Do you hear a crunching, grinding, or cracking sound in your knee when you move it back and forth, squat, or go down stairs?
If so, watch the video below to learn how to get rid of the crunching sound in your knee.
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Should I Be Worried About A Crunchy Knees?
The medical term for crunching, grinding, or cracking in the knee is called "crepitus".
If it your knee doesn't hurt and just makes a crunchy sound, you probably don't need to worry about it.
However, it's still not quite "normal" and might indicate that something isn't working quite right mechanically.
Therefore, while crepitus doesn't present an immediate danger, it's a sign that you should pay attention to before it becomes a bigger problem.
What Causes Crunching, Grinding, Cracking in the Knee?
There are two main sources:
- The patellofemoral compartment (the joint between your kneecap and thigh bone)
- The tibiofemoral joint (the joint between your upper and lower leg bones joint)
The patellofemoral crunching can occur if the kneecap tracks too far to the outside of the femoral groove.
This can happen due to excessive internal rotation of the hip.
Additionally, you can get a different type of patellofemoral crunching or grinding if the kneecap is compressed too much by the quadriceps muscles.
The tibiofemoral joint crunching can be caused by arthritis or a meniscus tear.
Test for Crunching and Grinding Sounds in the Knee
To determine where the crunching or grinding is coming from, sit and move your knee back and forth. Feel for any crunching or grinding with your fingers around your knee joint and kneecap.
How To Get Rid Of Crunching Sounds in the Knee
Since there are many causes of crunching sounds in the knee, you can imagine there are also several different solutions. Here are a few good ways to get rid of a crunching sound in your knee.
How To Get Rid Of Crunching Sound In Knee When Moving It Back and Forth
Try externally rotating your femur by turning your foot inward. Then move your knee back and forth.
Notice if this lessens the crunching or grinding.
How To Get Rid Of Crunching In Knee When Squatting
Grip the ground with your toes to turn your hips outward and then squat.
Notice if this reduces the crunching or grinding. Also, try sitting back on your heels to use more glute force and less quadricep force.
How To Get Rid Of Crunching In Knee From Arthritis or a Meniscus Tear
Try self-mobilizations to improve alignment and rotational mobility of the knee:
Medial tibial glide and rotation mobilization
Cross your leg, pull on the lower leg bone while pushing the thigh bone away. This translates and rotates the tibia medially.
Lateral tibial glide mobilization
If this doesn't help, try the opposite: push the tibia laterally on the femur.
Perform these techniques for about a minute. They should not be painful.
If they are, stop and reassess, or possibly do the opposite technique
Conclusion
Hopefully this post helped you to better understand what causes the crunching, cracking sound in your knee and what you can do to get it to go away.
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