Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsCause and EffectOther PossibilitiesWhat You Can DoWhen to See a Healthcare Provider
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Cause and Effect
Other Possibilities
What You Can Do
When to See a Healthcare Provider
Knee creaking can be a sign that you’ll eventually developosteoarthritis (OA), but not always. Frequent, loud creaking is a better indicator of joint issues than occasional creaking, which many people experience from time to time without concern.
Early treatment of OA can help slow or stop its progression, so it’s important to mention persistent noisy knees to your healthcare provider.
This article looks at creaking knees, what the evidence says about their cause, and what you can do to improve your joint health and reduce creakiness.
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How Arthritis Causes Knee Creaking
Cartilage is the firm but flexible connective tissue that helps bones glide smoothly against each other and absorbs shock between the thigh and shin bones.
Use, injury, andosteoarthritis, often called wear-and-tear arthritis, can damage or wear away cartilage. This makes the surfaces rough so they grind against each other.This causes creaking, or in medical terms, crepitus.
Theknee jointis where three bones come together:The shin bone ortibiaThe thigh bone orfemurThe kneecap orpatella
Theknee jointis where three bones come together:
Meanwhile,bone spurssometimes make the grinding worse. These are small projections of abnormally formed bone.
If your knees creak and you have any of these other symptoms, the creaking may be related to osteoarthritis:
Researchers have also looked into what knee creaking says about your chance of developing OA in the future. In studies, they’ve asked people to rate:
Researchers followed these people to see who ended up with knee OA. They found that those who noticed noisier knees were more likely to develop OA in those joints.
While crepitus may often be an early sign of joint degeneration, it doesn’t guarantee you’ll develop osteoarthritis. Not everyone with knee noise develops OA, and plenty of peoplewithoutjoint noises do.
Other Causes of Knee Sounds
If you notice occasional creaks and you don’t have other knee symptoms, it may be nothing to worry about. 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.
Sometimes, knee sounds like crepitus and popping/snapping can have other causes, including:
Causes of Popping Joints
What You Can Do About Your Creaking Knees
Having knee creaking can be beneficial, as it alerts you to a possible problem. And you can take steps to helpprevent the progression of OA.
High-impact exercises like jumping and running can be hard on the joints, though. Choose low-impact activities such as:
These kinds of activities are easier to tolerate and are beneficial to your joints.
Other things you can do to keep your knees healthy include:
Is Partial Replacement Right for You?
Make an appointment with your healthcare provider if:
Summary
You may notice creaking, popping, or crunching sounds in your knee. This can happen because of damage to the cartilage in your joints. Research has found that people who have these kinds of noises in the knee are more likely to develop osteoarthritis.
A Word From Verywell
Your noisy knees may make you more likely to develop OA, but they’re not a guarantee that you will. The noise itself doesn’t mean you need treatment. However, it is a reason to take simple steps to improve your joint health so you can keep your knees healthy and active for a long time.
8 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Mora JC, Przkora R, Cruz-Almeida Y.Knee osteoarthritis: pathophysiology and current treatment modalities.J Pain Res. 2018;11:2189–2196. doi:10.2147/JPR.S154002Lo GH, Strayhorn MT, Driban JB, Price LL, Eaton CB, Mcalindon TE.Subjective crepitus as a risk factor for incident symptomatic knee osteoarthritis: data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative.Arthritis Care Res. 2018;70(1):53-60. doi:10.1002/acr.23246Song SJ, Park CH, Liang H, Kim SJ.Noise around the knee.Clin Orthop Surg. 2018;10(1):1–8. doi:10.4055/cios.2018.10.1.1Roos EM, Arden NK.Strategies for the prevention of knee osteoarthritis.Nat Rev Rheumatol. 2015;12(2):92-101. doi:10.1038/nrrheum.2015.135Schwingshackl L, Hoffmann G.Mediterranean dietary pattern, inflammation and endothelial function: a systematic review and meta-analysis of intervention trials.Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2014;24(9):929-39. doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2014.03.003American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons: OrthoInfo.Smoking and musculoskeletal health.Arthritis Foundation.Popular supplements for arthritis: What you need to know.Arthritis Foundation.NSAIDs.
8 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Mora JC, Przkora R, Cruz-Almeida Y.Knee osteoarthritis: pathophysiology and current treatment modalities.J Pain Res. 2018;11:2189–2196. doi:10.2147/JPR.S154002Lo GH, Strayhorn MT, Driban JB, Price LL, Eaton CB, Mcalindon TE.Subjective crepitus as a risk factor for incident symptomatic knee osteoarthritis: data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative.Arthritis Care Res. 2018;70(1):53-60. doi:10.1002/acr.23246Song SJ, Park CH, Liang H, Kim SJ.Noise around the knee.Clin Orthop Surg. 2018;10(1):1–8. doi:10.4055/cios.2018.10.1.1Roos EM, Arden NK.Strategies for the prevention of knee osteoarthritis.Nat Rev Rheumatol. 2015;12(2):92-101. doi:10.1038/nrrheum.2015.135Schwingshackl L, Hoffmann G.Mediterranean dietary pattern, inflammation and endothelial function: a systematic review and meta-analysis of intervention trials.Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2014;24(9):929-39. doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2014.03.003American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons: OrthoInfo.Smoking and musculoskeletal health.Arthritis Foundation.Popular supplements for arthritis: What you need to know.Arthritis Foundation.NSAIDs.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Mora JC, Przkora R, Cruz-Almeida Y.Knee osteoarthritis: pathophysiology and current treatment modalities.J Pain Res. 2018;11:2189–2196. doi:10.2147/JPR.S154002Lo GH, Strayhorn MT, Driban JB, Price LL, Eaton CB, Mcalindon TE.Subjective crepitus as a risk factor for incident symptomatic knee osteoarthritis: data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative.Arthritis Care Res. 2018;70(1):53-60. doi:10.1002/acr.23246Song SJ, Park CH, Liang H, Kim SJ.Noise around the knee.Clin Orthop Surg. 2018;10(1):1–8. doi:10.4055/cios.2018.10.1.1Roos EM, Arden NK.Strategies for the prevention of knee osteoarthritis.Nat Rev Rheumatol. 2015;12(2):92-101. doi:10.1038/nrrheum.2015.135Schwingshackl L, Hoffmann G.Mediterranean dietary pattern, inflammation and endothelial function: a systematic review and meta-analysis of intervention trials.Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2014;24(9):929-39. doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2014.03.003American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons: OrthoInfo.Smoking and musculoskeletal health.Arthritis Foundation.Popular supplements for arthritis: What you need to know.Arthritis Foundation.NSAIDs.
Mora JC, Przkora R, Cruz-Almeida Y.Knee osteoarthritis: pathophysiology and current treatment modalities.J Pain Res. 2018;11:2189–2196. doi:10.2147/JPR.S154002
Lo GH, Strayhorn MT, Driban JB, Price LL, Eaton CB, Mcalindon TE.Subjective crepitus as a risk factor for incident symptomatic knee osteoarthritis: data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative.Arthritis Care Res. 2018;70(1):53-60. doi:10.1002/acr.23246
Song SJ, Park CH, Liang H, Kim SJ.Noise around the knee.Clin Orthop Surg. 2018;10(1):1–8. doi:10.4055/cios.2018.10.1.1
Roos EM, Arden NK.Strategies for the prevention of knee osteoarthritis.Nat Rev Rheumatol. 2015;12(2):92-101. doi:10.1038/nrrheum.2015.135
Schwingshackl L, Hoffmann G.Mediterranean dietary pattern, inflammation and endothelial function: a systematic review and meta-analysis of intervention trials.Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2014;24(9):929-39. doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2014.03.003
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons: OrthoInfo.Smoking and musculoskeletal health.
Arthritis Foundation.Popular supplements for arthritis: What you need to know.
Arthritis Foundation.NSAIDs.
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