Knee clicking....anyone deal with this? Want to proactively work on it.

[oystergirl]

Hey, so, I am hyper flexible so I work hard to make sure I use proper form, balance my flexibility and strength etc when it comes to all parts of my body. Lately though, I have noticed a tinge of IT band inflammation and knee soreness after working out and stretching. The pain goes away but then suddenly, my right knee has been clicking going up stairs but not down.

I saw my dad, a retired orthopedic surgeon yesterday and he checked me out and said my patella is no longer tracking correctly accross the femoral groove (or something like that) and suggested doing quad extensions to strengthen up the muscles surrounding the knee and bring it back into alignment. I am wondering if anyone else has this issue and what they did to rehab it.

I am thinking that working on my hip flexibility (rotation outward) might have contributed to this. How to you open the hip (so you don't get sciatica..piriformis syndrome) and keep the knees happy? Any thoughts would be appreciated...

[JKey]

I've got the same problem with my right knee popping. The moment it does I feel a flare of pain around my IT area and then it goes away within seconds. It happens the most for me when I'm doing squats or lunges and my right leg is turned slightly outward. I know my brother and father have a history of lack of cartilage in the knees, but I just don't know enough about what's happening to myself. I'd be interested to know what others post and what, if anything, you discover.

[alice-on]

My hips have always clicked, and it's annoying! I've been told it's a flex thing, but I still wish there was a way for me to make it stop. It happened all the time when I did ballet, and it still happens mainly when I do leg raises. It doesn't hurt or feel inflamed, it's just something I feel that always happens.

[Corbab]

I have a similar problem on my squats and weighted jump squats (not lunges though. huh...) I cut my leg sets one workout because the pain was bothering me, but it was fine by the next time I hit the gym.

I can't find it at the moment, but there were some good exercises in an MWOD a while back that helped me:

-Get your supra-patellar pouch (that crease right above your kneecap) on top of a foam roller and bend your knee back and forth, or roll it with a lacrosse ball.

-Fold a towel to a decent thickness and place in behind your knee. Flex your knee over it, letting the tendons lengthen.

[bigm141414]

Boom MWOD to the rescue (also what Corbab was talking about). Helped my creaky knees tremendously.

[Bagheera]

From what I hear weak muscles around the hip can be a huge factor with poor patella tracking. You could try strengthening your butt (gluteus medius/maximus). Also, stretching out your IT band probably wouldn't hurt. A tight IT band can pull your tibia laterally which likewise can cause excessive lateral patella tracking.

[161803398874989]

The policy most doctors have is: "if it doesn't hurt, it doesn't harm", so knee-clicking in and of itself is not a problem. The fact that you've got joint soreness and IT band inflammation makes it a problem. I'd say do as your father says. Squats strengthen the quads as well, although not as much.

[Blaizen]

Don't forget the hamstrings and glutes as mentioned by Bagheera. Hamstrings help with patella tracking, and due to the nature of muscles, if one of them needs work, the surrounding ones will as well. I've popped my knee on four seperate occasions and soon to be starting another bout of rehab with a 3rd year student on my course. They have to do an assignment of one on one training and rehab work for 30 hours.

And i get the treatment for free

If you like I can post the exercises, stretch's etc when i start doing it.

[oystergirl]

Thanks everyone for the input. Blaizen that would be wicked awesome if you could do that. This whole thing started with a bit of sciatica pain so I started doing the deep rotator/gluteal strengthening and stretching which lead to a bit of outter knee pain and IT tightness so I started doing more hip opening and IT band stretches. I think I will add in the quad extensions and do some IT band rolling. Gonna check out the video as well. I like taking control of issues like this proactively so they get better FAST~!

[Blaizen]

Just waiting for appointments and stuff to be organised, will post what ever happens up as i go along

[Blaizen]

Ok so it turns out that there's only one third year student who didn't have a client to practice on. She now has three to choose from. I'll let you know if I'm the lucky winner.....

[oystergirl]

Thanks Blaizen and good luck!

[Evicious]

A quick Google search brought up these explanations for clicking, popping, and cracking sounds from joints:

•Escaping gases: Scientists explain that synovial fluid present in your joints acts as a lubricant. The fluid contains the gases oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. When you pop or crack a joint, you stretch the joint capsule. Gas is rapidly released, which forms bubbles. In order to crack the same knuckle again, you have to wait until the gases return to the synovial fluid.

•Movement of joints, tendons and ligaments: When a joint moves, the tendon’s position changes and moves slightly out of place. You may hear a snapping sound as the tendon returns to its original position. In addition, your ligaments may tighten as you move your joints. This commonly occurs in your knee or ankle, and can make a cracking sound.

•Rough surfaces: Arthritic joints make sounds caused by the loss of smooth cartilage and the roughness of the joint surface.

(http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/joint.html)

Some people also feel and/or hear these sounds in some of the larger muscle groups. This is usually caused when one (or a few) of the more superficial strands of muscle become tighter than the underlying ones, which results in those (tightened) strands rolling across the others. Think of it like a smaller rubber band being stretched to the same length as a larger one under it. The tighter the superficial strands become, the more noticeable the noise and/or sensation may become during movements which stretch that muscle.

Whether you notice your joints or your muscle(s) doing the Rice Crispie thing, the standard procedure is to stretch and strengthen opposing and stabilizer muscles of the affected area (as has already been stated by other forum members). There are plenty of sites on the internet (here's one for starters: http://www1.american.edu/adonahue/k14muscles.htm) that will show you which is what. Once you have that knowledge, it's a simple matter of finding ways to augment your exercise routine so that those particular muscle groups are addressed.

[Blaizen]

A little more too it in my case, but some interesting info, thanks