Should You Be Worried About Knee Popping & Grinding? The Research & Exercises

New research in the last 5-6 years says that in certain people, knee grating and grinding can indicate that they are more likely to develop knee osteoarthritis. So, in this video I tell you who should be worried, who shouldn’t be, and what exercises you can do to stop knee cracking and popping.

0:00 Intro
0:17 What causes knee noises
0:28 What the research says
1:02 Summary: When is knee crepitus significant?
1:22 How to reduce knee crepitus
1:47 Exercise 1
2:48 Exercise 2
3:24 What else can reduce kneecap tracking?

VIDEO MENTIONED ABOUT KNEECAP TRACKING:
   • How To Fix Pain In The Front Of The K...  

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WHY DO MY KNEES POP AND GRIND?
Knee “crepitus” (as popping, crunching knees are officially called) is thought to come from fluid movement within the knee, tendons sliding past bony surfaces, or joint cavitations, like when people crack their knuckles.

IS IT BAD THAT MY KNEES CRACK? AM I DAMAGING MY KNEES BY DOING EXERCISES THAT MAKE MY KNEES CRACK?
Most knee noises are fine and should not stop you from doing the things that you love. (Research in 1987 actually indicates that 99% of the population gets some kind of knee noises.) BUT a large study in 2017 showed that crepitus can be an early warning sign of osteoarthritis... in people over 45 years of age, especially if they heard knee noises frequently.

And anyone that has associated pain, swelling, or recent trauma, should get their knees examined too.

If you don't fit into either of these categories then you DON'T need to be concerned with knee popping, snapping, catching, clicking, crunching, cracking, crackling, creaking, grinding, grating, or clunking.

HOW TO FIX KNEES THAT CRACK.
A lot of these noises come from underneath the kneecap, so it makes sense to reduce the pressure under your kneecap by loosening the quadriceps. And making sure that the kneecap is running smoothly along it’s track, not rubbing against the outer edge of its groove.

KNEE CRACKING PHYSICAL THERAPY EXERCISES:
Rectus Femoris Stretch:
If your Rec Fem muscle in your Quads is tight, your kneecap will be pushed harder against the femur. You can both test it and stretch it by lying face down on a firm surface. In that position, pull your heel towards your backside. If your heel touches your backside easily, you’re all good. If it can’t reach that far, your Rec Fem is too tight.

Outer Thigh Myofascial Release:
If the outer quads (Vastus Lateralis) or ITB are too tight, it pulls your kneecap to the outside too much. So doing a myofascial release on your outer thigh daily can help to reduce kneecap rubbing.

A weak Glute Medius, or inner quad, or even flat feet can affect kneecap tracking too, so see the link at the top of this description for information on that.

REFERENCES:
The large research done in 2017 into knee crepitus. This link includes an interesting short video summarising the research… https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/a...

Medium sized research done in 2018 into people with knee osteoarthritis… https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

Smaller study done on women with and without patellofemoral pain… https://repositorio.unesp.br/bitstrea...

Interesting article with the author of the large 2017 study and her thoughts on the importance of knee crepitus… https://www.research.va.gov/currents/...

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