crunchy joints sound awful

anemoneprose
anemoneprose Posts: 1,805 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
so i did about 5 mins on a stationary bike before having to stop due to feeling pukey from hearing/feeling my knees snap/crackle/pop at every revolution. the last time i felt as body-sickened was when i stepped on a 3-inch nail when i was 8. it's gross!

how do you feel when you hear/feel your joints making sounds that remind you you're a death-bound meat robot?

(moved to elliptical, less crunchy, also less potentially satisfying :/)

Replies

  • WeepingAngel81
    WeepingAngel81 Posts: 2,232 Member
    Hahaha! I'm so glad I'm not alone! Mine don't pop often during a workout, but if I bend down in a squat my knees will crack. It's worse in the morning when I first start moving and everything including my toes crack. Makes me feel old :frown:
  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
    I'm downright embarrassed walking up or down stairs because my knees are so loud! My patellas don't track right (they're hypermobile), so it isn't something I like to hear a lot of, lol. It sounds like it's gonna hurt later... and it will ;)
  • anemoneprose
    anemoneprose Posts: 1,805 Member
    @trust :flowerforyou:

    i think at least some (occasional) crunch is kind of normal for a lot of people, of any age :)

    this was kind of like popcorn popping *inside my body* :sick: and i thought about gristle and... idk, i kind of made myself lightheaded, lol. was a change from last time i tried to bike, too. ah well!
  • TigerBite
    TigerBite Posts: 611 Member
    I'm always cracking something ... Every morning I brace myself against the wall and twist, my entire vertebral column cracks .. pop, pop, pop, etc ... It sounds like a zipper, I love it .. it feels SO good ...
  • anemoneprose
    anemoneprose Posts: 1,805 Member
    Make sure you stretch and if that doesn't help there are a few other things you can do, i've recently come to join pains in my knees even though i'm young. You can get a cheap personal trainer that will help you with all your problems at uglworkouts.com they really do help and they know anything that you can ask?

    thank you! well, i have been given some easy strengthening exercises from my physiotherapist (who's the one who gave me orders to bike). like cafeaulait, i'm hypermobile & also have chrondomalacia (officially crunchy knees) & arthritis. appreciate the link, that's kind! hope you get yours sorted out!

    @cafeaulait: agree, it IS embarrassing when it happens when you're just getting around!
  • DarrenM11
    DarrenM11 Posts: 13 Member
    My knees sound terrible... mainly the left one and mainly when going up stairs. I went for my annual checkup and had my doctor listen... he told me it is normal wear and tear, and nothing to worry about.
  • HardyGirl4Ever
    HardyGirl4Ever Posts: 1,017 Member
    I have random cracking everywhere, and somewhat frequently. It's been like that all my life. It just happens more when I'm exercising, then in normal day to day activities.

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  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
    My knees and sometimes shoulders do the same. I've had to stop a workout before because of that sound. It makes me sick!
  • Myhaloslipped
    Myhaloslipped Posts: 4,317 Member
    I thought this thread was either gonna be about marijuana or establishments where hippies hang out. "Crunchy joints."
  • xoxolindseym
    xoxolindseym Posts: 43
    I had the same exact thing happen earlier. Hearing/feeling my hips pop grossed me out so I had to stop before finding something else to do. It's awful. :noway:
  • sparkle814
    sparkle814 Posts: 78 Member
    I thought this thread was either gonna be about marijuana or establishments where hippies hang out. "Crunchy joints."

    :laugh:

    My right knee makes a grinding/crunching sound when I go down stairs. It makes my skin crawl. You should see how I go down stairs when there's no one around to see me, anything to not hear that sound, ugh! Right now it doesn't hurt but it's been like that for seven or eight years so I'm sure before long I'll be having knee pain. Mmmm.
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    Gymnastics as a kid and early teen gave me rice cripsy joints (snap, crackle, pop). My freshman year of college I took a karate class and the instructor was appalled at the sounds my joints made as we warmed up and shocked when I said it's normal. :laugh:

    I have found that, while it doesn't go away, exercising and being active (and keeping the joints mobile!!) helps reduce the amount and volume of noise.
  • SlimmingMeDown
    SlimmingMeDown Posts: 63 Member
    My bones make painless, crunchy noises without me even exercising.

    My toes crack when I get up out of bed in the morning and start walking across the room.

    My thumbs have cracked since I was 15. And my knees sometimes crack during squats.

    Definitely Rice Krispies on a mass scale.
  • astronomicals
    astronomicals Posts: 1,537 Member
    I know what u mean. Its a bit scary hearing my knees at the bottom of a squat with a heavily loaded bar. I just tell myself that the body is a floating network of ligaments, muscle, bones, etc. Things are going to move and it may be audible. If pain is involved I'd be more worried.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    Actually, the creaking, cracking and pain in my joints (especially my ankle and knee) have gone away.

    It could be me trying to include some yoga in my weekly routines or my increased strength from weight training...but I think it might be the Nature Made Triple Flex I take.

    Or a combo of the above lol...all I know is it is gone.
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
    My husband, who is younger than my by over a year, has all kinds of creaks and pops and cracks when he first gets up in the morning. I get the occasional popping sound in my knees, but that is about it.

    Don't get me wrong, I have my fair share of age related aches and pains. They just happen to be very quiet.
  • anemoneprose
    anemoneprose Posts: 1,805 Member
    I know what u mean. Its a bit scary hearing my knees at the bottom of a squat with a heavily loaded bar. I just tell myself that the body is a floating network of ligaments, muscle, bones, etc. Things are going to move and it may be audible. If pain is involved I'd be more worried.

    i don't know, but i think maybe this idea (bolded), applied to myself, might be what is making me want to hurl. i have no problem looking at medical illustrations/images, watching surgeries on tv/seeing bloody procedures live, helping others when they're hurt, or thinking about being a body in an abstract way.. i feel like that noise is saying "you, anemone, are a bag of meat and bones, yes exactly like the stuff you had for dinner, HERE are your bones, also they're weird" (barf)

    But I am comforted I'm not the only one!
  • wheezeybouncer
    wheezeybouncer Posts: 122 Member
    My knees are amazing LOL. And it *feels* horrid! I've had it since I was about 15 though and am used to it pretty much.
  • SlimmingMeDown
    SlimmingMeDown Posts: 63 Member

    i feel like that noise is saying "you, anemone, are a bag of meat and bones, yes exactly like the stuff you had for dinner, HERE are your bones, also they're weird" (barf)

    But I am comforted I'm not the only one!

    Like if you ever get those bags of chicken legs you have to break in half to separate the drumstick from the thigh. Crack, crack, crack!

    Sorry, I know that's not helping!
  • massage_gal
    massage_gal Posts: 76 Member
    I'm having trouble doing squats to make my butt bigger, because every time I try, the level of noise in my knees is overwhelming! Any suggestions out there?
  • dacspace
    dacspace Posts: 109 Member
    Mine do it all the time! My trainer even comments on the sounds my knees and left shoulder make when I lift or do just about anything involving my legs. She has screws in her left knee so some days we compare sounds HAHA! :laugh:

    It is a pretty eerie sound but as long as there is no pain then it should be okay (at least that's what my ortho has told me). Do you listen to music (headphones) while you workout? That helps me to not hear those sounds!
  • sewerchick93
    sewerchick93 Posts: 1,438 Member
    I just turn my music up and drown the sound out
  • anemoneprose
    anemoneprose Posts: 1,805 Member
    i never work out to music - great idea!! will give it a try :)
  • sevsmom
    sevsmom Posts: 1,172 Member
    MIne is my neck when doing "relaxing" neck rolls. Feel like the tin man needing some oil! But it doesn't make me sick. Just makes me laugh.
  • ttknowles01
    ttknowles01 Posts: 255 Member
    I have painless crunching and popping all the time. My knee has decided to join the joint symphony by making a creaking noise whenever I squat. My hip pops when I do situps, and I snap, crackle, pop when I walk lol
  • anemoneprose
    anemoneprose Posts: 1,805 Member
    thanks fellow tin men/women for chiming in and making me feel better :)

    yeah i just can't do the bike without wanting to yak. so it's the stair master, sometimes, which isn't too bad bc i can control range of motion & it's too slow to make that disgusting sound/feeling.

    (music didn't help, could still feel it :( )
  • Dawn_Snowden
    Dawn_Snowden Posts: 111 Member
    My knees are always crunching. Sometimes I think I have a bag of cereal in there. I do the same as others here - crank up the music and ignore it. But if you have pain along with the crunch, you might want to get it looked at.
  • FranceyPants
    FranceyPants Posts: 98 Member
    I'm 23 and I get crunches too, but they go away after a few reps. Mostly in my shoulders when I do pressups with a bar. Sometimes in my knees.

    IT'S WEIRD

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