Knee popping pain at the time of injury usually indicates damage to one of the ligaments. The two most common ligament injuries that produce knee pain and popping are ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) and MCL (Medial Collateral Ligament) injuries, usually caused by twisting the knee awkwardly. Anterior part of knee feeling tight, occasional popping and pain I've been experiencing an unusal tight feeling my my left knee for the past 2 months. I think it's important to mention that I've been training using a mixture bodyweight exercises/weightlifting exercises for the past 2 years.
- Pain in the knee with occasional popping when walking may be a sign of soft tissue injury or fracture. The knee is a complex joint made up of bone, cartilage, ligaments and other soft tissues. Because of its involvement in walking, and wear and tear sustained in intense athletic activities, the knee is prone to injury.
- A person with crepitus can usually feel the crunching or cracking sensation by placing a hand over the kneecap as the knee bends and straightens. Occasional popping or cracking can be normal and is generally considered harmless.
There are a number of factors which can lead to knee pain and even knee popping. Crepitus is another term used for the knee popping, which means a noisy joint due to popping, cracking or snapping of the knee. If knee popping occurs without pain, it is usually due to a gas bubble inside the joint, which occasionally bursts. It can occur due to ligaments/tendons snapping over the joints as well. These causes of knee popping are not of a major concern. However, in cases when knee popping is accompanied with pain, you should seek medical help as something more serious could be causing it.
Knee Popped, Now Hurts: Why and What to Do?
1. ACL Injury
ACL injury or anterior cruciate ligament injury is an over-stretching or tearing of the anterior cruciate ligament in the knee. A tear can be partial or total. ACL injury results from a sudden twisting of the knee, deceleration of the knee, blow to the side of the knee or even from a bending of the leg too far backward. ACL injuries are characterized by an immediate swelling of the affected knee, pain as well as a popping sound.
What to Do
Treatment of an ACL injury includes rest, ice packs, compression and elevation of the affected leg. The success of the treatment depends on the severity of the injury, the level of instability as well as the lifestyle of the injured person. If conventional treatment fails to relieve the signs and symptoms, surgical treatment is necessary.
2. MCL Injury
Knees Popping And Cracking
MCL injury or a medial collateral ligament injury results in a sprain or tear of this ligament. The medial collateral ligament is a band of tissue located on the inside of the knee. It connects the thighbone with the bones of the lower leg. A sudden twisting of the leg can result in an MCL injury. Characteristic signs and symptoms include swelling of the affected knee, instability of the affected leg, pain located on the inner side of the knee, a popping sound, difficulties bending the leg, etc.
What to Do
Treatment of an MCL injury usually takes about six weeks. For the first three grades of an MCL injury, the treatment should tend to reduce the inflammation while the knee should be immobilized. Bed rest, ice packs as well as elevating the affected leg will help. Over-the-counter painkillers are recommended when dealing with the pain. Braces will allow you to move the knee backward and forwards while supporting it totally. It is usually recommended to keep the affected leg immobilized for about 72 hours. The treatment will last longer if it is a severe injury.
3. Cartilage/Meniscus Tear
If your knee popped, now hurts, one of the causes could be a meniscus tear. The meniscus is a cartilage that provides a cushion between the thighbone and the shinbone. Injuries of a different nature can cause meniscus tears. When the meniscus tears, small cartilage fragments can catch in the knee, producing the popping sounds. The cartilage fragments tend to move around the joint, leading to occasional knee pain and popping sounds on the affected knee.
What to Do
Conservative treatment should be started first, which includes bed rest, ice packs, compression and elevation of the affected knee. Pain killers, non-steroidal and anti-inflammatory medications will help you deal with the pain and reduce the inflammation. Arthroscopic surgery is the last treatment option when conservative treatment has failed to resolve the situation.
4. Arthritis
Arthritis is a degenerative wear and tear of the cartilage. It usually affects people over the age of 50 and tends to gradually develop over a long period of time. As the cartilage tends to get thinner with age, the joint surface tends to become rougher, and frictions occur between the joint bones, leading to a popping sound.
What to Do
Depending on the type of arthritis, recommended medications are analgesics, non-steroidal and anti-inflammatory medications, anti-rheumatic medications, biologic response modifiers, and corticosteroids. Physical therapy plays an important part of the arthritis treatment by strengthening the muscles around the affected knee and by saving the range of motion for as long as possible. Braces and splints are also often recommended.
5. Runner's Knee
When your knee popped, now hurts, you might have a runner’s knee. It is a medical term used to describe several conditions that cause pain around the patella. These conditions include chondromalacia patella, iliotibial band syndrome, anterior knee pain syndrome, etc. A runner’s knee tends to get worse while sitting for a long period of time or while running or walking for a long period of time. The patella tends to rub against the thighbone, leading to a grinding sensation while the knee moves.
What to Do
The RICE therapy is also recommended for the treatment of the runner’s knee. Anti-inflammatory medications will help reduce the inflammation and the swelling of the affected knee, and painkillers will help control the pain. Physical therapy plays an important part of the treatment, which includes strengthening and stretching exercises of the quadriceps muscle group. Surgical treatment is necessary in severe cases of runner’s knee.
6. Chondromalacia Patella
It is an irritation and inflammation of the cartilage lining the back of the patella. Chondromalacia patella is a condition more often among women than men. It also affects more healthy and sportive adolescents and young adults. Treatment includes resting the affected knee and avoiding a strenuous use of the knee.
What to Do
Over the counter painkillers are recommended to control the pain, physiotherapy is recommended for strengthening the muscles around the affected knee. Another available treatment which will reduce the pain is the taping of the patella. Surgery is the last treatment option, but it is not usually necessary.
When to See Your Doctor
Are you wondering whether you should seek medical help when your knee popped, now hurts? You should see a doctor when:
- You can’t put weight on the knee.
- You have severe pain while putting weight on it.
- Your knee keeps giving way.
- Your knee clicks painfully and it even locks.
- Your knee looks deformed.
- You can’t fully straighten or bend your knee.
- You have swelling, pain, numbness or tingling of the calf on the affected side.
- Your knee is red, swollen and you have a fever as well.
- The pain doesn’t improve within a few weeks and the pain is getting worse even after a few days of rest and self-treatment at home.
There are many myths about joint cracking. The two most common are that our knuckles will get bigger if we crack them, or we will get arthritis. Neither of these is likely, but there is truth to the idea that some forms of cracking are undesirable.
There are two reasons why our joints crack and creak. One is that bones are rubbing together, and the other is that the bones of a joint are fixated. We will examine these one at a time.
Rubbing Bones
Most of the joint sounds we hear are due to bones rubbing. This is “friction popping.” When we snap our fingers, we press our thumb and middle finger together hard enough to create friction. Then we try to overpower this friction with other muscles of the hand. This opposition of forces slightly bends the bones of the finger and thumb. When the two fingers finally slip past one another, the bones rebound violently and vibrate briefly, like tuning forks. This creates the snapping sound.
The snapping of our fingers is not at all painful or harmful, but sometimes we inadvertently create these popping sounds in other joints, such as our elbows. When our elbow briefly “catches” and then pops, it can be quite surprising and even slightly painful if the vibrating bones press a nerve. The popping sound has the same cause as finger snapping: the two bones of the elbow are temporarily in friction, and when they release, they vibrate violently and we hear a “pop.”
Knees Popping Noise
See alsoYoga Anatomy 101: Synovial Fluid and Inflamed Joints
A similar but more alarming instance of friction popping takes place in the knee. More specifically, it occurs in our patella, or kneecap. The patella sometimes rides up on the side of the groove it glides in and temporarily sticks there. It is being held on the lip of the groove by the pull of the thigh muscles. This is much like snapping our thumb and finger, but this moment is very brief because as the knee bends and moves, the patella loses its precarious balance of forces and “pops” violently back down into the groove where it belongs. There is nothing really harmful in this; the patella is not injuring the ligaments or cartilage. But it can be alarming for our knee to lock up for an instant and then release. At worst, there is a slight twinge to the tendon around the patella because it was stretched briefly.
The most common place to hear friction popping is in our neck. Most of us can roll our heads and hear these sounds, although they are not as loud here because the forces of friction are not as great. The bones involved are the facets of the cervical vertebrae-typically several of them, which is why the noise sounds “crunchy,” like walking on pebbles.
See alsoSnap, Crackle, Pop: What’s With Noisy Joints?
Is It Bad for You?
If our elbow or knee inadvertently pops, there is nothing to worry about. There is just enough slack in our joints that these twinges are inevitable, and no harm is done. But there is little value in consciously trying to make these sounds happen. Just as it takes a certain effort to snap our fingers, many people can pop their hips over and over by doing sit-ups or leg lifts.
Other people can do similar things with their knees. This is not desirable. Even our thumb gets sore if we snap it enough. If a student insists on popping a joint repetitively, the joint may become inflamed and painful. This is because the body is trying to minimize the friction by swelling the fluid sacks that line our joints. These sacks are called bursae, and their inflamed condition is called bursitis. Bursitis most frequently occurs in the small joints of the shoulder and elbow.
Bursitis is less likely to occur in the patella, but eventually the cartilage can become worn and irritated. This condition is called chondromalacia, and it makes the knee painful to bend.
See alsoKeeping the Joints Happy
What to Do?
If a student can pop a hip each time they do leg raises, they should try one of the following variations to avoid creating friction in the socket.
Occasional Knee Locking And Popping
1. Do leg raises with knees bent.
2. Experiment by holding the legs slightly apart.
3. Don’t allow the legs to come too close to the floor when bringing the feet down.
Friction in the patella can sometimes be avoided by turning the foot out slightly in Warrior poses and triangles. But due to a unique bone structure in every individual, it sometimes may be more helpful to turn the foot in, rather than out. Frequently, the strain on the patella also can be relieved by stepping backwards into Warrior, rather than forward. Stepping backward relaxes the strain on the bent front patella, allowing it to slide as it should with minimal friction.
Friction pops sometimes occur in the elbow or shoulder when practicing Chaturanga or Upward Dog. Asking a student to take their hands wider and their elbows out can help. This variation requires more strength to perform, so beginners may need to hold themselves on the knees, rather than feet.
See alsoAlexandria Crow on Listening To Your Body During Yoga
Joint Fixation
The second cause of joint popping is fixation. The bones of a fixated joint are temporarily stuck together due to suction, not friction. When this vacuum is broken, we hear a popping sound.
An everyday example of fixation is when the bottom of a glass of water sticks to the surface it is resting on. When two hard, smooth surfaces have a film of fluid between them, they can create a vacuum by forcing the fluid out to the edges. As long as the seal of fluid remains unbroken, the vacuum remains. If we are careful, we can lift quite a heavy plate by fixating a glass to it.
See alsoAvoid Knee Pain and Injury with Yoga
Most of the joints of the body are ideally shaped for fixation to occur. The ends of the bones are lined with hard, smooth cartilage and the joint itself is filled with synovial fluid. This fluid is necessary to lubricate the joints and minimize friction, but if a joint is immobile long enough, then some of the fluid between the bones squeezes out and a temporary vacuum, or fixation, occurs.
The most common places for fixation to occur are the fingers, toes, and joints of the spine and ribs. When fixation occurs, we typically feel “stuck” or “tight.” This is because are joints are not moving. People who crack their knuckles are breaking the fixation that occurs in their fingers. People who “crack” their spines in a spinal twist are doing the same thing. It feels good to them, and there is no harm in it.
See alsoVinyasa 101: 3 Crucial Things To Know About the Spine
Know the Difference
There is an important difference between releasing fixation and friction popping. Once a fixation has been released, the joint will not pop again until it has rested, immobile, for some time. This is because it takes time for fixation to reoccur even when conditions are right. A glass of water, for example, will not instantly fixate to a plate. Releasing joint fixations is actually beneficial, because it allows the free functioning of the joints.
Friction popping is not like fixation. It can be created at will. We can snap our finger and thumb as often as we like. If you or your students are able to repetitively pop a hip, knee, or neck, then it is undesirable friction popping. The occasional friction pop will do no harm, but be mindful that it does not become habit or a nervous twitch.
See alsoThe Art of Teaching Yoga: 6 Tips for Teaching Alignment
Knee Popping Out Of Place
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