Knee creaking can be a sign that you’ll eventually developosteoarthritis (OA), but not always.
Use, injury, andosteoarthritis, often called wear-and-tear arthritis, can damage or wear away cartilage.
Theknee jointis where three bones come together:
Meanwhile,bone spurssometimes make the grinding worse.
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These are small projections of abnormally formed bone.
They found that those who noticed noisier knees were more likely to develop OA in those joints.
Not everyone with knee noise develops OA, and plenty of peoplewithoutjoint noises do.
More frequent noises may indicate a knee condition, be it osteoarthritis or something else.
It’s normal for your knee to make other sounds like popping and snapping.
These sounds are often much louder than crepitus but occur less often.
They may happen when your knee is in a certain position or when you move it a certain way.
Not all motion will cause these kinds of sounds.
Normal pops and snaps can occur when tendons snap over the bone surrounding the joint.
They are not usually a sign of arthritis, especially if they only occur occasionally.
And you could take steps to helpprevent the progression of OA.
Most importantly, protect your joint health by:
Some people worry that exercise may speed up cartilage loss.
In general, it doesn’t.
Exercise helps with weight control and nourishes your joints (by promoting healthy circulation).
High-impact exercises like jumping and running can be hard on the joints, though.
If your creaky knees are accompanied by pain, however, it may be time to have them evaluated.
This can happen because of damage to the cartilage in your joints.
The noise itself doesn’t mean you need treatment.
Mora JC, Przkora R, Cruz-Almeida Y.Knee osteoarthritis: pathophysiology and current treatment modalities.J Pain Res.
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American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons: OrthoInfo.Smoking and musculoskeletal health.
Arthritis Foundation.Popular supplements for arthritis: What you should probably know.
