A "crunchy" knee

[devilnuts]

So one of the reasons I started running was due to pain in my right knee and hip when I would run a lot. In the last year, especially the last six months, I have noticed that when I squat, my right knee makes a very disturbing "crunching" sound. Take an empty potato chip bag and crumble it...that is what my knee sounds like. It only seems to occur when I squat almost all the way down. Bending to a 90º angle does not usually make this sound. There isn't any pain, inflammation, or other symptoms. It does feel like something might be "rubbing" under my knee cap when I do this, but again, there is no pain and my knee is pretty solid. If I hold my leg out and push laterally on my knee, there is no give. It has not given me any issues when I run and actually feels better than it had in all the years I ran in "supported" shoes to correct for over-pronation. I plan to bring it up when I get a PCP and go for a physical, but I am a bit worried about doing that because then the doctor might want me to take a break from running for a while. Like I said, there is no pain at all, it isn't tender, it isn't swollen, nothing else seems to be wrong except for this very sickening sound it makes. Anyone else have anything similar or any ideas what could be causing it?

 

[kozz]

You might be running out of cartilage.

Whatever it is, better to deal with it before it gets bad.

 

[migangelo]

i believe it's called " getting old". i don't think there's any cure for it but being silly helps relieve many symptons.

 

[jldeleon]

Glucosamine and lots of it.

 

[Sid]

This?
Maybe you should ask in the Docs forum?

 

[rickwhitelaw]

Thanks for the link Sid. I have this, sounds like I am walking on bubble packing wrap when I move around. I hesitate seeing anyone about it because of the fear of surgery. I occasionally get the crunching noise. Not much pain lately, just annoyance. So, Devilnuts, if you aren't having pain, I wouldn't worry about it. It seems like the more I move, the better my knee feels, so I try to stay active. As for supplements, I've tried them all and can't say if they help, they can get expensive. I have tried to increase the good oils in my diet. I like Udo's oil. Replaced a lot of butter and dressings with it.

 

[jldeleon]

Thanks for the link Sid. I have this, sounds like I am walking on bubble packing wrap when I move around. I hesitate seeing anyone about it because of the fear of surgery. I occasionally get the crunching noise. Not much pain lately, just annoyance. So, Devilnuts, if you aren't having pain, I wouldn't worry about it. It seems like the more I move, the better my knee feels, so I try to stay active. As for supplements, I've tried them all and can't say if they help, they can get expensive. I have tried to increase the good oils in my diet. I like Udo's oil. Replaced a lot of butter and dressings with it.

Ah-hah! Bubble packing wrap! This is the nasty sound Mike gets in his feet when he/I break up a lot of trigger points. Not exactly sure what it is though. It doesn't hurt, though.

 

[paraganek]

I have noticed that when I squat, my right knee makes a very disturbing "crunching" sound. Take an empty potato chip bag and crumble it...that is what my knee sounds like. There isn't any pain, inflammation, or other symptoms. It does feel like something might be "rubbing" under my knee cap when I do this, but again, there is no pain and my knee is pretty solid. Like I said, there is no pain at all, it isn't tender, it isn't swollen, nothing else seems to be wrong except for this very sickening sound it makes. Anyone else have anything similar or any ideas what could be causing it?

I have the exactly same issue with my right knee. Has been like that for a couple of years now. No idea what it is but Mike is probably right. Based on my motto "It it isn't broken don't fix it" I just let it go its own way.

 

[barefootn]

Cosamin brand is the best. I started taking it a few years back when I increased my milage for marathon training. I was getting some sore spots in the knees. The Cosamids really helped. However since I've been BF runing I have stopped taking it and the knees seem good.
Oh, when I started running 34 years ago my knees would make a grinding noise when doing stairs. The doctor told me the cartilage was rough. He said I was one of those people that was born with bad knees. Since then I have run over 40,000 miles and my knees are much better thank you.
http://www.orthonc.com/forms/galland_open/glucosamine-cosamin-ds-brochure.pdf

 

[jldeleon]

Cosamin brand is the best. I started taking it a few years back when I increased my milage for marathon training. I was getting some sore spots in the knees. The Cosamids really helped. However since I've been BF runing I have stopped taking it and the knees seem good.
Oh, when I started running 34 years ago my knees would make a grinding noise when doing stairs. The doctor told me the cartilage was rough. He said I was one of those people that was born with bad knees. Since then I have run over 40,000 miles and my knees are much better thank you.
http://www.orthonc.com/forms/galland_open/glucosamine-cosamin-ds-brochure.pdf

My "shod" runners all use Glucosamine for their "painful" knees.

 

[devilnuts]

Haha...thanks for the link, Sid. I ran across something similar, but wasn't sure how accurate it was. I am just afraid to bring it up to the doc when I go because I don't want them making a big deal out of it if it isn't something that will cause issues down the road. I will probably just mention it in passing and try to gauge the doc's reaction. lol. It seems if others have had this for some time, then it is not something to be overly concerned about. I do have some beginning symptoms of RA, but I don't feel them in my knee, so that is one reason I have reservations about bringing it up to a doc.

 

[jldeleon]

RA? Dump wheat.