurt, but at times, when aggravated, you may feel some pain that comes along with this condition. This condition can typically relate to arthritis, which occurs when the cartilage around the knee starts to deplete or break down, leading to swelling and stiffness that makes movement exceptionally difficult. Crepitus is also quite common among those who have rheumatoid arthritis or other inflammatory-related health conditions. 

You may decide to get medical attention after putting up with chronic pain due to this knee condition, and the doctor reveals that you need knee replacement surgery. Because surgeries can be the last resort, you don’t have to opt for one. Instead, you can explore minimally or non-invasive treatment methods like regenerative medicines that use biologic injections for pain relief and healing. The experts can use plasma therapy, stem cell therapy, prolotherapy, or other options to improve your knee health, so you get rid of the sound produced in the knees and the discomfort. So, whether you face any issue with your joints due to aging, muscle abuse, old injuries, or obesity, you can choose this treatment for help.

Make sure you visit only a certified professional for assistance with this matter because it is an advanced area of the medical field that requires deft handling.