Creaking Knees

[Pints]

Over the last couple of years I've noticed my knees starting to creak, particularly when walking down stairs, but it's been noticeably worse in the last few weeks.

I'm pretty sure I should be getting more exercise (I'm not overweight but definitely unfit) but should I be keeping clear of the pushbike?

And is there anything else I can take or do to help the problem? As Baz Luhrmann put it: "Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone." Since I'm only the ripe old age of 32, I'm hoping it's still many years before they go.

Cheers
Pints

[missdiane]

Mine have been doing it for years, my dad's are the same, sound terrible doesn't it
Doesn't hurt, but I find the cycle at the gym really tiresome and uncomfy on the knees- so I don't do it, am OK cycling normally as I keep my seat quite high

I've always presumed Cod liver oil would help, but I would rather have cracking knees than smell of fish every day

Edited by missdiane on Saturday 4th September 08:09

[Pints]

I bought a bottle of cod-liver oil capsules a while ago but, being a bloke, I forget about them and they lay in the drawer. That said even when I was taking them, albeit irregularly, I didn't notice any improvement.

[MacGee]

low impact cardio is best for knees...bike, X thingy and rowing....also strengthen the quads...helped me..

[rudecherub]

A carpet fitter showed me a good exercise for knees.

Sit on the floor legs outstretched knees locked, tense the quads ie upper legs and hold, basically repeat say 30 reps.

helped with what my old school doctor called painful knee syndrome.

[ukwill]

This has just started happening to me - my left kneecap makes a popping sound, but only when I walk upstaires. I think it started after a particularly heavy legpress session last week. It doesnt actually hurt, but it makes a really loud noise that is quite disconcerting.

As a result I'm in a bit of a quandry. I've decide to stop legpressing and have gone back to squats, but I'm a bit concerned that I could be making things worse. I did 40 reps @ 60kg on Thursday just to see if things were ok, and all was well so I think I might just get back on it. I've read that if it makes noises but it doesn't hurt then dont worry about it. But as I say, the noise is quite disconcerting.

And it's squat night tonight...

[Parsnip]

I'm no doctor (that should come up as a disclaimer on every post on this bit of the forum) but I swear by both cod liver oil and Glucosamine - I do a lot of running and cycling and placebo or not, I do notice my knees are a bit sore if I forget to take them for a dew days. They crack a fair bit, which as I understand is nothing to worry about, but do not "creak" as such.

Might be worth also looking at how your feet are - I have really flat feet (over pronator) so I use orthotics whenever I run, or my knees try to explode - again, no idea if this is relevant to your problem, speaking from personal experience here.

[Pints]

I bought 2 bottles of high strength cod liver oil capsules on the weekend and I'm determined to take them daily. Will see how it goes.

[rudecherub]

ukwill said:

This has just started happening to me - my left kneecap makes a popping sound, but only when I walk upstaires. I think it started after a particularly heavy legpress session last week. It doesnt actually hurt, but it makes a really loud noise that is quite disconcerting.

As a result I'm in a bit of a quandry. I've decide to stop legpressing and have gone back to squats, but I'm a bit concerned that I could be making things worse. I did 40 reps @ 60kg on Thursday just to see if things were ok, and all was well so I think I might just get back on it. I've read that if it makes noises but it doesn't hurt then dont worry about it. But as I say, the noise is quite disconcerting.

And it's squat night tonight...

I have a history of squats and running, and perversely the knee issues arose when I was at my fittest, I suspect it's to do with tension in the quads ie damage after training putting stress on the knee and ligaments there, so the tensing exercise, ie jiggling the kneecaps helps.

Could be quackery on my part, but it worked for me.

[Halb]

Squats info.
http://stronglifts.com/how-to-squat-with-proper-te...

[otolith]

TADTS, according to my GP. He did run some blood tests looking for inflammatory markers, but found nothing.

I recently visited a beach in Devon I'd first visited 20 years ago and tried traversing the rocks by jumping from one boulder to the next like I did back then. I can confirm that whatever my GP says, my knees aren't what they were.

[ukwill]

Ok, so I bottled out of leg work last night (not like it really pained me to miss a leg session ). Think I'm going to go see the knee doc before I start back on anything remotely heavy. Think I've just stretched a tendon, but I'd like some piece of mind.

[E21_Ross]

not necessarily a problem of the joint itself, it could be that the patella/knee cap is not tracking properly, and may just be a case of strengthening a few muscles of the surrounding area. a typical weakness in runners (if i get this the right way round...) is vastus medialis, as running puts more work on vastus lateralis...so they need to build medialis up (think i have it the right way around for running), and cycling is the opposite. so strengthening up the weaker can help the patella track better and be less creaky.

many other explanations for this besides the joint getting weak. if it's painful, go and see someone

[Parsnip]

E21_Ross said:

not necessarily a problem of the joint itself, it could be that the patella/knee cap is not tracking properly, and may just be a case of strengthening a few muscles of the surrounding area. a typical weakness in runners (if i get this the right way round...) is vastus medialis, as running puts more work on vastus lateralis...so they need to build medialis up (think i have it the right way around for running), and cycling is the opposite. so strengthening up the weaker can help the patella track better and be less creaky.

many other explanations for this besides the joint getting weak. if it's painful, go and see someone

Muscular imbalance is one reason, ITBS is another - I have had doses of both and while the muscular imbalance is a lot harder to fix, it hurts a lot less - ITB massage is pretty much the most painful thing known to man.

[E21_Ross]

Parsnip said:

E21_Ross said:

not necessarily a problem of the joint itself, it could be that the patella/knee cap is not tracking properly, and may just be a case of strengthening a few muscles of the surrounding area. a typical weakness in runners (if i get this the right way round...) is vastus medialis, as running puts more work on vastus lateralis...so they need to build medialis up (think i have it the right way around for running), and cycling is the opposite. so strengthening up the weaker can help the patella track better and be less creaky.

many other explanations for this besides the joint getting weak. if it's painful, go and see someone

Muscular imbalance is one reason, ITBS is another - I have had doses of both and while the muscular imbalance is a lot harder to fix, it hurts a lot less - ITB massage is pretty much the most painful thing known to man.

can't say i've ever had ITB work, but i've had lots of work to piriformis and glut med, as mine are extremely tight (too much running), and that's laughingly painful