Do your knees click or crack when you stand up? Does everyone know its you coming because of the sound you make when you walk? Have you been told its normal and it’s just something that you will have all the time? What if I told you that it could be a sign of an underlying problem and that there may be something that can be done for it?
“Clicking noise around the knee is a common problem! There are plenty of things that can cause it and it is not something that should be ignored.”
Clicking or popping sounds coming from your knee is not a normal occurrence! Simply put it’s not normal function and it’s something that should not just be ignored.
There are many causes from tears through ligaments to simple biomechanical dysfunctions that can be easily worked with.
The good news is, that it may not be something that requires surgery and something scary that you don’t want to commit too.
So here’s a list of the top reasons I see people suffer with clicky knees:
- Patella tracking
Patella tracking syndrome is a simple issue of your kneecap (patella) not sliding up and down the knee joint smoothly. If you have ever noticed that your knees click or feel sore when you walk up or down stairs Then this is highly likely to be you.
If your sitting while reading this, role up your pants to just above your knee and straighten your leg. What do you see? Watch to see your kneecap get pulled upwards and the muscles above them contract.
As you are straightening your knee your muscles are pulling your kneecap up through an area that kind of looks like a canal. The kneecap slides up and down the canal and it should do so very smoothly and straitly. Often the muscles that are pulling up the kneecap do not all pull together or with the same strength resulting changes in motion and friction.
Long term, this can cause irritation through the joint which can lead to pain or clicking and eventually degeneration.
- Inflammation
Inflammation is a big one. Have you ever noticed after being still for a long time that you can be stiff or achy and after a few little steps you feel freer again?
Inflammation is basically fluid that accumulates to try and encourage healing. Normally the body pumps this out with movement. When you’re stagnant for a significant period of time then inflammation accumulates resulting in restriction that can be accompanied with a click.
Inflammatory issues in our society are something that is quite common and is something that can be easily dealt with using simple techniques and lifestyle modification.
- Hip flexor strength
Your hip flexor muscles are the muscles on the front part of your thighs. These are the muscles that are used to squat or to kick a footy. We have already spoken about how important these muscles are for hip function and lower back function. Did you know that they also help the knee?
Weakness through this muscle is very common because dysfunction through these areas are not picked up till late as this area is very good at compensating!
To keep this simple, these are the bulgy muscles you see on top of your knee cap. If these muscles are weak then your knee will not be very stable and can result in poor function.
In a nutshell, clicking knees, whilst common, are never a normal thing. If it were, everyone would have them all the time!
If you want to sort this out and potentially prevent other issues from developing my team is here for you. My team has specific training in functional issues that can often quickly get to the root of issues such as these.
If these clicking symptoms are resonating with you please don’t hesitate to call or simply post up a comment below. We’ll get back to ASAP and organise a way to get you some help.
