I serve as an expert and/or adviser for a variety of well-known health and fitness publications. I often help with reader questions, and we cover a wide range of topics. Recently several publications simultaneously asked me to answer questions related to snapping, popping, or cracking noises that can happen around your bones and joints. Pretty odd, but it reminded me that this is something often asked, even by my own friends and patients.
When bones and joints go snap-crackle-pop, it can be quite disturbing, not only for the person involved, but also those nearby. As my knee has gotten more damaged over the years, from an old high school football injury, it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to quietly go upstairs. Even my children ask “What’s that funny noise?”
Most of the time the snapping or popping sensation around joints is nothing to worry about. This is especially true if it occurs pretty equally on the right and left side of your body and has been there for a long time, without symptoms. This is usually due to a tendon snapping across a bony prominence, resulting in a noise. It is fairly common around the shoulder, wrist, hip, and ankle.
Another type of noise that is not uncommon, is a grinding crunchy sound and that can be both heard and sometimes even felt. It is called crepitation or crepitus. It is very common in the patella or kneecap area. It is usually a sign of some early softening of the joint surface, or even arthritis. If it is asymptomatic, that is without symptoms, then it is usually nothing to worry about, but should be monitored. As time goes on, the wear can worsen, and symptoms develop. I have found that individuals with patellar crepitus are at higher risk to develop patellar pain syndrome and/or even patellofemoral arthritis.
That same crunchy sensation can occur in individuals with bursitis and/or tendinitis. One common location is in the shoulder where rotator cuff tendinitis or surrounding bursitis can cause a crunchy grinding type sensation especially with use of the arm overhead. The shoulder joint can also be an area where normal tendons can snap and pop as mentioned above. This also occurs in the shoulder blade or scapular area when tendons can snap across adjacent ribs.
Obviously, there are both minor and more serious reasons that your muscles bones and joints can play a symphony. If there’s any pain, swelling or limited function, get it checked out by a sports medicine or orthopedic specialist, who can usually pretty quickly determine the cause of the noise and let you know if it is anything to worry about. Also, any sudden change in noise, especially if it was associated with an injury or obvious overuse, should prompt a visit to your doctor.
Are your muscles, bones and joints a little louder than they should be? What caused it? And what do you do about it? Does it worry you, or those around you?
