...or anyone else!
Bee,
When I work out my shoulders, hips, and knees "crack". This doesn't happen all the time and it doesn't hurt but the noise drives me crazy! My right knee does hurt lately mostly when I'm doing squats, or any exercise that requires me to bend it or put weight on it repeatedly. Any suggestions for my knee AND what is with the "cracking" noises? Could it be because I haven't been exercising and my joints are tight?
Jill

My knee is more uncomfortable, not really pain, but I walked for 1 1/2 hrs today and my knee actually feels better, I think maybe I needed to stretch better and get my kneen loosened up. It bothered me a little going up hill but overall after walking it really feels better. I'll see how it feels after working out with weights and doing aerobic type workouts and see how it feels. Thanks for all the suggestions and if things don't improve I'll make a doctor appt.
Jill

quote:

Originally posted by jillybean:
My right knee does hurt lately mostly when I'm doing squats, or any exercise that requires me to bend it or put weight on it repeatedly.

I agree. Squats when done properly should not cause any knee pain at all. (They're actually a great exercise to help strengthen the muscles that stabilize the knee).

Stop doing them and get thee to a doctor to be evaluated!

If the doc thinks your knee is OK, do ball squats without weights and see if that feels OK.

PS When I was going to PT for my rotator cuff my therapist kept repeating to me that pain is the body's signal to stop what you are doing! There is a difference between pushing through the burn of the last couple of reps and actual pain.

quote:

Originally posted by jillybean:
My right knee does hurt lately mostly when I'm doing squats, or any exercise that requires me to bend it or put weight on it repeatedly.

This is the part that worries me. It should not be painful to do squats.

quote:

Originally posted by Bee:
I agree - as long as you don't have pain, popping and cracking are pretty normal. My joints (especially my knees) crack on a regular basis : )

And as you get older, the popping becomes such a regular part of life that you don't even notice it anymore. I pop and crack when I get up from sitting too long...much less exercising. LOL

I agree - as long as you don't have pain, popping and cracking are pretty normal. My joints (especially my knees) crack on a regular basis : )

This is purely anecdotal...

I used to have a popping in my hip along with some discomfort- not pain, but discomfort.

I have found that since I strengthened those hip flexors and maybe other muscles inthe area(?) I don't really have this problem.
No idea if this is the reason the popping stopped or not- but I think so.

My knee makes grinding and cracking noises that are not painful. The orthopedic surgeon said, "Yeah, some people's knee do that."

I was told in PT that it can be a sign of early arthritis and activity is the best thing for it.

You may want to make an appt. with a personal trainer who can check your form and make sure that you are doing the squats correctly. Squats and such are not good for your knees if done incorrectly.

I asked my yoga instructor about a popping noise my hip made when doing one of our exercises. She said it was nothing to worry about.

If your joints are warmed up, they're less likely to snap, crackle, and pop.

As a person who has had knee surgery, and a fair amount of physical therapy, the advice I was given is this. Cracking and popping are normal for most people. Unless they are associated with pain it's not too much to worry about. BUT, deep squats are really hard on your knees and really should be avoided unless absolutely neccessary.

If it is hurting a fair amount go see your doctor and ask for a sports medicine guy. The regular orthapedists seem to just be interested in doing the surgery and moving on, they don't seem to care about your strenght or range of motion afterwords.

It "sounds" to me like you have some bones rubbing against bone. That can happen to the best of us when we stretch or exercise. It may be nothing but a joint that is a little out of line. It IS something to watch for later if it becomes painful or inflamed...and much later than you are older...you could as all of us can, develop arthritis in those joints. Stretch slowly and carefully when you do stretch with smooth movements not jerky ones.